Tag: Wilson

Paul Sutcliffe, It’s Your Turn!

Posted on by Kathleen

Who Were Paul Sutcliffe’s parents?

This is the question I’ve been asking for a long time. In search of the answer I’ve been collecting records like they are Pokémon and each one just adds to the confusion. I shouldn’t be surprised, it is the way it goes in genealogy research. Paul is one of my immigrant ancestors so any information I can find about him can help me narrow down the search.

What Information Did I Start With

I know Paul was born in England around 1839 to 1842. This comes from various sources. His tombstone gives the date of 1839. The other sources just give his age in years and I’ve calculated from that. I also have some Civil War Records that I ordered through CivilWarRecords.com. Those put his age in the general 1841 range.

We know Paul died in 1874 of consumption1. He is only present on one United States Census, which was the 1870 census2. This census while useful for many reasons, is very unproductive in terms of a birth month/year or even his parents birthplaces like other censuses. It does however give us some information. So we are all grateful for that. From his death record, I know his parents names are John and Elizabeth Sutcliffe3. That’s it, that’s all I’ve got. Genealogy is fun right?!

What Searches Have I Done

I did do a quick passenger list search and there is a Paul Sutcliff, who was born about 1839, arriving in New York City on July 25, 1859 from England4. Of course that is all the information the record gives, so it isn’t really a great start. Once I saw that passenger list date I tried to find any Paul Sutcliff/Sutcliffe in the 1860 United States Census and wow, I’ve never seen so few results on such a generic search. 🤣 If anyone has any better luck, please let me know!

My next try was baptism records in England. It was the best I could think of and I happen to really enjoy looking through them.

This entry for Elizabeth Sutcliffe and her son Paul was very interesting for me. Usually they will give the father and mother’s name in a baptism record. When there is no father’s name, it most likely means that she was unmarried. The key detail to show she was not married is that her “Quality, Trade or Profession” listed her as a “spinster.” This was term they used in this era for unmarried women on records.

The information we get from this record is Paul, son of Elizabeth Sutcliff who lives in Black Abbey was born Aug 1, 1839 and baptized on Aug 18, 1839 in the St. James, Accrington Parish Church, Lancashire, England5.

It was at this point I got overwhelmed and took a break from the Sutcliffes. I tend to jump around on which family I’m researching quite a bit. I think anyone who actually is still reading my blog at this point knows that. 😂

Then Came the DNA

What brought me back to them you ask? It was the DNA of course. Right now, I am working through the Shared Matches of Matches DNA class from Your DNA Guide. I don’t even remember how many times I’ve worked through this class at this point. It’s not that I didn’t understand, I just didn’t understand completely. 😂 So I keep working through it again when I get the urge to try. I won’t go into the whole process, because I am nowhere near qualified to teach it for one. Also, the classes there are so top tier, I think everyone should invest in them when possible. I’m saving up for my next one already.

Once I started using Pro Tools on my Shared Matches in Ancestry, I noticed a Wilson family kept popping up. Not the one I was used to from Yorkshire. Its very vital to mention that Paul Sutcliffe’s mother-in-law was Elizabeth Wilson, whose family is from Yorkshire. This means I wasn’t shocked to see a ton of Wilsons pop up in my matches, but I was shocked to see them in Lancashire. That’s when I decided to check my Dad’s Thrulines.

You will have to use your imagination a little. When I first came into this ThruLine the Wilson kids were green dotted line connections and showing as half siblings. It’s a bit of a spoiler that they are no longer showing as half siblings now that I added them to my tree, but that’s alright, we are all friends here. 😂 Basically, 16 cM and 11 cM are low amounts and according the Shared CM Project and What Are the Odds? it’s not impossible that Paul is either the full sibling or half sibling of these two Wilsons.

I started to build out the Wilson siblings trees to see if more matches would populate. There are 12 children total, including Paul and only one died as a child. That’s a lot of genealogy to do. It’s also worth noting that all of the Wilson children were baptized and many were married in the same church that Paul was baptized in. Just more circumstantial evidence to add to my case.

These two ThruLine matches trees did check out. That’s another green check in my column.

It’s Complicated but Not Really

When I say it’s a bit complicated, it’s really only because I am still missing some gaps at the beginning of Paul’s life. That’s not a complete shock since he was born before his mother was married. Let me give a timeline to show what I have found so far.

1839 Birth Certificate

On the 10th of August 1839, Elizabeth Sutcliff registers the birth of her son, Paul. He was born the 1st of August 18396. The location was given as Black Abbey in New Accrington. At first I had trouble finding this certificate until I realized that the General Register Office indexes the name of the child as the father’s name if the father’s name is given. Searching for Paul Wilson is what got me this certificate. Interestingly, it did not give the mother’s maiden name in the index.

1839 Baptism

On August 18th, 1839, Elizabeth has her son baptized in St. James Church, Accrington7. The location and birth date all match the official birth certificate.

1840 Marriage Record

One year after their sons birth, John and Elizabeth are married in Manchester on August 31, 18408.

1841 England Census

In the 1841 Census, we should see Paul with his parents if I’m right, but I just couldn’t find a match. We only have John and Elizabeth by themselves9. I did find a one year old named Paul Sutcliff living in the household of a Betty Sutcliffe in Black Abbey🤪 10. I’m going to dig deeper into both families before I will confirm it is a family member. So this is more like a yellow pending checkmark for my case.

1841 Birth Certificate

In September of 1841, John and Elizabeth had another child11. This certificate differs only slightly from the last one. You’ll notice Elizabeth is now listed as “formerly Sutcliffe”. They had a lot more children if I’m honest, but I haven’t gotten all the certificates yet. 😂 This one is basically to show the difference between Paul’s certificate before John and Elizabeth’s marriage and what one looks like after.

1851 England Census

In 1851, I found the family together in Accrington, except for John12. I believe I found him in another Wilson household, but I got overwhelmed with so much new information and decided to not investigate it yet. The big win is that Paul, aged 12, is in the household after being absent in 1841. Once I started filling in this part of the tree, there is a lot of information coming in very fast. I’m doing my best to go through it methodically and not make any mistakes. Hopefully this means I have a few more generations back I can go.

1861 England Census

Like I said, lots of kids. 😂 John is back, but on the previous page so we will have to just use our imaginations again13. Paul is now missing, which actually adds weight to the passenger list I mentioned earlier in the entry. Maybe that was actually him immigrating to the United States.

1870 United States Census

Paul married Mary S. Senior in 1863 in Bloomfield, New Jersey14. Mary’s mother was also a Wilson, so this is why I’m trying to be very careful as I go. I want to make sure if the lines cross, I get it correct and don’t get things too messed up. In 1870, Paul’s family is recorded living in Bloomfield, New Jersey15. His daughter, Alice, is on the next page. This family sure knows how to end up on the bottom of a census page. 🤣

1871 England Census

Our last census for John and Elizabeth is the 1871 England census and 6 of their 11 living children are with them16. Both John17 and Elizabeth18 died in 1879 and the children spread out after.

My Conclusion

I think it’s fair to say I believe that John Wilson and Elizabeth Sutcliffe are Paul’s parents. When I first discovered this I thought that maybe Paul immigrated to America to escape the stigma of being illegitimate. His parents did end up marrying but he did go by Sutcliffe in America. I’m not positive but I think for all intents and purposes that his English surname was Sutcliffe too unless they went to court and changed it. I know in America in the 1800s, they weren’t exactly checking birth certificates for identification, but I have no idea about England in that era. I can’t imagine Elizabeth would have put John’s name on Paul’s birth certificate unless he was the biological father.

My first thought of Paul escaping England due to stigma, I’m not so sure anymore. At least four of his siblings also came to America, so maybe they were just looking for fresh starts overall.

What’s Next?

Next is to keep researching Paul’s siblings down the line and see if I can identify more DNA matches. I’m sure there is plenty more to find and maybe I’ll cover the DNA aspects in its own entry. I also want to check out the parents of John and Elizabeth. The tree tangles and twists quite a bit together at this point. It reminds me a bit of my Mom’s Kentucky side. Where the same 5 or 6 names repeat a bit.

Below is just a rough graphic showing my progress on the siblings research.

  1. New Jersey State Archives, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, AW 1874: 172, 14, Paul Sutcliffe; digital image, “Deaths, Atlantic-Hudson Co.,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 18 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  2. 1870 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Bloomfield township, p. 77-B, dwelling 428, family 482, Paul Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 860. ↩︎
  3. New Jersey Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, AW 1874: 172, 14, Paul Sutcliffe. ↩︎
  4. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, online images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Dec 2025), manifest, Guy Mannering, 25 Jul 1859, Paul Sutcliff. ↩︎
  5. St. James (Accrington, Lancashire, England), St. James Parish (Accrington), Births and Baptisms, 1813-1909, “1830-1839,” Paul Sutcliffe baptism (1839); digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Apr 2026). ↩︎
  6. England and Wales, birth certificate for Paul Sutcliff, born 1 Aug 1839; citing 21/399/153, Sep quarter 1839, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  7. St. James (Accrington, Lancashire, England), St. James Parish (Accrington), Births and Baptisms, 1813-1909, “1830-1839,” Paul Sutcliffe baptism (1839). ↩︎
  8. Cathedral (Manchester, Lancashire, England), Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930, “1840,” John Wilson, Elizabeth Sutcliffe marriage (1840); digital images, Ancestry (http://ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026). ↩︎
  9. 1841 census of England, Lancashire, Accrington, folio 28, page 7, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2026); citing PRO HO 107/506/2. ↩︎
  10. 1841 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 10, page 14, Betty Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Apr 2026); citing PRO HO 107/506/4. ↩︎
  11. England and Wales, birth certificate for Mary Ann Wilson, born 8 Sep 1841; citing 08E/410/357, Sep quarter 1841, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  12. 1851 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 601, page 10, Elizabeth Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO HO 107/2250. ↩︎
  13. 1861 census of England, Lancashire, New Accrington, folio 33, page 27, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO RG 9/3064. ↩︎
  14. New Jersey State Archives, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1711-1878, J: 237, 9, Paul Sutcliff, Mary S. Seniour marriage (1863); digital image, “Essex County, Marriages, Deaths, 1848-1867,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 18 Jan 2025). ↩︎
  15. 1870 U.S. census, Essex County, New Jersey, population schedule, Bloomfield township, p. 77-B, dwelling 428, family 482, Paul Sutcliff household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Jan 2025); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 860. ↩︎
  16. 1871 census of England, Lancashire, Old Accrington, folio 59, page 3, John Wilson household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 Apr 2026); citing PRO RG 10/4142. ↩︎
  17. England and Wales, death certificate for John Wilson, died 16 Jun 1879; citing 08E/125/289, Jun quarter 1879, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎
  18. England and Wales, death certificate for Elizabeth Wilson, died 1 Mar 1879; citing 08E/157/87, Mar quarter 1879, Haslingden registration district; General Register Office, Southport. ↩︎