Hannah Finch (May 1 1865 - Dec 1865)

Hannah is the daughter of William Finch (1835-1912) and Elizabeth (nee Gaskill 1837-1873). Hannah was born May 1 1865 in Ince in Makerfield and the Lancs OPC has her baptised on Dec 11 1865 at All Saint’s parish Church In Wigan. However, the IGI has a Hannah Finch baptised Dec 11 1865 at St Catherine's, Wigan. So, what’s the truth in this and why would there be any discrepancy if any at all does exist. Perhaps someone can explain this for me?

I looked and looked for a marriage for Hannah and finally came away with the idea that this may have been one of the many Finch girls that never made it to adulthood and who died young. Starting from the known and working to the unknown is a standard operating procedure and I followed this in the case of Hannah.

We know that Hannah was born in 1865 and the next test is the 1871 census and here we find the main indication that Hannah did not make it when Hannah does not turn up with her siblings in the paper record. I have often watched those TV shows where modern people find their ancestors in the workhouse and they break down and cry there and then on TV. Well, I didn’t cry but I came close at crying for someone who was cut short before they could fulfil their potential.

In the 1871 census we can be fairly confident that we have the correct William and Elizabeth Finch. William is seen to have been born in Standish which is correct and in 1833 which is close to the true date of 1835. Elizabeth is said to be born in 1838 which is close to the correct date of 1837. It is in the presence of the correct children that we can conclude that this is the correct family and that Hannah is not there as we could reasonable expect her to be.

The 1871 census show the presence of Richard Finch aged 11, John Thomas aged 7 and their sister Jane, aged 3. However, there is no Hannah who seems absent. The IGI does not carry the death/burial date although the Lancs BMD does have a Hannah dying in 1865 and I am going to accept this entry as a real possibility of being ‘our’ Hannah Finch rather than someone totally unrelated. Hannah seems not to have made it. Just to be complete I also checked the 1881 census and Hannah isn’t there either.

There is no burial for Hannah in the Wigan Cemetery which has an excellent searchable database and I can only imagine that she was interred at Hindley or another place. Perhaps Saint Catherine’s had a cemetery and this served as the final resting place for Hannah.