May Family

[Woody52]

Hi...i am looking for info on the MAY family of Wiltshire...George May was born about 1790 in Mortimer, W. Berkshire and his wife Mary (unknown) was born about 1790 in Ufton, W. Berkshire. I don't know when they married...but they had, from what i've been able to find, 3 daughters...Mary (1829), Sarah, and Emma and they were born in Wiltshire. Emma married a William James Ireland in 1866 and had a son William James in 1868 and then came to Canada. Any other information on the May family would be appreciated.

Thanks
Woody

[Waitabit]

Hi Woody, I was unable to find the marriage you mention for Emma, Can you say where she married please?
A possible sighting of her Sister Mary in 1851-
Mary May
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Visitor F (Female) born: Wiltshire, England
Civil parish: Greenwich Kent
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830

Also visitor Titus May 61 retired Victualler of Hertfordshire. ( interesting chap to look up)
HO107; Piece: 1586; Folio: 335; Page: 2;
..........
A tree on Ancestry has George with wife Mary nee Banham. Dtr Mary which doesn't compute with dtr Mary on 1841 with George, Mary ,Sarah & Emma.

George May
Birth : abt 1790
Death Reg Apr-May-Jun 1872 Age 82
district: Wokingham Berkshire
Volume: 2c -Page: 227
..........
Deaths Dec 1878
MAY Mary 88 Wokingham 2c 275

[Coromandel]

Hello Woody52 and welcome to the forum

Some work has already been done on this family over on the RootsChat forum:

https://www.
rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,620102.0.html

The absence of an Emma May / William James Ireland marriage from FreeBMD is explained by the fact that she'd been married before, to a Robert Ilsley.

What makes you think they were from Wiltshire? Emma is shown in the 1861 census (quoted on the RootsChat thread) as being born in Swallowfield, Berkshire. She was in Swallowfield in 1841 aged 10. She, Sarah (aged 10) and Mary (12) are all shown as born in the county (again, according to the other thread: I do not have access to the census to check the originals).

[Coromandel]

What makes you think they were from Wiltshire? Emma is shown in the 1861 census (quoted on the RootsChat thread) as being born in Swallowfield, Berkshire. She was in Swallowfield in 1841 aged 10....

Oh, I see now. On this transcript of the 1841 census, they are shown as being in Spencers Wood:

https://www.
pope-genealogy.me.uk/41165.html

What was presumably given as 'yes' or 'y' on the original census (to the question of whether born in the county or not) has been interpreted by the transcriber as born in Wiltshire. According to Wikipedia (not necessarily reliiable of course!) Spencers Wood was in Wiltshire until 1844, while Swallowfield was partly in Wiltshire and partly in Berkshire.

[Coromandel]

From the 1851 census, George & Mary May were both 62 in 1851, giving birth dates of about 1789. Perhaps they are the George May and Mary Banham who married on 26 December 1811 at Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, according to FamilySearch.

FamilySearch has these baptisms at Shinfield, Berkshire (not far from Swallowfield and Spencers Wood), for children of George & Mary May:

Mary Anne May, bapt 5 April 1818
Elizabeth, bapt 7 May 1820
Sarah bapt 19 May 1822
Charles, 7 January 1827
Sarah, 7 June 1829
Eliza, 20 Nov 1831
Emma, 4 January 1835

To fill the gap between the 1811 marriage and the first of the baptisms in Shinfield (1818) there are a couple of baptisms in Padworth, Berkshire not far from Ufton Nervet (William in 1813 and James in 1815) for children of a George & Mary May. You would need to look at original registers or full transcripts to find out more (from 1813 onwards baptism registers should show the parents' abode and father's occupation).

If these are all children of your George & Mary, then Emma was the baby of the family. The ages of Sarah and Emma would be about right for those on the 1841 census. No sign of the Mary who was 12 in 1841 . . . but I note on the 1841 census that she is listed after Sarah and Emma. This might indicate that she wasn't a sibling, but some other relative (perhaps she is a granddaughter).

[Coromandel]

You can explore the area and see where Spencers Wood, Swallowfield, Shinfield, Mortimer, Stratfield Mortimer, Padworth and Ufton Nervet via maps on the Mortimer Village website. You can overlay different combinations of maps (e.g. modern satellite imaging with historical Ordnance Survey map) and alter the transparency to compare features.

https://www.
mortimervillage.org.uk/TheVillage/Map.htm