Charlotte Ellen SMITH / EIGHTEEN

[kiterunner]

Not sure what happened to Elizabeth and Joyce yet, or who Alexander's nephew Wallace Stephens is, but moving on to William French:

1861 census he is a servant in Offchurch, Warwickshire:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/87...nSearchResults


1871 census:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/76...nSearchResults
Radford Semele, Warwickshire
William French Head Mar 29 Agri Labourer Oxon Copready
Mary Do Wife Mar 23 Warwick Radford Semele
Annie Do Daur 3 Scholar Do Do
Eliza Do Daur 1 Do Do
William Lambert Boarder 1 Scholar Do Southam Wk

William French death registered Oct-Dec 1871 Warwick district, age 27.

This is William's wife with a new husband in 1881:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/75...nSearchResults
David Legg Head Mar 36 Ag Lab Shepherd Gloucester Fairford
Mary Do Wife Mar 36 Warwick Radford Semele
Agnes E French Daug 11 Scholar Do Do
William E Legg Son 2 Do Do
Charles E Legg Son 1 Do Weston

On Mary French's marriage to David Legg in 1877, her father's name is Edward Hand, so the marriage to William must be William French / Mary Hands Apr-Jun 1866 Warwick district, vol 6d, p 721, but I can't find it in the PR's on ancestry to check the witnesses' names etc. so maybe it was a register office wedding.

[kiterunner]

Sarah French:

1861 census she is a dairy maid in Upper Boddington, Northamptonshire:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/87...nSearchResults

1871 census at Queen Street, Cubbington, Warwickshire:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/76...nSearchResults
Thomas Fell Head Wid 28 Ag Lab Warwick Cubbington
Thomas " Son 5 Scholar Northampton Appletree
George " Son 2 Warwick Cubbington
Sarah French Sister in Law Unm 26 Dress maker Oxon Cropredy
Emma Do Sister Do 8 Scholar Oxon Banbury
George Stanly Nephew 16 Ag Lab Warwick Cubbington

So Thomas Fell must have married Joice Stevens Oct-Dec 1863 Banbury district, vol 3a p 1222. (Her first name isn't very clear on the GRO marriage index but now we know who she is it must be Joice!) There is a Joyce Fell death Jul-Sep 1870 Warwick district, age 29.

I should think that "sister in law" Emma French is either Sarah's daughter or the daughter of one of the other French sisters, not Charlotte's daughter, but need to check.

1881 census at Church Terrace, Cubbington:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/75...nSearchResults
Thomas Fell Head Widower 38 Railway Carman Warwick Cubbington
Thomas Do Son Unm 16 General Labourer Northampton Appletree
George Do Do 12 Scholar Warwick Cubbington
Sarah French Sister in Law Unm 36 Housekeeper Oxford Croperdy
Rebecca Do Daur 9 Scholar Warwick Cubbington
Ellen E Do Do 6 Do Do Do
Julia Do Do 3 Do Do Do
William H Do Son 11 mo Do Do

It was pretty common for an unmarried sister to go and look after her brother-in-law's household and children, and pretty common for the widower and sister-in-law to then become an "item", but it was illegal to marry your "dead wife's sister", though many couples went ahead and got married anyway.

By 1891 Sarah is Thomas's "wife" (still at Church Terrace) but I can't see a marriage:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/65...nSearchResults
Thomas Fell Head M 48 Agricultural Labourer Warwick Cubbington
Sarah Do Wife M 45 Oxon Cropredy
William Do Son 10 Scholar Warwick Cubbington
John Do Son 8 Do Do Do
Julia Daur 13 Do Do Do
Charles Stanley Nephew's Son 2 Do Old Milvorton

In 1901 Thomas and Sarah are still at Church Terrace but no children still at home:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/78...nSearchResults

In 1911 Thomas Fell is a widower:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/23...nSearchResults
There is a Sarah Fell death Jan-Mar 1910 Warwick district, age 62.

[kiterunner]

James French:

In 1871 he is a lodger in Cropredy:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/76...nSearchResults

1881 still in Cropredy:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/75...nSearchResults
James French Head Mar 30 Ag Lab Cropredy Oxon
Ernest Do Son 6 Scholar Wroxton Do

In 1891 at Byfield, Northamptonshire:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/65...nSearchResults
James French Head M 40 Farm Labourer Oxon Cropredy
Harriet Do Wife M 34 Glos Sherington
Ernest Do Son 16 Farm Labourer Oxon Cropredy
William Do Son 8 Scholar Do Do
Annie Do Daur 5 Do Do Do
Arthur Do Son 3 Do Do

Same place in 1901:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/78...nSearchResults
James French Head M 54 Carter Oxon Cropredy
Harriet " Wife M 44 Glos Shenington
Ernest " Son M 26 Carter Oxon Wroxton
William " " S 18 Groom Oxon Cropredy
Annie " Daur S 15 Apprentice Dressmaking " "
Arthur " Son 13 " "
Percy " " 8 Northants Byfield
Charles Haynes Boarder S 18 Carpenter's Labourer Middlesex Acton

and 1911 still in the same place:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/23...nSearchResults
James French Head 64 Married Labourer Cropredy Oxfordshire
Harriet French Wife 55 Married 37 years, 7 children, 5 living, 2 died, Shenington Gloucestershire
Annie Selina Haynes Daughter 25 Married 3 years, 1 child, 1 living, Cropredy Oxfordshire
Percival Edward French Son 18 Single Cleaner Byfield Northamptonshire
Caroline May Walker Boarder 9 Bethnal Green London
Charles Cecil Haynes Grandson 2 Byfield Northamptonshire

[kiterunner]

This is Mary Ann in 1881:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/75...nSearchResults
7 Crompton Row, Warwick
Shadrack Hopkins Head Mar 25 Hawker Hockley Heath Warwick
Mary Ann Hopkins Wife Do 25 Cropredy Oxford

This is her marriage:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/24...nSearchResults

and the witnesses are Smiths, but sadly they are called Richard and Margaret so I guess nothing to do with Thomas and Mary.

I will have to leave it there for now but will follow Mary Ann forwards another time in case she has any relatives with her on later censuses. Also there are a few nieces and nephews etc to follow up. Oh, and possibly find out what happened to Elizabeth.

[kiterunner]

Mary Ann in 1891:

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/65...nSearchResults
26 Bowling Green St, Warwick
Shadrach Hopkins Head M 35 Hawker Warwick Alcester
Mary Do Wife M 34 Oxford Banbury
William Earl(?) None 6 Scholar Birmingham
Albert Wittingham Nephew 6 Do Warwick Alcester

In 1901 Shadrach has a new wife, Fanny age 35, born Maldon, Essex. There is a Mary Hopkins death Apr-Jun 1893 Warwick age 40 which could be Mary Ann, given that Shadrach's marriage to Fanny took place later that year.

[kiterunner]

I haven't managed to figure out who Wallace Stephens or Emma French was (yet), nor what happened to Elizabeth French Stephens, but anyway, from following up the French family, all I can say is that I found nothing to disprove the theory that Thomas Smith is Thomas French, but nothing to prove it for certain either.

[James18]

Hi Kate, back from my trip now. Thanks a lot for all of your hard work, let me read through and digest all of this and I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Unfortunate news re Preedy / Checkley marriage:

Hi [name]

Sorry to have not got back to you sooner, but I have been out of the office.

Unfortunately, although my colleagues and I have searched again, we cannot find the marriage entry you are looking for.

I thought it might be in the United reformed Church, but sadly not.

Perhaps you could try the General Register Office – website is www.gov.uk/general-register-office - they have different ways of searching.

Good luck.
[name]


Any other thoughts?

[Merry]

October 13, at the Independent Chapel, Banbury, John Checkley to Mary Preedy, both of Cropredy.

It seems unlikely from the newspaper notice that the marriage would have taken place somewhere other than the Independent Chapel. Of course you could get a certificate copy from the GRO, but that would not have original signatures (if indeed anyone signed!).

A marriage taking place at a non-conformist chapel at this date will have been registrar attended (the non-conformist minister would not have been authorised to complete the legal part of the ceremony and so the local registrar would attend, bringing their own set of registers used for all the local dissenting churches except the Quakers). The URC didn't exist until 1972, but the registrar who contacted you may just be referring to a specific building rather than the accurate name of the congregation. Even if the current registrar thought they should check the URC records I think they would (should!!) have been looking in exactly the same register for either marriage venue, as long as both establishments were in the same sub district of Banbury. Having googled it's likely the Independents evolved into the Congregationalist congregation (ie they were the same people in the same building!) who eventually became part of the URC in the 1970s. The Congregationalists place of worship in Banbury wasn't built until the 1850s - before that worship took place in buildings at Church Passage and later in South Bar. None of this is of particular importance though as the Banbury registrar would most likely have used the same set of register books for all the independent churches on his patch at that date, so they should only have one place (a couple at the most) to look.

I have had these sort of issues with local offices in the past. Sometimes I have fought for what I wanted and they have come up trumps in the end - the problem has usually been a lack of understanding of how the historic records worked - after all digging out old records for FH purposes it's only a very small part of their job - and other times I have given in and bought the cert from the GRO. The choice is yours!! (unless someone else comes up with a bright idea!)

[James18]

Do we know what registration district Deddington would have been in?

I'm trying to find a suitable birth index for Mary Preedy. I can't find anything plausible outside of this, but the census records show she was born in Deddington, which I thought would perhaps be Banbury rather than Woodstock.

Dinah is precisely the sort of middle name you'd probably drop in everyday use, hence it not being mentioned afterwards, and a Q1 1840 registration would be about right for an 1839 birth, which is the area we're looking at.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: Oh, nevermind, I forgot you could click to view the districts...

Could be good, then?

[Merry]

Your link isn't taking me anywhere, but I agree the Mary Dinah reg looks likely (if she was registered!).