Edward G DREW, Illogan Highway

[GeoffD]

Using that pay-per-view site Diane mentioned, I found a likely marriage of Samuel Drew, Redruth District, Jun quarter 1865 (5 G 462). Looked up the Harris page for the same quarter, there was Jane but different certificate reference (5 C 398) . Can that happen?

Went looking for grandparents' marriage. Would you believe it? On the whole page, grandmother's name was the only one that was unreadable.

Looks like it is back to browsing the register for Samuel and Jane when I get back on a faster connection.

[Mythology]

"Can that happen?"

Not unless there is actually an error in the index. The reference is to a page containing the *marriage record*, and there's only one record, so the reference is the same for both parties - and, of course, for other marriages which are on the same page.

Coincidences do occur which can lead you to think you've found the marriage when you haven't.
I have a Catherine Rebecca Poulter, not a name that crops up in every quarter, knew she'd married a John Marsh, guessed by the age of the eldest child that it would be around 1850, found a match on FreeBMD in a likely spot, verified it when I was at the FRC and intended to order the cert. Luckily, before I did so, I strolled upstairs and looked John up on the 1851 census. Oh yes, they are both in the same house, with John's elder brother, Matthew, whose wife was Catherine's aunt - but Catherine's still Poulter not Marsh, they are both still single!
A hasty trip back downstairs - found another matching reference later in 1851, not on FreeBMD, which was obviously their one!

[GeoffD]

I thought that would be the case.

It is just the coincidence of a Samuel Drew and a Jane Harris, both in Redruth district, getting married (but apparently not to each other) at about the time that my Samuel Drew and Jane Harris are likely to have married. As I said, it looks as if the search is back on. FreeBMD doesn't yet have 1864/65 searchable as far as I know. Unless of course Jane is a name she used and was buried under, and her real name was something else. Always possible - I have others that reinvented themselves in the Colonies.

[GeoffD]

Looks as if I'll just have to find a way to visit Cornwall. I've looked through marriage registers from early 1862 to mid-1867, and I cannot find a pairing of Samuel Drew and (female) Harris that match up to one certificate.



Possibilities:
1) they never married.
2) they eloped and married in USA.
3) great grandmother wasn't Jane Harris after all.
4) great grandfather wasn't Samuel Drew after all.
5) they were who they said they were, got married, and never registered.
6) any other suggestions?

[GeoffD]

Just a quick revival of the thread. Went looking (via Ancesspool) for this lot in 1851. Nope - none of them in the index but using those valuable numbers posted earlier I was able to find the image quite easily. Now stored safely on my poota. Valuable lesson learned - indices are not to be trusted. So I'll be trawling the marriage registers on FreeBMD to see if I can track the elusive Sam Drew/Jane Harris marriage.

[ChristineR]

3) great grandmother wasn't Jane Harris after all.
6) any other suggestions?


A variation of No 3] Is it possible that Jane was a widow? or had a step-father's surname at time of marriage - thus not using Harris.

Christine

[GeoffD]

In 1861 she was still Jane Harris, living at home in Thomas Row, Illogan. I'm tending more towards the eloped to America scenario.

[GeoffD]

Logged on to BG this morning, and there was a message waiting for me from a descendant of Edward G, one who actually knows what happened. And there was an e-mail for me as well, with lots of extra information. This really busts the brick wall into lots of little pieces.

Maria was the second wife! And there was another, older son, who died rather young, as well as the other Edward that showed up in the 1841 Census. Rather complicated. Suffice it to say that Maria is not the birth mother of John and Samuel (and Arnold). More details when I get it all straight in my head.

Oh, and the old bloke died in 1865, hence his disappearance from the 1871 Census. Buried without headstone in Illogan Parish church.

to my long-lost 3rd cousin who found me through BG, so I guess a big to Rod as well for being the 'conduit'.

[GeoffD]

Hello Geoff

Just had a brainwave (I'm going to have a lie down in a minute ) and looked at FreeCen for Edward in 1841 (Cornwall 1841 is almost complete on there). I found him, but I don't think it is going to be much help -

HO107/142 Enumeration District: 4
Civil Parish: Illogan
Folio: 8 Page: 9
Address: Illogan Highway

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
DREW Edward M 31 Carpenter Cornwall
DREW Edward M 12 Carpenter Cornwall

Besy wishes
Ann

Actually, that turned out to be the most interesting piece of information when the breakthrough was made.

So, what actually happened there in that little corner of Cornwall all those years ago? Seeing as how I had you all busily running about looking for stuff for me, I'd better let you know what I have discovered thanks to clues from a new BG-Forum member, my 3rd cousin Christine.

Edward George had an adolescent 'fling' with an older woman, originally identified by my informant as Mary Dingey. So the younger Edward George Drew in Ann's post was the son of the older Edward George Drew and Ms Dingey, who must have been about 42 when Edward Jr. was born (in Mylor Bridge). Zip forward to 1851, and Edward George Drew (son, boot and shoe maker) is living in Mylor with Elizabeth Dingey (head), 62, housekeeper, born Cornwall St. Clements, deaf.

Meanwhile back in Illogan in the years between 1841 and 1851, Edward Sr. has married Elizabeth Hocking, mine girl, and produced sons Arnold, John, and Samuel. Arnold dies of TB aged less than 7, then Elizabeth ups and dies in 1848 of "consumption" - either TB or pneumosilicosis. Edward Sr., not being one to sit around moping, marries Maria (that "Madrid" lady) Cornish (Widow of William Cornish, m. 1827) in 1850. Edward Sr, Elizabeth, and Arnold are all buried in Illogan Parish Church, without a headstone (must be a family thing - Samuel and Jane were also without a headstone for many years). Edward Sr died in 1865.

To be continued ...

[GeoffD]

Oddity - I know there are lots of Hocking names in Cornwall, but in 1851 the neighbour of Elizabeth Dingey and Edward Jr is - wait for it - William Hocking and his family!

Edward George Jr went on to lead a very fecund life in Mylor Bridge as a Sawyer with his wife Mary Ann Reid. They had a stack of kids, and it looks as if the older girls kept their grandfather's tradition going because as the census years roll on there are grandchildren with the Drew surname living with the family before the boys grow up and leave the nest. Edward Jr was still going strong in 1901, and in the absence of a credible death record I must assume that he is still in Mylor Bridge turning out children! (Just Joking).

So, not as ratbaggy as Mythology's lot, and all very honest about their foibles and diligent at the Registry. Now to chase the next generation of Edward G Jr.'s lot.

Now, something makes sense. My great aunt told my second cousin years ago that they didn't keep in touch with the Drew family 'back there' because 'there weren't many'. John had only one surviving child, and maybe it 'wasn't done' to talk about 'Uncle Edward', given his dodgy origins and Samuel's strong Methodism.