Can anyone find their marriage please?

[Merry]

Have you got a birth cert for any of the children to confirm that (on that one at least!) Margaret doesn't say she had a prev marriage? I know it's unlikely, but not impossible.

[Olde Crone]

Yes, I searched SP for William, William George, George and George William. I also searched Cooper to Campbell and Cooper to Cooper, picking out any Margaret/Maggie wife. There were a few Margarets not called Campbell or Cooper, not possible to eliminate them by search listings alone.

I think they probably just didn't marry, too busy with 15 children to get around to it but another VERY remote possibility is a marriage in some obscure church which hasn't yet handed over its register.

OC

[Merry]

Originally Posted by Olde Crone

I think they probably just didn't marry, too busy with 15 children to get around to it but another VERY remote possibility is a marriage in some obscure church which hasn't yet handed over its register.

OC

I agree with OC. Most likely they didn't marry but if that's the case I would still be wondering if there was a reason, most likely being that Geo/Wm had already married someone else when he met Margaret (I suggest him only because he was a little older so more time to get himself in a fix!)

If they married in a C of E church then it just needs the vicar to forget to do his quarterly return to the GRO and for the church record to not yet be online. If you don't know where they marriage took place then it's impossible to enquire with a local RO. If the marriage was in an obscure church or chapel then you are reliant on the attendance of the local registrar (not a legal marriage if he missed the bus of whatever, but I bet this happened from time to time!), him completing the entry in his records and getting the book back to the register office without mishap. Obviously loads of potential chances for errors to be made!

[Joan of Archives]

Originally Posted by Merry

Have you got a birth cert for any of the children to confirm that (on that one at least!) Margaret doesn't say she had a prev marriage? I know it's unlikely, but not impossible.

Yup. Margaret COOPER b 10th August 1869, mother Margaret formerly CAMPBELL. Father William COOPER occp excavator.

On the 1891 census William is listed as George William In 1881 he's William! grrrrrrr As can't find the marriage I don't know if she married William George or George William but I am fairly sure they did this deliberately lol It does look like she married the older brother which was George William, so why was he calling himself just William? This family was non conformist so whether that explains the lack of evidence of a wedding maybe?

According to free bmd there was a George William registered Sept 1843 Biggleswade & a William George registered Sep 1845

[Joan of Archives]

Originally Posted by Merry

With all those children to register I would have thought if they were not married they might have got caught out at the register office at least once?!! Have you got legitimate style registrations for all the children from the GRO site?

I found all the births registered on the GRO site with CAMPBELL as MMN

[Merry]

Originally Posted by Joan of Archives

It does look like she married the older brother which was George William

I agree as it does look like Ann Smith married the younger brother.

[ElizabethHerts]

Just a thought with the surname Cooper. We had next-door neighbours whose name sounded like Cooper, but it was spelt Couper. You can also have Cowper.

[Joan of Archives]

Originally Posted by ElizabethHerts

Just a thought with the surname Cooper. We had next-door neighbours whose name sounded like Cooper, but it was spelt Couper. You can also have Cowper.

Yes, I've seen it spelt like that, I'll try again searching for those variations too thanks

[Joan of Archives]

Originally Posted by kiterunner

I think this is her, Merry, but Ancestry have transcribed her birthplace as Edinborough, Essex! I will submit a correction:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...e&pId=55924864

I thought that was her, I have done some delving & found a George William Cooper died Huddersfield 1902, so it would fit.

I have been doing a bit of detective work by looking at the GRO index & doing the maiden name trick on the youngest 2 kids on the 1891.

George William Cooper
48 Head
Margaret Cooper 42 Wife
Margaret Cooper
21 Daughter
Sarah Ann Cooper
19 Daughter
Geo Wm Cooper
17 Son
Herbert Cooper
14 Son
Frederick Cooper
12 Son
Alfred Jas Cooper
8 Son
Arthur Cooper
7 Son
Emma Cooper
5 Daughter
Ernest Cooper
2 Son
Lavinia Cooper
11/12 Daughter

Well, turns out Ernest & Lavinia's mother was Margaret Crotcher!! Then I found this :

Marriages Sep 1894 (>99%)
Bell John Walter Salford 8d 149
Cooper George William Salford 8d 149
Crotcher Margaret Salford 8d 149
Cunningham Elizabeth Salford 8d 149


Any ideas? There is no other Lavinia born to mmn Campbell etc I can find!

I've got the digital image of Lavinia's birth cert, father's occp is slightly different ? I have sent ff for the marriage cert as I can't wait to see what is going on

[Olde Crone]

Hmmm. There's only one mention of the Crotcher surname on Scotland's people and it's a marriage in 1865 of James to a Susan Gibb.

The odd thing about it though - it's in the same registration district (685) as the unlikely marriage between George and Margaret Cooper! (Sorry about that).

OC