Where do I go from here?

[samwatts]

Hello all

Trying to find my ancestors William and Elizabeth Whatton/Watton. They are in Bilston, Staffs in the 1841 census, and I've found baptism records for three of their children, also in Bilston, but no marriage. It won't be under civil registration as their first child was born in 1804. I believe Elizabeth came from Bilston as she is still alive in the 1851 census, but have no idea about William as he has died by then.

Can anyone help suggest what to do next?

Thanks

[Jan1954]

Hello samwatts and welcome to Brit-Gen,

Even if William and Elizabeth did not marry in Bilston, if Elizabeth came from there, the Banns for her may have been read there. Have you checked those at all?

If not, perhaps the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service could be able to help. If you live close enough, perhaps a visit would pay off. If not, their contact details are on the link.

[samwatts]

Hi Jan

Didn't think of that, that's a good idea! Would it mention William as her husband to be?

Thanks

[Jan1954]

Would it mention William as her husband to be?

The Banns will mention the names of both parties involved in the impending wedding.

I was not able to find the marriage of the daughter of some very great grandparents. I knew that they had moved from one village to another and found the Banns of the daughter in the parish registers for the second village. This led me to being able to find the marriage.

If you could spend some time at the Archives it would be better as it will allow you to widen your search if you do not find the answer in the first place that you check.

[samwatts]

I won't be able to go there unfortunately, do you think they would look if I emailed them?

[Jan1954]

Most places will - some of them are free for a half hour search but then charge. Others are free all the time. Depends upon what the staff are doing and any other commitments that they might have.

Still worth emailing them to ask, though.

[Peter Goodey]

Bilston parish registers have been filmed by the Mormons. You could order the appropriate film and search it yourself.

This is what people do if the record office is too far away.

If you say where you live in your profile, it will people to avoid giving inappropriate advice.

[samwatts]

This is the response I got back from the Staffs Archive Service:

We have no separate banns registers for Bilston before the 1920as, but as a rule they were not introduced until about the 1820s. Before that, some marriage registers had banns incorporated within the main marriage register.

However, Bilston was not conducting any marriages at the date you want, because it was only a chapelry. All marriages will have taken place in the mother church of Wolverhampton St Peter. I don’t know if that makes any difference to your search. But you should also bear in mind that marriages generally take place in the home parish of the bride, which is usually but not always her place of birth. Was Elizabeth still alive at the time of the 1851 census? If so you can get her place of birth from that. I am not sure from your email whether you think the marriage took place in the year 1800, or the early 1800s. If the latter, then the age of the oldest child will be a good pointer towards the likely date of marriage. The other thing to consider is alternative spellings that may not be included in the selection for similar names on the LDS index. For instance I tried Wharton and got a marriage in 1811 in Shenstone.

I've looked on the link that you posted Jan, and it has the Wolverhampton Marriages for the correct time period, but no William Whatton marrying an Elizabeth, whatever way you spell it.

[LittleSpark]

This could be a possibility:

IGI (old site) has a marriage for:-
Wm. Whatton/Watton to Eliz. Twig 27/1/1799 Sedgley.
This is a submitted entry so will have to be treated with caution.
Sedgley is only a couple of miles from Bilston so they could have married there.

St. Leonard's, Bilston has the following baptisms:
31/12/1815 - Eliza d/o William & Elizabeth - Abode - Bilston. William's occupation - Miner
9/2/1817 - William s/o William & Elizabeth. Abode - Bilston. William's occupation - Miner.
Are these yours?

Sheila

[samwatts]

Yes that's my family Little Spark. William (1817) is my something x g grandfather.