Person:Celia Jones (3)

Celia Jones was baptised on 17th June 1814 at Barnet in Hertfordshire. She was the illegitimate daughter of Sophia Smith and Isaac Crossley, a shoemaker. Isaac had abandoned his wife and children in 1813, presumably as he was having an affair with Sophia. Isaac was arrested in November 1813, shortly after Celia must have been conceived, and in January 1814 he was made to join the militia as punishment for leaving his wife and children having to be supported by the parish authorities. Celia's baptism describes her as the daughter of Isaac and Sophia Crossley and records that Isaac was a private in the Buckinghamshire Militia. Isaac was discharged from the militia a year after Celia's baptism, but he appears to have returned to live with his wife and had no further involvement with Sophia or Celia. Indeed, Celia later claimed not to know who her father was. Celia and Sophia reverted to calling themselves Smith (Sophia's surname at baptism) or Jones (Sophia's stepfather's surname).

By 1824, Sophia was living in the Westminster area of London, when she married a William Fox, who thus became Celia's stepfather. He was from Fenny Stratford in Buckinghamshire, and the family moved out of London to live there.

On 28th May 1835, Celia married a widower called George Kempson at Totternhoe, about ten miles south of Fenny Stratford. When they married she was about 21 years old, whilst he was 56, being older than Celia's mother. He had had thirteen children from his first marriage, eleven of whom were still living. Five of Celia's stepchildren were older than she was.

Celia and George went on to have seven more children together between 1836 and 1850. Their third child died as a baby, but the other six all lived to adulthood. The first five children were born at Totternhoe, where the family appear in the 1841 census living at Church End, with George working as a straw factor. In the mid 1840s the family moved to Billington in the parish of Leighton Buzzard, where their youngest two children were born. The 1851 census finds the family living on Leighton Road in Billington, with George working as a labourer on the road.

George died in 1853, aged 74.

Celia then left Billington and went to live at Eggington, another hamlet in the parish of Leighton Buzzard. She married there in 1858 to an agricultural labourer called James White. Celia's mother Sophia was one of the witnesses to that marriage. A few weeks after Celia's second marriage, her eldest daughter (another Sophia) was married in the same church, and Celia's first grandchild was born later in 1858 in Eggington.

The 1861 census finds Celia and James living in Eggington with Celia's yougest two daughters. Celia was working as a straw plaiter at this time. Celia's daughter Rachel had gone to live with Celia's mother and stepfather, appearing with Sophia and William Fox in Fenny Stratford in both the 1851 and 1861 censuses. Rachel died as a young woman of about 26 in 1868. William Fox died in 1870.

The 1871 census finds Celia and James living at Eggington.

Celia died early in 1873, aged 58. Her mother Sophia died around the same time; both their deaths were registered in the first three months of 1873. James survived Celia by eighteen years.

1. ↑ Baptisms register, in Chipping Barnet, Hertfordshire, England. Parish Registers (Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies / findmypast.co.uk).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Chipping Barnet in the County of Hertford in the Year 1814
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   67	17th June	Celia Daughter of	Isaac Sophia	Croseley	Barnet Gate, Parish of Shenley	Private in the Buckingh[amshi]re Militia	W[illia]m Marr Curate

   Despite Celia's name being given here as Celia Croseley, it is possible to be confident that this is the same person as the Celia Jones who married firstly George Kempson and secondly James White. Celia indicated on her second marriage that she did not know the name of her father. However, one of the witnesses to that marriage was a Sophia Fox, and Celia's daughter Rachel Kempson appears in the 1851 and 1861 census described as the granddaughter of William Fox and his wife Sophia. Whilst most of Celia's children's birth certificates give Celia's maiden name as Jones, her daughter Emma's birth certificate gives Celia's maiden name as Fox. The only plausible marriage of a William Fox and Sophia which has been found is of William Fox and Sophia Smith in 1824, well after Celia was born. We therefore conclude that Celia was Sophia's daughter and William's stepdaughter. In the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses, Sophia Fox consistently claimed to have been born around 1795 at Princes Risborough. A Sophia Smith was indeed baptised at Princes Risborough in 1795, as the illegitimate daughter of Mary Smith. That Mary Smith then married a John Jones a few months later at Princes Risborough. It would therefore appear that Sophia Smith may also have been known by her stepfather's surname as Sophia Jones.
   Celia consistently claimed in the censuses to have been born around 1814 in Barnet. The baptism of Celia daughter of Sophia and Isaac Croseley is therefore worthy of investigation as being in the right place, at the right time and with the correct child's and mother's forenames. Further research establishes that all was not as portayed on that baptism record. No marriage for a couple called Sophia and Isaac Croseley (or variants) has been found, nor any baptisms of other children. However, the baptism does note that Isaac was a soldier in the militia. This then fits with the records of Bedford Gaol, which record that an Isaac Crossley was taken into custody in November 1813 (which must have been shortly after Celia was conceived), and ordered to join the militia in January 1814 as a punishment for having abandoned his family. This Isaac was later discharged from the militia and those records tell us that he was a 45 year old shoemaker from Sandy in Bedfordshire. It is therefore possible to link him to the Isaac Crossley who married Ann Robinson in 1796 and seems to have returned to live with her in Southill by the early 1820s - a poaching conviction in 1823 and the 1851 census both indicate that he was from Sandy. If Isaac did return to his wife and have nothing more to do with Celia or Sophia, this would explain why Celia did not know her father's name, and would also explain why Celia subsequently reverted to using the name Jones, being her mother's stepfather's name.

2. ↑ England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 5; Book 36; Folio 6; Page 7, 6 Jun 1841.

   Address: Church End, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   George Kempson, male, 50 [1786-91], Straw factor, born in county
   Cerea Kempson, female, 25 [1811-16], not born in county
   Enoch Kempson, male, 6 [1834/5], born in county
   Sophia Kempson, female, 4 [1836/7], born in county
   Amos Kempson, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county
   Jesse Kempson, male, 15 [1821-6], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], born in county

3. ↑ England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class HO107; Piece 1756; Folio 214; Page 3, 30 Mar 1851.

   Address: North Leighton Road, Billington, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   George Kempson, head, married, male, 77 [1773/4], Labourer on the road, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Celia Kempson, wife, married, female, 36 [1814/5], Labourer on the road wife, b. Barnet, Hertfordshire
   Enoch Kempson, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1835/6], Labourer on the road, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Sophia Kempson, daughter, female, 12 [1838/9], Plaiter, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   John Kempson, son, male, 6 [1844/5], Plaiter, b. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire
   Mary Kempson, daughter, female, 3 [1847/8], b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter, female, 1 [1849/50], b. Billington, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ England. 1861 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG9; Piece 1005; Folio 24; Page 13, 7 Apr 1861.

   Address: Egginton, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   James White, head, married, male, 50 [1810/11], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Clipton Egginton, Bedfordshire
   Celia White, wife, married, female, 45 [1815/6], Straw Plaiter, b. Barnet, Hertfordshire
   Mary A. Kempson, daughter in law, 14 [1846/7], Straw Plaiter, b. Billington, Bedfordshire
   Emma Kempson, daughter in law, 12 [1848/9], Straw Plaiter, b. Billington, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG10; Piece 1560; Folio 81; Page 14, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Eggington, Bedfordshire
   James White, head, married, male, 59 [1811/12], Ag[ricultural] Lab[ourer], b. Egginton
   Sealer White, wife, married, female, 56 [1814/15], b. Barnet, Hertfordshire

6. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Cecilia WHITE, March Quarter 1873, Leighton Buzzard Registration District, Vol. 3b, page 282, aged 61 [1811/12]