Tag: Stiling

Double Marriage Entry

Came across something very curious last night…

The marriage of George WREFORD and Harriet STILING (for which I have both the original parish entry AND official copy of entry, as well as the record of banns) was recorded twice in the registers – same parish, church, year and even volume – within pages of each other.

Jan-Mar Quarter 1845, Volume 10 page 407
April-Jun Quarter 1845, Volume 10 page 431

At first I thought it may be a different George Wreford since Wrefords abound in Devonshire, but Harriet is mentioned in both entries (albeit with different spelling).

Perhaps the clue lies with the only other name from both entries – Elizabeth Galliford recorded as marrying George Marley/George Manby.  Perhaps it was just recorded twice to clear up the spelling mistakes but that also doesn’t make sense as the parish records show both marriages actually took place in the April Quarter.

Marriage of George Marley to Elizabeth Galliford
Marriage of George Wreford to Harriotte Stiling

I have tried searching for a second ceremony in the Tiverton area via the Devon Parish Registers on findmypast but there doesn’t appear to be any.

Why would the marriage which took place in May be initially recorded in the previous quarter?  I guess the next step is to order the record from page 407 although I don’t want to spend more money just to get the exact same copy sent to me.

Notes:

  1. I will now begin spelling Miss Stiling’s name as Harriotte as that is how she signed the register herself.
  2. I found out while researching this that Phillip Chave, who appears in both entries as witness and several times in the Cove registers was actually the assistant to Mr William North Row of Cove House – magistrate for Devon.  I presume this meant he often ‘sat in’ as witness for these smaller ceremonies where required.  I had originally thought he may have been a friend or relative.

Next Steps:

  • Order Jan qtr marriage certificate
  • Revisit Harriet STILING to find connection to Cove area

Pub Crawl

Inside the Hare & Hounds, Witheridge c1940s via Historical Witheridge
On the night of the 1861 census, in the Devonshire village of Witheridge, 14 year old Drusilla WREFORD was recorded as head of the household and her occupation as ‘Innkeeper ?’ (note the question mark). Also in the household were 4 siblings aged 7 and under (including my direct ancestor, Augusta Harriet), and a 17 year old servant, Emily CHERITON. Their parents, George and Harriet, were nowhere to be seen. I knew they weren’t dead, as George WREFORD and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1864. So where were they?
12 Fore Street, Witheridge – 1861 census
This remained a mystery for some time until a chance search led me to discover that George WREFORD was in jail for bankruptcy at the time (you can read my post about that discovery here and here). I still haven’t been able to locate the parents on the 1861 census but I’m still keen to find out more about the business.

George was recorded on bankruptcy notices as an innkeeper, butcher and farmer but I haven’t been able to discover which inn George (and Drusilla) was keeping.

On my last visit to Witheridge (I’ve been twice), I picked up the ‘Witheridge Village Trail & Local Walks’ pamphlet which mapped some of the pubs (old and current) in the village.  Armed with this pamphlet, I used Google Maps to pinpoint the pub locations.
Witheridge Pub Locations
Assuming the family lived in/above the inn being kept, the map indicates the pub was the Hare and Hounds (in Fore Street).  According to the pamphlet, “it burnt out in 1995 and was rebuilt”.  I was able to find this picture of the Hare & Hounds Inn circa 1955 from the excellent Historical Witheridge site:
Hare & Hounds on Fore Street, Witheridge
Here is a picture of Fore Street today from a similar location and perspective via Google Street View:

I’m now in the process of trying to find a directory closer to 1861 which will hopefully attach George’s name to the correct pub.

UPDATE
I have found evidence that they actually kept the Commercial Inn – see post here

Next Steps:
  • check for 1860 directories
  • obtain a copy of  ‘Researching Brewery and Publican Ancestors’ by Simon Fowler for more information