John Key
 

FMFFFF

I’m not sure if this man actually existed or whether he was just a name on his son’s marriage certificate! All children’s burial records on Family Search just list mother Anne and no father.

Name - "official" name and what they were known as – John Key

Date and place of birth – possibly about 1770 in Worcestershire

Names of parents - unknown

Date and place of baptism - unknown

Details of each of his or her marriages – possibly to Anne( Key?) place & date unknown.

Occupation(s) – Labourer (on son Thomas’ marriage certificate)

Addresses where they lived (including county if in UK) - and please list which censuses you have or haven't found him/her on (if s/he lived in census times!).
At least 3 children born/baptised in Abberley, Worcestershire between 1808 & 1812

Date, place and cause of death - unknown

Date and place of burial - unknown

Details of will / administration of their estate - unknown

Memorial inscription - unknown

Son?
Thomas Blainey Key

Wife?

Anne Key

Key Family - Abberley
 

Hello, just found your post and thought that you and I may have a "related" problem! My 4 x great grandfather was called Thomas Key and he married at Bitterley in South Shropshire in 1790 which I estimate gives him a birth date of 1760-1770.He lived and worked around Clee Hill. Unfortunately I have not managed to find a baptism for him in this area, the only other Thomas Keys of the right age being born in North Shropshire and marrying in that part of the county. In fact, I have found no other Keys in South Shropshire until Thomas' marriage in 1790. It occurred to me that my Thomas may have come up from North Herefordshire/Worcestershire to the Clee Hill area to work ( he was a miner in the coal mines), so I was interested to read about your Keys in Abberley, Great Whitley and of others in Ombersley. These areas are only about 10 miles from the Clee Hills so it is feasible that my Thomas could be a member of your branch. Am probably clutching at straws but please understand that this is my first new lead after 5 years of hitting brick walls!
If your John did exist, he would have been of the same generation as my Thomas Key, who actually named his first born son John. I have always wondered if he named his son after his father or a brother. I have noted that there was a Thomas Key baptised at Ombersley in 1762 who might be a contender for my ancestor. I too have had no luck in finding a burial record, though it seems that my Keys (like many mining families)became non-conformists and the chapel burial records for Clee Hill no longer exist. Do you know if the parish records for Abberley etc are complete and have you managed to look through them for any Key family entries? With very best wishes from a fellow frustrated Key family researcher! Jason Key