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SEE NOTES AT THE END OF THE PAGE						PAGE UPDATED			23 JULY 2009 25 SEPTEMBER 2018
WIGLEY FAMILY HISTORY								page 5 OTTEN mystery
HENRY/HARRY WIGLEY – HENRY/HARRY OTTEN II WERE THEY THE SAME PERSON?
● figures in brackets [….] are the approximate year of birth/marriage, calculated from the immediately preceding age* ● WHITECHAPEL and ST GEORGE IN THE EAST (STEPNEY) are roughly in the same area ● * there are always discrepancies in the ages people state in the census returns
	HENRY/HARRY WIGLEY			HENRY/HARRY OTTEN II
BIRTH & PARENTS	HENRY WIGLEY born 2 SEP 1857, WHITECHAPEL WORKHOUSE, mother JANE WIGLEY, no father shown^BIRTH^CERTIFICATE			NONE IN ENGLAND & WALES BIRTHS, BUT:
		1861 CENSUS c/o EDWARD WIGLEY II as “GRANDSON”, age 3, [1858], born WHITECHAPEL, MIDDX 1871 CENSUS still c/o EDWARD WIGLEY II (why?) as “SON”, age 14, [1857], born ST GEORGE IN THE EAST (STEPNEY), MIDDX When a child is living with its grandparents, it is often because its mother is an unmarried daughter of the family Their daughter JANE II was born in 1839, so would have been old enough (18 years old) to be the mother: in 1851 she was at home, in St George In The East (Stepney), Middx, in 1861 a lodger, unmarried, still in St. George In The East (Stepney), so she was living in the right area to be HENRY’s mother Only Edward II’s 2 eldest children plus Jane II would have been old enough to be the parent, and the 2 eldest children seem to have been living in Kent when Henry was born, so it is possible that he was Jane II’s illegitimate son, born before her marriage, the father possibly being HENRY OTTEN I, especially if he later changed his name to Henry/Harry Otten JANE II married, sometime between 1861 and 1865, when a daughter was born, HENRY OTTEN I, and they are together in the 1871 census, age 31 and 32 respectively – albeit without son HENRY - he stating he is a cigar maker, born in St. George In The East (Stepney), where they were living, not Germany; his father was definitely born in Germany; after the 1871 census they are no longer found – either they died young, or perhaps they also emigrated, although no records have been found			according to the 1900 USA census he was born in SEP 1861*, according to the 1910-30 census he was born about 1860-3, always in England: his name was always given as “HARRY”
CENSUS RECORDS	1861-71 see above 1881 “HARRY” WIGLEY, at own home, age 23 [1858], born WHITECHAPEL, MIDDX, wife MARION 20 [1861], son HARRY EDWD 9 months [JUNE 1880] 1891 ONWARDS: not found			1861-81 not found 1890 USA census not available 1900 “HARRY” OTTEN born SEP 1861*, England, married 21 years, 7 children of which 4 surviving, father German, wife MARRION born NOV? 1862, England, children HARRY E. born JUNE 1880, England, ALFRED C. born MAR? 1882, England, GLAD- E. born JUNE 1892, New York State, ARTHUR R. born AUGUST 1898, New York State 1910 “HARRY” OTTEN age 48, [1862], England, married 29 years, 8 children of which 4 surviving, father German, wife MARION 45, [1865], Scotland(!), son ARTHUR R. 11, born New York State 1920 “HARRY” OTTEN age 57?, [1863], England, father German, wife MARRION 54, [1866], England (again!), son ARTHUR 20?, born New York State 1930 “HARRY” OTTEN age 70, [1860], England, married age 19, father German, wife MARION 65. [1865], England, married age 16, no children
MARRIAGE	15 SEP 1879, CHRISTCHURCH, RAMSGATE, KENT, to MARION PANTRY – the certificate shows his father as Edward Wigley, policeman, who was in fact his grandfather			NONE IN ENGLAND & WALES MARRIAGES, BUT:
					according to the various censuses, wife MARION, married about 1879-81, Harry at age 19 [1879-82], Marion age 16 [1878-82]
CHILDREN	HARRY EDWARD WIGLEY, born Q3 1880, Bridge, Kent R/D, mother's maiden name Pantry^BMD / Chartham, Kent^CENSUS, baptized 18 JUL 1880, Christ Church, Dunkirk, Kent, son of Harry & Marion Wigley^CERT ALFRED CHARLES OTTEN, born Q2 1882, Dartford, Kent R/D, mother's maiden name Pantry^BMD			HARRY EDWARD born about 1881, England ALFRED CHARLES born about 1882, England GLADYS EDYTHE, USA ARTHUR R., USA 4 others (died young)
EMIGRATION				NEW YORK PASSENGER LISTS ARRIVAL 7 SEP 1883: HENRY OTTEN born about 1858 MARY OTTEN born about 1859 HARRY born about 1881 ALFRED born about 1882 according to the various census, he immigrated 1881-2 ● unfortunately, UK passenger lists only start in 1890, so there is no way of knowing what name he left with!
OTHER				in 1904, HERBERT WILLIAM WIGLEY’s ticket to New York was paid by HIS COUSIN, HARRY OTTEN, Albany, New York, with whom he was going to stay – if they were cousins, they were both grandsons of Edward Wigley II
CONCLUSION ● SO IT LOOKS AS THOUGH HENRY/HARRY WIGLEY: • USED HIS (LEGAL) NAME WIGLEY WHEN HE GOT MARRIED • HAD HIS 1^ST SON’S BIRTH REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF WIGLEY, BUT THE 2^ND SON’S IN THE NAME OF OTTEN • CHANGED HIS NAME TO HARRY OTTEN, OR RATHER USED HIS (PROBABLE) FATHER’S NAME, WHEN HE EMIGRATED TO THE USA, ALTHOUGH HE MIGHT HAVE USED IT EARLIER ● EITHER THIS WAS OF HIS OWN CHOICE, OR PERHAPS THERE WAS SOME MORE IMPORTANT REASON …. ● THERE WERE ALREADY OTTENS IN NEW YORK STATE, OF GERMAN ORIGIN – POSSIBLY RELATIVES ON HIS FATHER’S SIDE, SO PERHAPS THAT INFLUENCED HIM
NOTES: Roman numerals after a person’s name, eg. RIchard I, are purely to distinguish different people with the same name R/D = Registration DistrIct R/O = Register OffIce (for an explanation of these two terms, see homepage) COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS WELCOMED IN PARTICULAR, PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF ANY LINKS THAT DON’T WORK CONTACT ADDRESS ON HOMEPAGE
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