VALIDATING RELATIONSHIPS

[Dargie]

|dunce2|As a newbie to this geneaology addiction I have become aware of the necessity to document and validate information to make sure that the ancestor I have claimed as my own is actually the real person.
Just today I have recieved some wonderful information regarding a new relative about whom I previously knew nothing.

My query is as follows:
I have definate proof, via the Stowmarket marriage register, that
John Lilystone did marry Martha Sillett in 1792.
I now have information of a birth of a Martha Sillitt in Stowmarket in 1768.
This would appear to be the correct Martha, if her age at marriage was 24, but how can I be sure? What are the checks and balances to prove this?

I do hope it is the right Martha as my very kind helper has lots of information about her parents, siblings etc etc.

Thanks for help I know is out there!:confused:

[ET in the USA]

This isn't going to help much, but maybe it will get someone else with a good idea thinking.

If, Martha was still alive (at the age of 72) in 1841 - the census might give a clue, however the ages on the 1841 weren't that exact.

If, Martha died after Sept 1837 when civil reg. began , she might be on Free BMD or another GRO index.

If, you can guess where Martha died, the burial register or gravestone might give birth date, wife of, or other information, providing that the stone was readable & recorded by someone &/or you find the correct parish. There are some extracted parish register deaths on Familysearch.org.

I'm sort of out of ideas. Try familysearch if you haven't already and then wait until someone in the UK gets out of bed tomorrow & see if they have any ideas.:confused:

Sorry.

[Dargie]

Thanks ET for your answer.
Great ideas. I'll get working on the suggestions.
Long time before we go to bed Down Under. So...still time for some heavy research.
P.S. My husband is from California and at the moment is watching Jim Lehrer!! One day I will have to start his USA Family Tree!!!

[Wilkes_ml]

Hi,

I have a bit of experience with parish registers pre-1837. Another one of my standard checks is to go through the baptisms, burial and marriages of the said parish, and also to check baptisms of neighbouring parishes.

For example, you have a baptism of Martha Sillett in 1768, and I am guessing you have probably found all the siblings either side of her baptism . Firstly I would check the burials for the parish after 1768 to see if Martha died in infancy. If no obvious infant death is found, then check the marriage records for Sillet marriages, is their another marriage of a Martha Sillet?

One thing to be aware of is that you could often get cousins born around the same time given the same fornames, and it can take a bit of detective work to work out which child belonged to which parents.

By checking neighbouring parishes helps to confirm that the baptism entry in question is the correct one.

eg. I had a John Sandwell married Margate, but was of the parish of St. Peters, and also a John Sandwell married St. Peter, but of the parish of Margate, both married around the same time, both born around the same time, it was only by checking the naming pattern of their children that helped to prove their parentage ( as often children are named after their grandparents).

Another good source of information is wills if they are available (documents online is a good starting point for searching pre-1859 wills)

I hope this gives you some idea.

[Dargie]

Thank you Michelle for your great suggestions.
I was given the Stowmarket information by a contact so do not have access to the Parish Registers. I can see the logic in looking at surronding villages. John actually came from Stonham Aspal.
I will order in the Registers, as soon as possible here in Oz and get to work.
In the meantime I am able to obtain names of the above Martha's siblings, grandparents etc from a kind helper in Canada so will get those and see if that helps, together with a careful check of the registers.
Thanks again
Marj.

[Dargie]

Hi Michelle
I got thinking about your comment regarding the naming pattern of children and I think it is a very important one.
The parents of the above Martha were Richard and Rebekah, their parents Thomas and Grace.
Now I, like everyone else I am sure, have a Thomas in my family tree but I do not have, in any generation, a Richard, Rebekah or Grace ( one relative married a Grace)
So.. maybe this Martha does not belong to me. She has me puzzled.
I am definately up for some more work but your suggestions have been very helpful.
Witnesses to the wedding will be my next path to follow if I can find them. My last enquiry on this matter turned out to be the parish clerk and sexton.
All ideas gratefully received.
Thanks
Marj.

[idredge]

Have you tried Hugh Wallis Batch numbers

This is a similier site to the IGI but you go to the parish and put in the surname it will list all of that name in that parish if they have been added. Like many sites they are still working on it. I have found some more on this site which are not on the IGI. So worth checking both.

Just type in Hugh Wallis batch numbers in your search engine

click on the country

click on the county Wiltshire

click on the letter starting with your parish

good hunting.

Irene

[Dargie]

Thank you very much Irene, for your helpful advice.

I will get on to that right away. Fantastic to have a new resource.

Marj.

[Clive Blackaby]

I had a John Sandwell married Margate, but was of the parish of St. Peters, and also a John Sandwell married St. Peter, but of the parish of Margate, both married around the same time, both born around the same time, it was only by checking the naming pattern of their children that helped to prove their parentage ( as often children are named after their grandparents).
Marj,
Sorry for hijacking your thread, going off topic etc., though it is sort of relevant.
b.t.w. Stowmarket is a parish for which there's loads of info - I have a CD rom covering it, and I'd be happy have a dig round on it for you, unless you already have everything available from Ancestry.Co

Michelle,
Amongst my "miscellaneous Blackabys" file (the genealogical equivalent of that bagful of jig-saw puzzle bits we can all find under the sofa cushions) I have quite a few Blackaby - Sandwell links. They don't have any links to my lot yet, but just might tie in with yours, which would be of interest.

(Even further off topic, but still on the "Teaching and Tips" theme) I do wish the designers of FH software and websites would recognise that we all have "tentative" relationships which we want to record and maybe even publish for others to confirm or refute, but want to leave open to question. How do other deal with this dilemma?

[Dargie]

Thank you Clive for your kind offer.

So far I am out of information regarding the below Stowmarket relatives and would greatly appreciate it if you could find out anything at all.

1.Sophia (Sophy) Sparrow (born1824) Her birthplace varies between Stowmarket and Stonham on different census years. I currently have a thread going on the Suffolk forum about her.
Married Charles Lillistone prior to 1846 in Stowmarket. I would love to know anything at all about her baptism and parents. She is so far a very shy little Sparrow and very elusive! There are many forums and web sites about the Sparrows but I have never seen any about this "poor" branch of the family.

2.Martha Sillett. As above post explains is there a death after 1768 for a Martha Sillett prior to her marriage to John Lillistone in 1792?
Or is there any other Martha Sillett baptised about the same time (1768)

3. Mary Barnard born 1796 in Stowmarket, married William Lillistone 1814 in Stowupland. Would like to know her parents if a baptism can be found.

Unfortunately all the above could have wandered up to Stowupland or across to Stonam Aspall or Stonham Parva.
As you can see the Lillistone wives are hard to trace.

Any help would be greatly appreciated but only when you have the time.
regards
Marj.