In my post last week for Rebekah Dredge, I mentioned that she married a Thomas/James Commons/Cummins, and they apparently had two children, James and Elizabeth. I also mentioned that the informant at my ancestor Elizabeth Clements death was a Mary Ann Cummins. Was there a connection?
I decided to trace the James Cummins christened 7 July 1804. To do this, I decided to use census records, combined with the parish registers at FreeReg. I generally use ancestry.com.au for searching the census records, as they have the images as well as the index.
The first entry I found was the 1881 England Census.
James Cummins, age 76 (born about 1805), born Frome Somerset, England. Marital status widow. Relationship to head – father. Residence 17 The Mint, Frome, Somerset, England. The head of the household was James Cummins age 46. His wife was Mary A. Cummins.
1881 census of England, 17 The Mint, Frome, Somerset, folio 10, page 13, James Cummins; digital images, ancestry, ancestry (http://home.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 28 Mar 2015); citing PRO RG 11/2401.
Since the 1881 census was the only one that came up under James Cummins, I used wildcards to try and find James on the earlier censuses – C*mm*ns
On the 1861 Census there was James Commins age 55, born about 1806, relation head, wife Anne Commins, birthplace Frome, Somerset, England. Also in the household were Anne Commins, age 60, Joseph Commins age 22 and Mary Ann Commins age 5.
1861 census of England, Frome, Somerset, folio 33, page 11, James Commins; digital images, ancestry, ancestry (http://home.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 28 Mar 2015); citing PRO RG 9/1654.
A search of FreeReg for any entries for the surname Cummins (or soundex variations), resulted in the following entries – I have removed the entries for surnames Cannings, Cunningham etc. that seemed unlikely to be variants for Cummins, and removed duplicates of entries that appeared to be for the same event.
Record Type BaptismDate Surname Forename County Place
Baptisms 12 May 1750 COMINS Mary Somerset Frome
Baptisms 21 Dec 1751 CUMMINGS Jane Somerset Frome
Baptisms 27 May 1758 CUMINS Ann Somerset Frome
Baptisms 09 Feb 1760 CUMINS James Somerset Frome
Baptisms 19 Sep 1761 CUMMINS Betty Somerset Frome
Baptisms 07 Nov 1767 CUMMINS Hannah Somerset Frome
Parents Joseph & Betty/Elizabeth
Baptisms 07 Jul 1804 CUMMINS James Somerset Frome
Baptisms 03 Apr 1809 CUMMINS Elizabeth Somerset Frome
Parents James & Rebecca
Baptisms 06 Jun 1835 CUMMINS James Somerset Frome
Baptisms 06 Oct 1838 COMYNS Joseph Somerset Frome
Parents James & Ann
Baptisms 06 Oct 1855 COMMONS Mary Ann Somerset Frome
Baptisms 09 Sep 1857 COMMONS Emily Somerset Frome
Baptisms 29 May 1859 CUMMING Rosa Jane Somerset Frome
Baptisms 07 Mar 1861 COMMINS Emily Jane Somerset Frome
Baptisms 25 Jan 1863 COMMONS Ellen Somerset Frome
Baptisms 26 Nov 1865 COMMONS William Harry Somerset Frome
Baptisms 26 Jul 1868 COMMONS William James Somerset Frome
Baptisms 25 Sep 1870 COMMONS Sarah Eliza Somerset Frome
Baptisms 21 Dec 1872 COMMONS Alice Louisa Somerset Frome
Baptisms 19 Sep 1874 COMMONS Eliza Somerset Frome
Baptisms 06 Sep 1876 COMMONS Walter George Somerset Frome
Baptisms 14 Aug 1877 COMMONS Georgina Somerset Frome
Baptisms 21 Sep 1878 COMMONS Herbert Somerset Frome
Baptisms 20 Aug 1881 COMMONS Georgina Somerset Frome
Parents James & Mary Ann
Baptisms 28 May 1893 CUMMING Earnest Andrew Arthur Somerset Frome
surname possibly Canning – Father Alexander, which doesn’t fit in with the Cummins family
Baptisms 15 Apr 1905 COMMONS Harold Stanley Somerset Frome
Baptisms 15 Apr 1905 COMMONS Winifred Dora Somerset Frome
parents for both William James and Caroline Commons
Record Type Burial Date Surname Forename County Place
Burials 02 May 1745 COMINS Jane Somerset Frome wife of Joseph
Burials 10 Aug 1762 CUMMINS Hannah Somerset Frome
Burials 08 Dec 1765 COMMINS Joseph Somerset Frome son of Joseph
Burials 19 Jun 1768 CUMMINS Hannah Somerset Frome daughter of Joseph
Burials 27 Feb 1777 COMMINS Joseph Somerset Frome
Burials 18 Jun 1799 COMMONS Betty Somerset Frome
Burials 29 Oct 1820 CUMMINS James Somerset Frome age 52
Burials 22 Dec 1844 CUMMINS Rebecca Somerset Frome age 81
Burials 28 Sep 1857 COMMONS Emily Somerset Frome age 7w
Burials 19 Sep 1859 CUMMINS Rosa Jane Somerset Frome age 4m
Burials 09 Jul 1868 CUMMINS William Somerset Frome age 2
Burials 19 Aug 1873 COMMONS Eliza Sarah Somerset Frome age 3
Burials 21 Dec 1876 COMMONS Walter George Somerset Frome age 5m
Burials 20 Aug 1877 COMMONS Georgina Somerset Frome age 4w
Burials 22 Jan 1878 COMMONS Ann Somerset Frome age 75
Burials 06 May 1885 CUMMINGS Joseph Somerset Frome
Burials 09 Jul 1888 COMMONS James Somerset Frome age 84
Burials 20 May 1897 COMMONS Mary Ann Somerset Frome age 61
Record Type Marriage Date Surname Forename County Place Bride’s name
Marriages 28 Jan 1749/50 COMINS Joseph Somerset Frome Mary Blunt
Marriages 25 Nov 1773 BROOKMAN William Somerset Frome Mary Cummins
Marriages 20 Apr 1778 WALLIS Thomas Somerset Frome Anne Commins
Marriages 20 Dec 1784 BUD James Somerset Frome Betty Commons
Marriages 24 Oct 1805 COMMONS Thomas Somerset Frome Rebecca Whimpey
Marriages 23 Jun 1828 COMMINGS James Somerset Frome Ann Flower
Marriages 08 Jul 1855 COMMONS James Somerset Frome Mary Ann Dunning
Marriages 25 Mar 1883 HAPPERFIELD Tom Somerset Frome Ellen Commons
Marriages 14 Apr 1884 JAMES Henry Somerset Frome Emily Jane Commons
Marriages 25 Apr 1896 HILLIER Albert Somerset Frome Eliza Commons
Marriages 21 Jul 1901 GRAINGER Herbert Henry Somerset Frome Alice Louisa Commons
It would appear that all these parish register entries are for the same family line, which would indicate that Mary Ann Cummins’ relationship to Elizabeth Whimpey nee Clement(s) is – husband’s nephew’s wife (to be more precise her husband’s half-nephew’s wife, as James Cummins was William Whimpey’s half-brother).
Using the records I have accessed so far, I have set up a family tree for the family.Cummins family. – you may notice I don’t have many sources in this descendant report. This is a preliminary outline of the information I have gathered – I will go in later to add the source citations (since I have recently started setting up a new family tree, this may take some time.)
Lois Willis - Genealogy and Family History 