11.19.07
David Houghton
The father of J. S. S. Houghton was David Houghton. His birth was quite a struggle to find. I found him on all the available census records (except 1881) and from these, I knew where he was born, his approximate birth year and his parents’ names. I had searched the civil registration indexes by variations of his surname, including Houghton, Oughton, Howten, Howtin, … you get the picture. I wasn’t until my last trip to research at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, did I finally find closure to this.
My friend, Janet, was serving a mission in Salt Lake City and she told me of records that she was working with that might help. Sure enough, I found David in an as yet unpublished index of parish registers for Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Because the records were indexed, I could do a given name sort on his father, Isaac, whose name was less common than David. I found his baptism under the surname of OATEN!
janet said,
November 20, 2007 at 5:24 pm
The NewFamily Search by mid 2008 should include many
indexes for Britain and other Countries. I also recommend
the Wallis IGI website as a Great Search Tool.
Blanche Charles said,
June 8, 2008 at 3:13 am
How interesting, David! My (Cornish) forebears arrived in New Zealand in 1873 with the name HOATTEN. They were literate.
In Cornwall their name was sometimes spelled HOTTEN / HOTTON, but there seems to be no connection to other Cornish HOTTEN families. It took me some time to find what I think is their line, in St Agnes, spelled HOUGHTON / HOUTON/ HOTON / HAUGHTON / HAUTON / HAWTON.
There are also families in Cornwall named OAT[T]EN and OTTEN.
Kind regards,
Blanche Charles
Wellington
New Zealand