Devizes
Wiltshire, SN10 3SB
Tel. 01380 722893
12th May 1996
Dear Mrs Livingstone.
Quite out of the blue, a copy of the 1801 census forHighworth has been found at the Record Office in the papersdeposited by a solicitor some time ago, but not yet sorted.
The census only names heads of households, but givesanswers to some other questions. There are two Brindfamilies shown, as follows
| Head of Household | Wm BRIND | John BRIND |
| No. of families in House | 2 | 1 |
| No. males, incl. children | 5 | 5 |
| No. females incl. children | 3 | 3 |
| No. employed in agriculture | 3 | 4 |
| No. do in trade, manufacture or handicrafts | 1 | - |
| No. not employed | 4 | 4 |
These figures appear to tie up with baptisms in the case of William, but for John & Sarah, the recorded baptisms/births are:
| John | 1784 |
| Charles | 1788 |
| Betty | 1791 |
| Edward | 1796 |
| Ann | 1799 |
also Fanny born 1803 after the census
At the census the answers to the questions should have been 1,4,3,4,-,3 (John jun. & Charles were old enough to be working). Therefore there is one other boy than those listed. Was it Thomas? I think there is'a good chance that it was - I have come across a number of occasions where one child of a family is not recorded as baptised, one reason being that the registers had to be kept in the Parish Chest, with three keys, held one each by the church wardens and one by the incumbemnt. The chest could lawfully be only opened on Sundays in the presence of all three, and No. provision was made for the absence of one of them!
I am still keeping my eyes open for clues.
