George Rackley - Ludlow, Herefordshire about 1869 - was he adopted?

Hello Super Sleuths!

My Mum has mentioned to me a number of times that she thought my great-grandfather, George Rackley born about 1869 in Ludlow, Herefordshire was either adopted or one of his parents aren't biological. I have no idea how to prove or disprove this family folklore but I'm wondering if you can give me some pointers in the right direction.

The information I have is:

George Rackley
Born: about 1869 Ludlow, Herefordshire, England
Arrived in Australia 14 January 1874, aged 5 on the Winefred arriving in Moreton Bay Queensland, Port of Departure: London England.
He arrived with his 'parents', William Rackley born 1853 and Mira Davies born 1849.
He lived in Harrisville or Wilson Plains area in Queensland for the most part of his life.
He died 1 April 1952 and is buried in the Harrisville Cemetery. He married Mary Abigail Willis in Longreach, Queensland in 1898.

Interesting, the Rackley's were born and raised in Middlesex England and Mira Davies has unconfirmed links to Wales and Herefordshire (I've looked into this one with you guys before).

The above information is well documented. George's death certificate states he was born in Ludlow Herefordshire but I've been unable to find a birth record or a census document from 1871 to confirm his birth details. I've search FreeBMD and Ancestry with no luck finding either of the two documents. Can anyone help? And, if he was adopted, what documentation is available to search or obtain?

I have a number of DNA matches along this line which I've been unable to work out how we might be related. If the family folklore is correct, then this is a really interesting line of research. My theory is that Mira was married before and George is a son from that relationship and William took them both on when he married her. But who is the mystery father??

As always, thanks in advance for your help!! Much appreciated.

Kirsty

 

Just to add to what Jan has found for you, the marriage of William RACKLEY & Mira DAVIS took place on 14 July 1872 at Pinner, he being a 20 year old Groom, father James RACKLEY, Labourer, she being a 23 year old spinster, father Thomas DAVIS, Butcher, image available to view on Ancestry. Not having much luck finding a baptism so far, though.

Janet

 

I think I may have found George in the 1871 census of Bucknell & Coxhall, Knighton (RG10/5595, folio 31, page 6). There is a 3 year old George DAVIES, born Ludlow, shown as a Boarder, separate household, in the house of Thomas LLOYD & family living at Cottage, Buckton. Perhaps worth a look.

Janet

 

I saw that family earlier but didn't have time to comment, but I've now had a quick look at the two youngest Lloyd children (Ellen, 4, b Clun; George, 2, b Bucknell), and if I've got the right ones, both have mmn Davies:

Ellen - Mar qtr 1867 Clun, 6a 565
George - Mar qtr 1869 Knighton, 11b 181

The wife in the household, who looks as though she could be significant here, is Mary Lloyd, 45, b Clunbury. The other children are Mary E, 19; James, 15; Sarah J (or I?), 11 - all born Clun.

If Mary (wife/mother)'s age is correct, she'd have been born well before civil registration started, but I haven't looked into registers etc for Clunbury.

However, I have found a couple of possible births for Mira Davies:

Jun qtr 1849 Presteigne & Kington, 26/287 mmn Farnalls
Sep qtr 1850 Hereford & Dore, 26/203 mmn Pritchard

Based purely on location, the first one may be more likely.

 

I had searched and had found this record also but I was only guessing as to his birth year and didn't know if I had the right George. Thank you so much for looking into this for me. Fingers crossed we can find a baptism for him!

 

Hi Janet! Yes, this is the correct record for William and Mira's marriage. Interestingly she is noted as a spinster! Thanks for looking into this for me!

 

I have seen Ludlow under both Herefordshire and Shrophsire...are they one and the same place?

 

Thanks Janet! I've tried looking for the record you mention but I haven't been able to find it - can you send it to me in a link? Thanks so much!

 

Hi Arthur! I'm not sure if that's the right record or am I getting confused about Bucknell/Ludlow? Are they one and the same? All very confusing for this Aussie.

Mira has been a hard person to track down, particularly in relation to her birth as I had two records for her - one in Radnorshire, and another in Fownhope, Herefordshire, both had parents Thomas Davies and Mary Pritchard or Chandler. It's really confusing to work out which one would be correct and I don't think I ever got to the bottom of it! Her historical death image is attached. As you can see, her place of birth is noted as Radnorshire Wales although George is not noted as one of her surviving children, even though he did not die until 1952. The children listed are correct, William James and Ann Eliza Rackley were still living at the time of her death.

 

Sorry, Kirsty, I cannot send you a link because I found it on FMP and their terms and conditions preclude this, as do Ancestry I believe. However, I have tried on both sites and if you search for Thomas LLOYD born c1825 at Knighton, Radnorshire, the family comes up living at Cottages, Buckton in the hamlet of Bucknell and living in the same house as a separate household is George DAVIES aged 3. Hope this helps.

Janet

 

The death certificate gives her mother's maiden name as Chandler, but I can't see any females born in the right period with surname Davis (& variants) and mmn Chandler. I suspect Chandler appears somewhere else in the tree and that this was a best guess - note the lack of forename - but sadly wrong.

As Chimp says, everything's mixed up round there. You're looking near a point where two English counties (Shropshire and Herefordshire) meet, as well as Radnorshire in Wales. Someone might easily live in one county but their nearest town would be in another. And registration districts which are nominally in one county (eg Presteigne or Knighton in Radnorshire; Ludlow in Shropshire) cross boundaries and include places in other counties.

 

Hi again Janet! It took me a while, but I found the right census! Thanks so much - I'll look into this further...my fingers are crossed it leads somewhere!

 

Yes, I've struggled finding a birth for Chandler too. Thank you for the clarification on the locations - how confusing is that!

 

[George DAVIES, Ludlow registration district, March quarter 1868, volume 6a, page 539.]

Ok, so remind me of when the parish records start? Is there any way of finding out his birth fathers name? If it is noted, it would go a long way in solving this riddle!