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Do I have the correct Smith?

Q I have read with great interest David Annal’s excellent article entitled ‘Getting to Grips with Family Reconstruction’ (FT March 2021).

Following on from his very detailed and helpful article I am now writing to ask for help with my brick wall which concerns tracing my 2x great-grandfather William Smith’s birth location together with learning the names of his parents and siblings.

Places identified

My research so far has taken place mostly in two locations, briefly in Hartlepool, Co. Durham and Bridlington, East Yorkshire. My father was born in Hartlepool but it was my great-grandfather who, as a married man, started the small family ‘bubble’ that began in that location. No current family member had any knowledge of relatives or ancestors connected with Bridlington, East Yorkshire which is where my story so far has taken me.

Facts identified

Starting in Hartlepool with my great-grandfather (who lived in that town but whose baptism took place on 13 February 1819, in St. Mary’s Bridlington), he remained an ordinary sailor for a large part of his working life. I hold a few copies of the records of the ships upon which he served plus three of his seamen’s tickets. He also left a will dated 1897: very brief, he was a man of small means.

The three seamen’s tickets

Here are the details of the three seaman’s tickets:

The first ticket issued at Bridlington 13 January 1845, no. 355,82, states:

• he was born in Bridlington;
• that he first went to sea as an apprentice in 1830;
• he undertook foreign service – spent 4 months in America;
• when unemployed he resides at Gransmoor, East Yorkshire.

The second ticket issued at Hartlepool on 11 September 1845, no. 255,095, states:

• he was born at Bridlington;
• first went to sea as an apprentice in 1833;
• foreign service – none;
• when unemployed resides in Hartlepool.

The third ticket issued at Seaham on 25 May 1850, no. 4480637, states:

• he was born at Bridlington;
• first went to sea as an apprentice but no date given;
• foreign service – none;
• when unemployed no location given.

Back in 1857, at the age of 44, as a widower, he married a lady named Elizabeth Andrew aged 31 in St. Laurence’s Church, Scalby, now a suburb of Scarborough (I hold a copy of their wedding certificate). The Hartlepool family were aware that Elizabeth Andrew was born in Whitby. A current family member has in her possession a Victorian blue glass rolling pin emblazoned with the names of the couple and a sketch of a Whitby ship called the Smales. Presumably William was a member of that ship’s crew when he and Elizabeth first met.

The 1861 Census (RG9 Piece 3704 Folio 98 Page 10) provided my earliest census sighting of William Smith, the sailor (b.1819). Maybe he was at sea, when the earlier two censuses were recorded.

Now to Sewerby where great-grandfather William Smith spent his childhood and in turn, this brings me to the subject of my brick wall, namely the introduction of his father – my 2x great-grandfather – also named William Smith b. circa 1774, occupation labourer. He married Rachel Lowson on 9 April 1818 and their marriage took place in St. Mary’s Bridlington.

I will now digress to provide what ‘I believe’ unfolded for the first ten years or so in the life of William Smith, sailor, baptised 13 February 1819 in Bridlington. Prior to marriage, his mother,