William Mallars Fitz Austen

(circa 3 January 1829 - 1905)

BMDB data

     William Mallars Fitz Austen was born cir. 3 Jan 1829 Lambeth, SRY, ENG, if the railway records are indeed this chap, then 67 and 7/12 counted back from 3 Aug 1896, ie 3 Jan 1829.1 It is possible that William Mallars Fitz Austen was baptized in 1835 entry shows William Mallars as son of Daniel, laborer, and Caroline FITZAUSTEN, resid. New Cut.
For this to fit, however well the names work, it would have to be a late baptism as census data places William Mallars Fitz AUSTEN as born Lambeth around 1829.
There is no birth date given on the baptism entry.2
     William Mallars Fitz Austen married Sarah Jane Biggs on 17 Aug 1869 Whitechapel, MDX, ENG, cert. excerpts show William Mallars Fitz s/o Robert (solicitor dec'd) AUSTEN; Sarah Jane BIGGS formerly BLAKE.3,4
     William Mallars Fitz Austen died in 1905 Hackney, MDX, ENG.
     Work in progress...

This chap is increatsingly "of interest" thanks to the closest as yet unidentified DNA match to myself, my maternal aunts and several of my maternal cousins.
The match is a maternal match from my aunts' viewpoints, so the connection is somewhere back up either their Rowe/Dawe or Austin/Clinton ancestry.
With no matches to any of the well represented DNA tested Rowe or Dawe descendants, the Austin/Clinton ancestry looks very very likely.
Refer to this blogpost for further info and links to sites with ongoing developments, ie RootsChat, WikiTree and FamilySearch.5

Census/Where lived/Occupations

     William Mallars Fitz Austen was a railway porter. He was living Mansell St (52), Whitechapel, MDX, ENG, in Aug 1869 when he married Sarah.3
     By Nov 1869 William Mallars Fitz Austen and Sarah Jane Austen were living Regent St Sth (16), Mile End Old Town, MDX, ENG.6
     William Mallars Fitz Austen appeared on the census of 1871 Mile End Old Town, MDX, with Sarah Jane Austen, enumerated as AUSTEN: William 41 railway porter b. Lambeth, SRY; wife Sarah 41 milliner b. Holborn, MDX; Children: William 1, Ada 1 both b. Mile End Old Town, MDX; Julia 7 b. Southwark, SRY; Aunt Hannah MALLARS 66 unm, formerly cook b. Southwark, SRY.7

Names

     His surname was recorded as Fitzaustin (if the potential baptism is the correct one), and also swaps between AustIn and Austen in records.2

All the other info

     William Austin railway porter marrying Emma CLINTON in 1853 (St Martin in the Fields) and William Mallars Fitz Austen railway porter marrying Sarah Jane BIGGS formerly BLAKE in 1869 (Whitechapel) are possibly the same person never mind that the 1853 one had emigrated to Australia in 1853.
Pros:
occupations certainly match - both were Railway Porters:
my one when he married in 1853
WMFA in the 1871/1881 census and 1869 birth cert. of son William Edward Sinclair Fitz AUSTEN (WESFA).
and his 1869 marr. cert. to Sarah Jane BIGGS formerly BLAKE
but more importantly:
DNA matches are indicating a connection between these two families at a level of shared DNA that "fits" this theory.
My aunts would be half 2nd cousins once removed, myself and my cousins half 3rd cousins to ouR match.

Cons:
1869 birth cert. of WESFA shows his father as an engineer, but that seems not to be based on any evidence found to date
The family of William Edward AUSTIN marrying Alice CARTER is still being pieced together, slowly, and may have one or two leaps of faith in it as yet.

To prove this, we would love to hear from any descendants who may have tested, or would be interested in doing so.
Contact details in the footer of every page.5

External links

     Click here to see William's page on WikiTree, a (free) collaborative on-line tree.8

Family

Sarah Jane Blake (cir. 1827 - )
Children
  • William Edward Sinclair Fitz Austen6 (Nov 1869 - )
  • Ada Hannah Louisa Austen9 (Nov 1869 - )
Last Edited19 Mar 2019

Citations

  1. UK Railway Employment Records, 1833-1956 online at ancestry.com, 3 Aug 1896 William AUSTIN "services not req'd", #7907, aged 67 7/12, stocktaker, 2nd class ins. 21/-, service 34 yrs 6 mths foreman BROAD, extracted Mar 2019.
  2. London Metropolitan Archives: Birth death marriage (filmed originals): , Bap. 11 Jan 1835 William Mallars s/o Daniel (laborer) & Caroline FITZAUSTIN, Lambeth St Mary, SRY, resid. New Cut, extracted Mar 2019.
  3. RootsChat Msge Board online at http://www.rootschat.com, Marr. 17 Aug 1869 William Mallars Fitz s/o Robert (solicitor dec'd) AUSTEN; Sarah Jane BIGGS formerly BLAKE, Whitechapel, MDX; Vol1c/ pg 778, transcript from Mikehere (https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=602971.0), extracted Mar 2019.
  4. Www FreeBMD ENG online at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl, Marr. 1869 Q3 William AUSTEN & Sarah BIGGS, reg. Whitechapel, LND 1c/778, extracted Mar 2019.
  5. "Lorna's Family History Musings", Mar 2019.
  6. Various, BDM Certified copy, Birth 8 Nov 1869 William Edward Sinclair Fitz s/o William Mallars Fitz (porter) AUSTEN & Sarah Jane BIGGS formerly BLAKE, resid. 16 Regent St Sth, reg. Mile End Old Town, MDX, copy rcvd ex GRO Mar 2019.
  7. 1871 Census images, England & Wales, via Ancestry.com, Mile End Old Town, Par. of Trinity, Borough of Tower Hamlets, LND, RG10; Piece: 561; Folio: 110; Page: 46; Sched. 266; hsehold of William & Sarah AUSTEN, extracted Mar 2019.
  8. WikiTree online at http://WikiTree.com/, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Austin-9878, created Feb 2019.
  9. England/Wales GRO online index by GRO England online at https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/…, Birth 1869 Q4 Ada Hannah Louisa AUSTEN, mother BLAKE, reg. Mile End Old Town (MDX), Vol 01C/ pg 604, extracted Mar 2019.

E. & O. E. Some/most parish records are rather hard to read and names, places hard to interpret, particularly if you are unfamiliar with an area.