See also
| Husband: | William Coles Attfield (1844- ) | |
| Wife: | Maria Unknown (c. 1851- ) | |
| Children: | William Coles (c. 1879- ) | |
| Name: | William Coles Attfield | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | William Coles (c. 1819- ) | |
| Mother: | Harriet Attfield (1825- ) | |
| Birth | 1844 | Farnham, Surrey |
| Baptism | 17 Apr 1844 (age 0) | Farnham, Surrey (William Attfield, base born) |
| Birth fact | 1844 (age 0) | 1844 Mar Qtr, Farnham, 4/139 (as William Coles Attfield, and as William Coles Coles) |
| Census | 1851 (age 6-7) | Living with parents (William Coles) |
| Census | 1861 (age 16-17) | Labourer, living with parents (aged 17, William Coles) |
| Occupation | 16 Jul 1864 (age 19-20) | Labourer, Hammersmith (on marriage cert.) |
| Occupation | 22 May 1870 (age 25-26) | "Scaffler" (scaffolder), 2 White Court, Bethnal Green (son George's baptism) |
| Census | 1871 (age 26-27) | Builder's labourer, 16 James St, Tower Hamlets (William Attfield, aged 28) |
| Occupation | 25 Sep 1872 (age 27-28) | Scaffold builder, 11 Samuel Street, Cannon Street Road (daughter Harriett's baptism) |
| Census | 1881 (age 36-37) | Mason, 34 James St, Cardiff St Mary, Glamorgan (William Coles) |
| Census | 1891 (age 46-47) | Mason, 18 Salisbury Row, Newington, Surrey (William Coles) |
| Name: | Maria Unknown | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | c. 1851 | Westminster |
| Census | 1881 (age 29-30) | Wife in household |
| Census | 1891 (age 39-40) | Wife in household |
| Name: | William Coles | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | c. 1879 | Hackney, Middlesex |
| Census | 1891 (age 11-12) | Living with parents |
The William Attfield of Farnham who married Harriett Swaine in 1864 is extremely elusive. I have decided to accept him as identical to William Coles Attfield although there is no firm proof.
The birth was registered twice at Farnham in 1844 under two different names, "William Coles Attfield" and "William Coles Coles". His baptism, also at Farnham, took place under the name "William Coles Attfield" - 6 months before his mother Harriet married William Coles. In the 1851 and 1861 censuses, he is living with his parents under the name "William Coles".
William Coles cannot be found in the 1871 census, but reappears in 1881 (in Wales) and 1891 (in Newington, Surrey), as a mason, in both censuses accompanied by wife Maria. It has not been possible to trace any marriage between William Coles and Maria.
Meanwhile, William Attfield, labourer, married Harriett Swaine at Hammersmith in 1864, and in the 1871 census the couple is living in East London with 3 children. The father, William Attfield, is a builder's labourer aged 28 - implying a birth year of 1843 - birthplace Farnham. In 1881, William has disappeared and Harriett is living alone with the 3 children in East London where she is described as "mason's wife". In 1891 she is recorded as a widow, but no matching deaths of a William Attfield are recorded in the 1881-1891 period. I therefore assume that William ran away sometime in the 1870s leaving Harriett with the children, abandoned the surname "Attfield" and reverted to the name "Coles".
William Attfield's marriage certificate names his father as "William Attfield", labourer. No such person has been identified among the Farnham Attfields but the occupation matches that of William Coles senior.
Harriett Attfield can be traced in the record through until her death in 1919, but no traces have been found of either "William Attfield" or "William Coles" after 1891.
The strongest evidence identifying the William Attfield who married Harriett Swaine with William Coles Attfield is the fact that they are both described as "mason" in the 1881 census. The rest is largely conjecture. The whole family - including William Coles's siblings and William Attfield's children - is very hard to track and there are many gaps in the information.