Missing link throwing me through a loop

[Kerrywood]

Does anyone knows if anyone else has actually managed to solve this kind of mystery in their trees?

You might like to have a read of some of the threads in our Illegitimacy forum. You'll find a lot of useful background information there.

[JamieS]

Hello everyone. I've been helping the OP with his search and wanted to add a few comments and clarifications. Here is what we know. Harriet Betts married James Shrigley. They had 4 daughters (Mary Ann b. 1827, Hannah b. abt 1837, Harriet b. 1841, Emma b. abt 1845) and 2 sons (William b. 1830 and Henry b. abt 1836). We also know that Harriet and James adopted and raised their grand daughter, Harriet b. abt 1858, but there is no record of which child she came from that we have found.

Not quite - This GRO record seems to fit but born Macclesfield

Births Sep 1858
Shrigley Harriet Macclesfield 8a 81

I suspect the Shrigley name adoption, if it happened, occurred earlier.
Your information I suspect comes entirely from Census data which the age errors above are pretty consistent with.
Grandmother lived in Uttoxter and I guess her birthplace got added to that.

As there are no other Harriet Shrigleys born in England 1856 to 1860 I would buy this certificate and hopefully begin to deal in facts.
What would be interesting is the parents names on the cert. Fundamental genealogy I'm afraid.

You can buy it here - direct using the codes above

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

There are multiple Shrigley's born in Macclesfield with the same names as some of the people in OP's tree, but this is a whole other family that the OP has no direct relation to. The fact that we have 4 Harriet Shrigley's just in the OP's tree (either by birth or by marriage), not including the others in Macclesfield, makes things very confusing. Especially when birth years are very close. It's easy to assume that they are the same, when they are not.

little bit more for the mix from familysearch:

Mary Ann Shrigley Christ. 26 Aug 1827 Kingston, Stafford.
parents: James Shrigley and Harriet.
Yes, Mary Ann is the first daughter born to James and Harriet.

Maybe a possible for Mary Ann's mother?: Not sure what you mean by this. We already know whom Mary Ann's mother is.

Harriet Shrigley Christ. 12 Feb 1809 St Michael, Macclesfield, Cheshire
parents: Wm Shrigley and Mary
Not a match to any of our Harriets. Different Shrigley family.

FMp has these marriages for Alfred Shrigley:

to: Harriett Betts 1898
London Road Congregational Chapel, Derby
This one is indeed correct.

to: Norah Agnes Normanshaw 1931
St Paul, Derby

(Wonder if Norah could be a second wife for Alfred?) This is new. We were unaware of any other marriages. We'll have to look more into it.

Alfred Shrigley June 1899 Macclesfield, Cheshire
to either Emma Duffield or Mary Ellen Reed.
I have a feeling this is the other Shrigleys.
Rebecca

Alfred's birth certificate is really no surprise. A lot of us find illegitimate birth's in our families, there is a lot here on the subject, but with no father registered it does get rather challenging. However given the amount of questions you raise about Harriet and how her mother might be ????, her birth certificate might yield a lot if you want to go back further.

If you are searching for Alfred's father then you might need some help from others who have worked on these riddles.

Yes, the question of Harriet's parents is another mystery we are working on, although not as important as Alfred's father. So far we have yet to find a birth record for Harriet.

You may also find the publication My Ancestor was a Bastard to be of assistance.

Ordered it! Thanks for that tip.

[Raffaele]

It's easy to assume that they are the same, when they are not

Absolutely right. But then it is also easy to assume they are not when they are.

If you read my post you will see that I spread the search a long way and came up with just one instance of a Harriet Shrigley in the correct time frame in all of the UK.

If you buy the certificate, as recommended, you remove assumption from your research and prove it either way.

[JamieS]

Absolutely right. But then it is also easy to assume they are not when they are.

If you read my post you will see that I spread the search a long way and came up with just one instance of a Harriet Shrigley in the correct time frame in all of the UK.

If you buy the certificate, as recommended, you remove assumption from your research and prove it either way.

That Harriet might be the only one coming up on the BMD, but she's not the only one. Maybe they never formally regestered our Harriet, I don't know. But there are 2 born in 1858 coming up on the census'. Our Harriet, and another born to William and Mary in Pott Shrigley living in Disley Stanley in 1861 and in Thursfield in 1871. I guaruntee THAT is the Harriet coming up on the BMD, not ours.

[Mona]

Baptism of said Harriet SHRIGLEY, from family search
15 Aug 1858, Pott Shrigley, Cheshire, daughter of William and Mary Ann.

[JamieS]

Is there any kind of staff records that were kept for large households? I know the census' show servents, but did estates keep those kind of records? We may have a lead on Alfred's father, but need to prove Harriet was working in this hall around 1875.