I'm keeping fingers crossed

[MythicalMarian]

Oh, I just have to share! I have had the most wonderful Christmas present and funnily enough it has come via a message on Ancesspit. For 25 years I have been stuck on the 'non-marriage' of my 5xgreat grandfather John Stokes to Susannah Thing on or around 1730 in the vicinity of Cheadle, Cheshire. This was a brick wall which I had left on the back burner while I did Mum's side of the family.

Well - hurray! I got an Ancesspit message on 27th December from a chap who turns out to be my fourth cousin (we share our 3xgreat grandparents in Cheadle) and he has got a copy of the marriage licence for John Stokes and Susannah Chandley of Cheadle, and it seems they married at Chorlton Chapel, whose records have not survived! (Chandley is a big Cheadle name - when we had our pew at the Church back in the 1720s, the Chandleys were all around us in the Church!)

Is it the One? I am crossing everything and the new cousin and me are now in touch and working together on a puzzle which has made no headway since 1987! He is kindly sending me a scanned copy of the marriage licence. I am beside myself with joy!

I'll let you all know how it goes, but I'm yippee at the mo!

[Sue Mackay]

Great News.

[v.wells]

That's fantastic Marian! I am sure you will make huge headway now with solving that mystery. It goes to show that Ancesspit can be worth it in the long run - one never knows what surprises may be just around the corner

[spison]

I love success stories. I hope this lead proves to be correct.
Jane

[MythicalMarian]

I love success stories. I hope this lead proves to be correct.
Jane

Oh, so do I, Jane. Poor Susannah has been 'Thing' for so long, that I'm sure she's doing cartwheels on the other side now that she has a name! Of course, I will be double checking, but there was only ONE John Stokes in Cheadle at the time and he was mine. The marriage licence lists both St. Mary's Cheadle, and Chorlton Chapel and we know he didn't marry her at Cheadle because both the cousin and I have scoured the registers at least ten times each! The occupation of Gardener is also correct for our John, so it is looking perfect.

Of course it throws up yet another mystery - how a gardener could be married by licence, but as his sons (a shoemaker and a linen weaver) also were married by licence, I can only think he was perhaps a market gardener or something. All that is to be revealed. I shall be dusting off my spade in the New Year.

[Jan1954]

Of course it throws up yet another mystery - how a gardener could be married by licence, but as his sons (a shoemaker and a linen weaver) also were married by licence, I can only think he was perhaps a market gardener or something. All that is to be revealed. I shall be dusting off my spade in the New Year.

Excellent news and I will keep everything crossed for you that it is a match.

Meanwhile, have a read of this guide to Marriage Licences, Allegations and Bonds, which you may find useful even though it refers to London and Middlesex.

[Thomasin]

How absolutely fantastic! It's always those inaccessible maiden names that are so maddening, and it's such a joy when another piece clicks into place.

Thomasin

[josie7644]

I am so happy for you Marian! Hope everything works out!


Josie

[MythicalMarian]

A happy conclusion here, I'm sure - or as sure as we can ever be. My lovely new cousin has now sent a copy of the marriage licence across cyberspace to my e-mail box - bless him.

So, John Stokes my 5xgreat grandfather started to have his kids in Cheadle in 1733, with his wife Susannah and his occupation stated as a gardener (all this named in bap records of kiddies). There is no other Stokes family in the parish at this time. Marriage licence was taken out on 20th February 1730 by John Stokes a gardener of Cheadle and a bachelor, aged 26 years and upwards, and Susannah Chandley of Cheadle, aged over twenty [...] years (there is a hole in the parchment, dammit - but my new cousin has found a bap at Cheadle for a Susannah Chandley daughter of John in 1703. John Chandley had the pew in front of John Stokes' widowed Mum in 1720 in Cheadle church.

This has got to be my marriage. As the licence states St. Mary's Cheadle (and the marriage wasn't there) or Chorlton Chapel in Manchester, it seems very likely that the marriage was at Chorlton, and wouldn't ya know it, records for the chapel are only extant from 1737! Grrrh. But I'm sure the licence is very good evidence for my 5xgreat grandma being Susannah Chandley and no longer poor Susannah Thing

And the icing on the cake - my John (just like his shoemaking son) has signed his marriage bond! So I now have the signature of my 5xgreat grandfather to drool over and weep over. I have a real lump in my throat tonight, I can tell you.

Thanks for letting me share it, folks. I've got loads of work to do now - the Chandleys are a massive family in Cheadle to trace, but we just love these challenges, don't we?