WHO WAS SUSANNA?

[MythicalMarian]

Well, the GENUKI site (if the mods allow me to say that) - just Google it, choose Cornwall, then look under the towns and parishes. When you find St. Keverne, hit the 'nearby places' option at the top of the screen. You can choose 5, 10, 15 - however many miles radius of that place. That should at least give you a start, but you are up against it being in Canada. Perhaps there are members here in the county, who may be prepared to do look-ups? I'm about 300 miles away, alas, so I can't help on this occasion. x

[MarkJ]

No sign of them marrying in St Keverne parish church anyway - I have checked the register from 1780 to 1785.

Some of the Parishes you may want to check would be -
Manaccan
Ruan Major and Ruan Minor
Landewednack
St Martin in Meneage
St Anthony in Meneage
Mullion
Cury
Gunwalloe
Mawgan in Meneage
and perhaps Helston as that is a larger town

Plenty of others after that! I think you are right to discount Maker. A very long way from St Keverne!

If you head to the Cornwall OPC website, you can download a pdf map of Cornwall with all the parishes marked on it

I *might* have a nose around the registers for a few of the parishes later if you are lucky
Looked at some.
Checked Gerrans just in case - no luck
Not Manaccan 1780-1785
Not St Martin in Meneage 1780-1785
Ruan Major and Minor - no register. Likewise Mawnan
Not Grade 1780-1785
Not Landewednack 1780-85
Not Mullion
Not Helston
not Mawgan in Meneage
not Cury
not Gunwalloe
not Constantine
not St Just in Roseland

Any idea what Thomas did for a living Colin? That might be useful...

[MarkJ]

Just to add a further interesting observation - I see there is a marriage on the FamilySearch site between a Thomas Ball and a Rachael Booth on 28 April 1781 in Maker. Just possible that this might be the same chap who marries in Maker to Susannah Wills later the same year? Perhaps Rachael dies and he remarries - or maybe there were two Thomas Balls in the area.

[Coromandel]

Despite the distance, I wouldn't reject the Maker marriage completely without further investigation. Yes, most people probably did marry someone who lived within a few miles of them, but there are always exceptions. We don't have enough information about Thomas Ball and Susanna Wills to know how far their work took them or how far their social networks extended. There are all sorts of scenarios that might result in them meeting one another: they might both have been working in Plymouth, they might have been friends of friends, she may have been in service somewhere nearer St Keverne, etc., etc. There are people who move a long way from their roots: if all our ancestors stayed within 5 or 10 miles of where they were born, genealogy would be an awful lot easier!

It might be easier to rule the Maker marriage out than to rule it in. If the Thomas Ball & Susanna who married in Maker are not Colin's Thomas & Susanna Ball, then there must have been two couples with the same name. It should then be possible to find the "wrong" Thomas & Susanna after their marriage. If you can find another couple of this name who perhaps lived nearer Maker, and where Susanna is the right age to be the one from Maker, they would seem a better bet. However, if there is no further trace of another Thomas & Susanna, this might help tip the balance in favour of them being the couple who settled in St Keverne.

So, can we find another Thomas & Susanna?

[Nankervis]

I've been looking since last night for another Thomas and Susanna but to no avail...

I also can't see a death for a Rachael Ball anywhere around the time we are looking at..

[MarkJ]

I would agree with your observations Coromandel. Locating the "other" Thomas and Susanna would prove that there were two - the problem with Maker is that the Parish records don't seem to be available online in any useful format....

I asked Colin yesterday about the possible occupation for Thomas - and my thoughts were along the same lines as yours - that perhaps he travelled to work in Maker for a while. If he was a mariner for example, I would be ruling the Maker marriage a stronger possibility than if he were a farm labourer.

[Colin Rowledge]

Thank you for the above recent posts - have just woken up and read them. Now to put my thinking cap on.

Back soon

Colin

[Colin Rowledge]

Thank you for the above recent posts - have just woken up and read them. Now to put my thinking cap on.

Back soon

Colin

Certain things have been located and while the ages of the parties involved don't quite add up, is this worth considering?

A Susanna Wills was baptised in St. Keverne 7 July 1766. She was a daughter of James Wills and Susanna. I have not found a marriage as yet for this couple.

A James Wills [possibly her father] was buried in St. Keverne 23 February 1777. No age is stated.

A Susanna Wills [possibly her mother] was buried in St. Keverne 28 December 1819. Her age is stated as 68. The notes from the parish register indicate - Palsy & Pauper.

Age 68 in 1819 equates back to a birth c. 1751. If the young Susanna was born in 1766, the mother would have been 15 or so [not impossible].

I believe Gerrans and St. Keverne are reasonably close communities to each other.

In 1777 with the death of James, young Susanna would have been of an age where she would likely to have been employed as a servant. Thomas Ball would have been about 16. I have no idea what Thomas was involved in work-wise, but given the financial situation when Susanna died in 1810 - a Pauper - I suspect that he was probably some type of labourer.

Could they as a couple of young unskilled workers been forced due to financial matters to wander and find work wherever possible and eventually wound up in Maker? If this is the right Susanna she would have been 15-16 years old [same age as when her mother married] when she married Thomas in 1781. As they grew older she became a 50 year old in 1810 rather than a 44-45 year old.

Possible?

Colin

[Colin Rowledge]

In 1777 with the death of James, young Susanna would have been of an age where she would likely to have been employed as a servant. Thomas Ball would have been about 16. I have no idea what Thomas was involved in work-wise, but given the financial situation when Susanna died in 1810 - a Pauper - I suspect that he was probably some type of labourer.

Colin

2 of their 4 sons in later [1841 census] indicate the occupation was an Ag. Lab. These were William and Thomas.

Not really conclusive but tends to support an unskilled occupation for their father.

Colin

[MythicalMarian]

I am now liking the idea that Susannah Wills was also born in St. Keverne. Did the youngsters go off to find work together in Maker, or did they go so far from home to marry - a sort of elopement? Even so, they obviously returned to have their children. Or were they chucked out and returned to their home parish? Are there any removal papers for Maker? Perhaps one of our Cornish experts may know what's available.

Keep digging, Colin.