I am posting in the hope that there may be someone in the Forum who has some knowledge about trades in the late 1700s, specifically cordwaining or leather work generally, in the Herefordshire area, which may help me solve a mystery concerning Thomas Gardener and his wife Elizabeth.

This couple were married in Whitchurch, Herefordshire in 1798 and then, it seems, have just disappeared.

I found details for Thomas in Whitchurch through the FoD “Parish Records” link (this data set is an incredible resource btw, congrats to those who set that up). He was baptised in Whitchurch in 1776 and married Elizabeth Moore there in 1798. She was only very young (about 13-14) when they married which may have accounted for them not having any children straight away after their marriage. In fact, after their marriage there is no trace of them that I can find and this has led me to think that maybe they left Whitchurch after 1798.

As a result of many weeks of effort, I finally made a tenuous connection between this Thomas and a Thomas Gardener who lived with his wife Elizabeth and family in Worcester at least between 1805 and 1822, possibly longer. I found an Apprentices’ Indentures record dated 1786 (when the Whitchurch Thomas would have been 10 years old) for a Tho Gardener who was apprenticed as a cordwainer to George Jarrett in Whitchurch. The tenuous link I referred to is that the Thomas in Worcester was working as a “grounder of leather” - this information appears in the baptism records of his children in Worcester.

Lastly, and this may have zero relevance but it may explain why he went to Worcester in the first place, is that some of the baptisms in Worcester were in non-conformist churches (eg Worcester St Helen Pump Street Methodist) - perhaps he was a member of a non-conformist church in Whitchurch.

Sorry that was so long-winded.

So, my question to the Forum is - would anyone know of any information available, relating to cordwaining or leather work generally, perhaps information in guild records or other local or church records, in fact anything at all that might help me tie these two Thomas Gardeners together?

Found this Thomas and Elizabeth living at the Doward in 1841 - different spelling of Gardener inevitably - no idea if they are the couple you are looking for - ages are about right.

Name Thomas Gardiner
Sex Male
Age 60
Event Date 1841
Event Place Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original) Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England
Registration District Monmouth
Event Type Census
Residence Note Doward
Birth Year (Estimated) 1777-1781
Birthplace Herefordshire
Page Number 3
Piece/Folio 431/29
Registration Number HO107
Other People on This Record
Mary Gardiner
F
20
Herefordshire
Thomas Gardiner
M
2
Herefordshire
Elizabeth Gardiner
F
55
Herefordshire
Name Elizabeth Gardiner
Sex Female
Age 55
Event Date 1841
Event Place Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original) Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England
Registration District Monmouth
Event Type Census
Residence Note Doward
Birth Year (Estimated) 1782-1786
Birthplace Herefordshire
Page Number 3
Piece/Folio 431/29
Registration Number HO107
James Gardiner
M
20
Herefordshire

Thanks Nick. I originally thought this couple were my target couple because they fit perfectly in terms of age and location. But I was only alerted a couple of days ago to the existence of another Thomas Gardener by someone in the Whitchurch FHS. The chap whose info you sent was born 1779, whereas the chap I'm after was baptised 1776. You probably saw him in that data set search.

I appreciate your effort for me. Thank you.

Just a try - you never know as first names often run in families.

I have a whole load of William and Henry Worgans over in the Newland area, some of whom I’m sure are my direct antecedents, but separating them has proved to be impossible so far.

Good luck with your research - keep us updated if you find anything please.

PS Just to add do not take ages listed in a census literally. The first censuses had very odd instructions on how ages should be calculated and entered. Plus, people then as now sometimes lie about, or misremember, their age. I had one relative back a couple of hundred years ago who consistently took 10 years off her actual age when doing the census - probably because she'd have been several years older than her husband if she hadn't :-)