Charles Metcalfe Esq. of Inglethorpe Hall (b. 1797, d. 1871)

[Merry]

Oh, OK - I believe it's in Cambridgeshire, but as you say, perhaps a border parish?

EDIT I've just looked on FreeBMD and Walsoken (where his aunt and uncle said Arthur was born) is also in Wisbech district!

So that's one thing straightened out.

[Merry]

lol re Bermuda Triangle!!

[Merry]

Here's Sarah with her brother John and his family in 1851:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interacti...cklabel=Return

In Walsoken.

There is a one month old baby called Alfred Moyses who is listed as son (of the householder, John), but there's no birth reg for an Alfred Moyses in 1851, so is this Arthur?

[Merry]

Sarah is aged 21 in 1851 and from Wisbech. Still no baptism for her, but there is one for her brother John in 1823 (FreeREG), same parents as for Francis and Mary Ann. (not looking very Jewish at the moment!)

Ancestry think Walsoken is in Cambridgeshire! I thought it was Norfolk...

[Merry]

lol No doubt all this is on other forums or you have it already anyway.

Sarah Moyses married Henry Harris in 1897 , in Lambeth at the age of 65, father John Moyses cabinet maker dec'd. And there was me looking for a marriage 1851-61! So she should be on numerous censuses as a spinster.....

[Merry]

Here she is in 1881 in Lambeth and in the household of her future husband.

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interacti...cklabel=Return

Not having too much luck with the other censuses, but this does really confirm it's the right Sarah as she says she is born Wisbech, Cambs.

[Merry]

Here's Sarah and her parents (and possible grandmother?) and siblings in 1841:

https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bi...off=&ml_rpos=9

[Merry]

Bach to Charles Metcalfe senr…

so there's a chance of distant cousinship.

Not so distant!!

Likely baptism:

Charles Metcalfe
11 Jan 1771
All Saints, Gainsborough, Lincoln, England
George,
Rebecca

Fits with his death:

Lincolnshire Chronicle 30 December 1853

At Wisbech, on the 24th inst., Charles Metcalfe, Esq., one of the magistrates for the Isle of Ely, in his 83d year.

and his brother (Mary's father):


Morehouse Metcalfe
19 Jun 1776
Spalding, Lincoln, England
George,
Rebecca

fits with his death:

Stamford Mercury 15 August 1828

On the 9th inst., at Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, whither he had gone for the recovery of his health, Morehouse Metcalfe, Esq. of Terrace House, near Gainsborough, in the 53d year of his age, to the great grief of his family and friends

So, it's extremely likely Charles jr and Mary were first cousins.

[Merry]

George Metcalfe, the father of Charles senr and Morehouse wrote a will which is available to view on FMP:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/reco...f702050503%2f1

It mentions his wife Rebecca and sons Morehouse and Charles amongst others. George is described as a grocer though he did leave a few thousand in 1813.

[Merry]

Back to Sarah Ann Moyses:

She must have died between Dec 1897 and 1901 as her husband (still at the same address as on the marriage cert) is a widower on the 1901 census:

Henry Harris Head Widower Male 68 1833 Furniture Dealer b Southwark, Surrey, England

Worryingly, the most obvious entry is this one:

Deaths Dec 1897

Harris Sarah Ann 65 Lambeth 1d 293

But that would mean she had died within a few days of her marriage (21 Dec) and there would need to be time to register the death in the same quarter. Still possible though. There are no other likely deaths in Lambeth before 1901, so if that's not her, then she died somewhere else which could make finding her tricky as Harris is such a common name.