Tag: marriage

Neighbouring Families – Part 2

This is a follow on from my previous post – Neighbouring Families.

! The results here are accurate, however not the William BROWN I was tracing (see previous post for correction).  I have chosen to leave this information here to help others.

Using FamilySearch, I searched the IGI for Sarah FERGUSSON with a spouse named BROWN.

Success: It listed Sarah marrying a John BROWN in Glencairn, 1826 (about 3 years before William BROWN was born according to the censuses).  This seemed a very good match indeed so I began to search for birth records of William and his brother, John.
No sign of William but I found a birth and christening record for John (parents John BROWN and Sarah FERGUSON) in the nearby parish of Keir, for September 1825.  However, this was a year before his parents’ marriage so although it is not impossible, I could not be sure. Perhaps the parish record will say whether the birth was ‘legitimate’ or not?  I bit the bullet and viewed the actual parish record on ScotlandsPeople.  The birth had been transcribed incorrectly and actually took place in December 1828 – remember ALWAYS view the actual record where possible!
Birth entry for John BROWN, son of John BROWN & Sarah FERGUSSON – December 1828
While checking my previous searches on ScotlandsPeople, I found an entry for William, legitimate son of John BROWN and Sarah FERGUSON of Snade Mill (the residence was indecipherable to me at first but the ordnance survey maps helped me a great deal) He was born on the 2nd December 1826 and christened the 6th December.
Birth entry for William BROWN, son of John BROWN & Sarah Fergusson – December 1826
Snade Mill (Cairn Water), Glencairn parish via ScotlandsPlaces

Now I need to link this John BROWN to my James BROWN to prove these neighbours were also family.  I would also like to find the family connection to George BROWN who also lived at Woodhead throughout these censuses.

Next steps (edited):
  • Find a family link between these BROWNs and the BROWNs at Woodhead (see next post in the series)

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Emigrating to New Zealand

Workhouse Call

More Chiropody at Trentham

The Wrong Stilings

I’ve certainly been very busy with genealogy the last week or so.
The most significant discovery is that I am now quite sure that the Broadhembury STILINGs are not directly linked to me. (Click the link to see my previous Stiling posts, or click Stiling in the right sidebar). The John STILING farming at Lane End Farm is not Harriet STILING’s father. I discovered this by making contact with other people researching the Broadhembury John STILING on Ancestry.co.uk.
Devon has not allowed the LDS to film their parish records and so most baptisms from Devon are not available on the IGI.  This has meant that I have not yet seen Harriet’s baptismal entry but instead have accepted information given to me by a relative over 10 years ago (until I can check the records for myself) which states her mother was Grace FREED.  When I first searched the 1841 census (via microfilm) all those years ago, the Broadhembury John STILING was the closest match I found.  I then decided it was possible Grace had died and this wife, Mary could have been a second wife.  However, the other (very helpful) people researching this family had no knowledge of a first wife (Grace) or of a daughter called Harriet.
John STILING on Harriet’s marriage record

I decided to recheck all my sources.  Harriet’s marriage certificate lists her father as John STILING, a farmer, so I searched the census again with Ancestry.co.uk, including spelling variants.  Still no joy.  The Broadhembury STILINGS were still the only likely option.  I then went through my digital folders and came across a file called ‘Stilings on the 1841 census’.  I had another look and this time saw a John and Grace STILING in the Tiverton area (how I’d not noticed that before is beyond me).  I searched for them in this area and sure enough John and Grace topped the list!  They had been transcribed as Steling.  Someone seems to have originally recorded the name as Styling and someone’s attempt to correct it allowed it to be misread as Steling.

Another John STILING farmer – this time at West Barton Farm near Tiverton

I am more confident that these are my STILINGS – not only because of the wife, Grace but also because they reside in the Tiverton area which is where I found Harriet working as a servant on the 1841 census and her location at the time of her marriage.  However, until I see the birth records, I have no hard evidence that Grace is, in fact, Harriet’s mother and that this is MY family, as she never appears with her parents on a census.

Next Steps: 

  • Visit Devon library to locate Harriet’s baptism entry in the parish records.

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Marriage Entries vs Marriage Certificates II

In 1848, George Wright PALMER married Mary Ann ALLEN in the parish church of Gillingham, Kent (St Mary Magdalene). George was a gunner in the Royal Navy and Mary was a carpenter’s daughter. Here is the certified copy of their marriage entry ordered from the GRO (click on the images to see a larger version):
George Wright PALMER and Mary Ann ALLEN marriage certificate – 1848
The next image is of the marriage entry from the Gillingham Parish Church records:
George Wright PALMER and Mary Ann ALLEN marriage entry -1848
I am lucky enough to be able to view the parish records on the Medway Council’s City Ark website. These images have been published as part of the ‘Medway Ancestors’ project, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. If you have ancestors in the Medway district – it’s well worth a look.
Again, I now have my ancestor’s signatures, as well as that of Mary Ann’s father, William Henry ALLEN. Fortunately in this case, the certificate was an accurate copy of the actual marriage entry. You may however find otherwise. If family historians ever have the opportunity to check parish records, they should. One small transcription error can lead to years of frustration. The information gleaned from these have been known to break down ‘brick walls’ in the past.
And hey, even if the information is the same, at least you’ll have your ancestors’ signatures or marks.

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Son of a Lunatic

Ancestor Found (almost)

Marriage Entries VS Marriage Certificates

I have been writing a lot about my WREFORDs lately, particularly with regard to George WREFORD and his bankruptcy woes. However, his wife would have also been sharing these worries with him. Also missing from the 1861 census, perhaps she had travelled to Exeter for his court hearing.

In 1845, Harriotte STILING married George WREFORD in Cove Chapel (in the Pitt quarter of the parish of Tiverton). Both lived in Tiverton at the time and both of their fathers were farmers. I know this (and their father’s names) because of the information recorded on their marriage certificate.

This is a copy of their marriage ordered from the General Register Office (my first ever certificate ordered):

George WREFORD and Harriet STILING marriage certificate – 1845

A lot of people assume that the signatures on these certificates are those of their ancestors when first starting in genealogy. However, this is only a ‘Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage’ (as stated on top of the document). Someone (with authority) has basically just copied the information into another book.

This is the actual entry for their marriage in the Cove Chapel parish registers:

George WREFORD and Harriet STILING Marriage Entry – 1845

There is no difference in the information given except I now have the actual signatures of George WREFORD, Harriotte STILING and her father John STILING!

A Philip CHAVE was also witness to the marriage – he may be a relative, close friend or just someone there on the day.

You may think, why bother?
Well, sometimes the information can differ from the copy but I have to admit, it gives me a little thrill to see the actual signatures. In the absence of photographs or other memorabilia, it can be as close as you may get to ‘touching’ your ancestor. I can imagine having access to the actual parish register book they would have written in would be even more thrilling. It may be sad but I’m sure other family historians out there know what I’m talking about.

NOTE: I remember reading somewhere that an X (or mark) as a signature didn’t always mean the person was illiterate. Sometimes women especially would use an X so as not to show up their new husband.

I like to visit places which played parts in my ancestors’ lives so we drove up to Cove through very narrow, winding hillside roads. I believe this photo is of Cove Chapel. It is fenced off with a PRIVATE sign right next to someone’s home so we stuck around long enough just to get this photo. I have been unable to find much information on Cove Chapel so if I’m incorrect, please let me know.

Cove Chapel, Tiverton parish as it was August 2009

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Woman of my Convictions

I found out last year that I have convict blood coursing through these law-abiding veins.

birminghamqtrsessionrecords
Birmingham Quarter Session Records book

Alice Ann WHITE was born in Victoria, Australia in 1860. Her parents names on the birth certificate left no clues that both her parents were actually freed convicts. The only reference to their previous life was that both of their birthplaces were recorded as Birmingham. Now, Birmingham’s a big place – George Allen WHITE and Elizabeth ALLEN are not unusual names, so I was unable to confidently identify my George and Elizabeth from the many others in the IGI.

After a bit of digging about and requests for information online, a helpful person contacted me to say they had located George and Elizabeth’s marriage in 1845 but it was actually in Tasmania! That’s pretty much where my research into this family stayed for some time.
To cut a very, long story short, I discovered that both had been transported to Australia for various thefts – George was convicted in Bedford 1834 and Elizabeth in Birmingham 1842.

I went to the Birmingham Central Library archives last week to do a bit more research into this.

allen2ndconviction

I looked in the Quarter Session Records and found the record of Elizabeth’s sentence of transportation. I was surprised to see it also mentioned that she had been previously convicted of felony.

‘Oh, well’, I thought, ‘yet another mystery I may never know the answer to’.

However, when I photographed the index page, I noticed Elizabeth Allen listed again.
The entry stated that Elizabeth had been sentenced to three months hard labour for stealing a brooch and some earrings from Ann Rock.

allen1stConviction

She obviously didn’t learn her lesson – it was less than three months after her release when she stole a shawl from Michael Kelly and was transported to the colonies for 10 years.

‘Twas a hard life in them days…

Edit: I’ve discovered that if the record image you want is not online, the Archives Office of Tasmania has a free record service – I’ve now requested a copy of the original page with George and Elizabeth’s Convict Application to Marry.

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