Too many possibilities in the Baker family but a chance find and some DNA matches crack the brick wall.

 

Sometimes everything just falls into place. We have established that Thomas Baker, my three times great grandfather, was a Sergeant in the Coldstream Guards and that he had previously been a pearl button maker in Warwickshire. See previous blog Thomas Baker 1799- From Pearl Button Maker to Coldstream Guards. 

His service was terminated due to ill health in March 1829.  (Interestingly the Coldstream Guards recently celebrated their 375^th Anniversary in 2025.)

Other times there are just too many combinations to speculate on. Namely Thomas Baker marriages and deaths. Thomas is my 3 x great grandfather.

In trying to find out more I returned to the 1841 census. From this possible census document in 1841, Julia, Mary Ann, and John Baker are listed. Julia I believe  is my 2x great grandmother. Their father who retired from the Coldstream Guards is quite possibly unwell and also quite possibly widowed. This may explain why his children are living with a family in Walthamstow, Essex. The lady of the house appears to be caring for them due to their age.

The Bakers in the 1841 census

All records for Thomas Baker, upon leaving his post, call him a pearl button maker who originated from Warwickshire. You could speculate that he returns to his roots in Warwickshire or at least his children do if he is deceased. Later we find  his daughter Julia has moved north from Essex and London and is living in Dudderston, Warwickshire where she marries. Thomas is listed in Julia’s marriage certificate and appears to be still alive but maybe the father details just don’t say “deceased”. She is seen marrying Samuel Smith, a 25-year-old gasmaker from Bordersley, Warwickshire. Thomas is listed as a pearl button maker on this marriage certificate. In 1852 they have a son, Thomas born in Aston, Deritend. The marriage is short lived as Smith dies soon after.

Julia's first marriage

So far I had ……..

Thomas Baker m   Ann?

Mary Ann                                 John                                    Julia m Samuel Smith

1831-                                      1832-                           1834-

 

Sarah's marriage

Recently, I found a marriage for Sarah Baker 1927-1900 living in Deritend, Aston also. She married a widower, Martin Yates, in 1847. Her father is also Thomas Baker, a pearl button maker. Any relation?

Lo and behold, in the 1851 census, she is living with her husband, stepson, and children. Her brother John, of the 1841 census, aged 19 and a wood turner born in Windsor, also appears in this census. Yes!  I have found a sibling. Windsor we will remember from a previous blog, is the place where the Coldstream Guards had been stationed. With the addition of Sarah’s baptism, census  and potential death in Birmingham here’s the family now

Yates family 1851 census 

John Baker in the Yates household 1851 census

                                                                                   Thomas  m Mary? Ann

Sarah                                 Mary Ann               John                           Julia m Samuel Smith

1827-1900                             1831-             1832-                           1834-1914

Always with lingering doubts about whether the information I revealed in my previous blog is correct, I'm pleased to find this marriage certificate  for Sarah and the 1851 census with both Sarah and John. I enter the details onto my ancestry tree with speculation in the identifier. I park it and leave it to gather some hints, which helped me build the family tree further.

With so many options for Thomas Baker marrying various versions of Anns and no definitive idea of his death, it is likely there will be another dead ends for a while to come.

Pleasingly, after my DNA test, I had been able to match a couple of Julia's grandchildren.  i.e., my grandmother Selina's siblings and their descendants in both Australia, England, and Canada. I can narrow this down to her Greedus ( Smith-Baker ) side  relatives.

There are at least 10 DNA matches to Julia and/or Thomas Baker. Suddenly, others around the fourth cousin range emerged with some further hints from Ancestry "thru lines".  Cautiously, I flesh out Sarah Baker's tree, and more DNA matches are revealed. I'm confident I'm on the money.

Four DNA matches to Sarah Baker from two of Sarah's children have emerged on Sarah's line to add to the 10 through Julia.

Sarah and Martin Yates had at least eight children between them-

William Jesse b1848

Selina b 1850

Sarah b 1853

Charles b 1855

Rosina b 1861

Eliza b 1864

Emma  b 1865

James b 1869

DNA matches from the Yates line

One of them, William Jesse Yates 1849-1918, has DNA matches which co-match with me and my Gadsby relatives. William Jesse married Charlotte Doody.  While William and Charlotte had 10 children quite a few of his family  appears to have gone to Michigan, USA, to live. Another example of the diaspora.

DNA matches seem to be emanating from two of Sarah's children. The second is Sarah Yates 1853-1930, who married Joseph Edward Lowe. They had 12 children. I’ve explored and verified these matches.

Of Sarah and Julia’s brother John, the last we saw of him was when he was living with his sister Sarah and newly married husband back in 1851. With all the possibilities, there are too many John's and marriage options to speculate on. It's quite likely that he even left and went to Canada or America. The last I can find of Mary Ann Baker was she was possibly a servant in Middlesex in the 1851 census in St Luke's, Finsbury, but nothing else definitive there.

So excitedly, one more part of the Baker brick wall has a big crack in it. Beware of the rubble. Fiddling around with true lines with caution and DNA matches can be useful in helping to sort a brick wall. I've been able to sort some ambitious ancestry suggestions by cross-matching the dubious DNA matches with my Pro tools. For example, one that was telling me I was definitely related to another unknown relative of the Baker family, has now showed through cross-referencing with Pro Tools that the person is actually related via the Kelf family, despite the fact that this person seems to have a paper trail back to possibly the wrong Thomas Baker.

 

Tip of the Day:

Occasionally, it's necessary to start a tree, put it on Ancestry, and wait for hints. Sometimes it works, and other times there's no response. Recently, I did this with a Polish tree where I had no clue. I am being prompted with hints and gathering up information bit by bit after putting a speculative tree on Ancestry with a warning that it was definitely speculative. I did the same with the Bakers with some pleasing success but there are a lot of Thomas Baker combinations hence the importance of warning others about speculation.