Thursday 30 June 2016

I do love it...

When a difficult piece of family history comes together.

I have been searching for the parents of a child who was born 1774 in Garforth, West Yorkshire. I knew the parents names but the mother, Mary Smith, could have been one of 5 born in that area.

Someone else researching the same Mary Smith had gone with Isaac as a father and it certainly looked about right. Then I used an age calculator and realised she was born too early.

Despite numerous searches online on many occasions, I just could not fathom out which of the remaining 4 would be the correct one.

I widened my search to look at their other children, when they were born, if they diedearly, 3 did,  if the remaining ones had married. Finally, up popped a sibling (Mary!) who married in Tadcaster, a place I would never have looked at.

What finally clinched it was the lovely vicar, being one of those very rare chaps, who when a christening takes place, names not only the parents but the grandparents and where they were from. In this case, they also stated that the grandmother, Mary Smith, was born in Garforth to James Smith.

At last, problem solved and I can now move on again. Hoorah!

4 comments:

  1. It's great, isn't it? I've had moments like that.
    My 2 x great grandfather spent 18 years as a 9th Lancer in India prior to the Indian Mutiny and was invalided back home just as the main mutiny began in 1857. He was still with the regiment in 1859 when they were stationed in Exeter, Devon for a short time.
    I have a copy of my great grandmother's birth certificate, so obviously had the names of her parents. I knew all about her father my 2 x great as I had research done with him being in the mutiny, but her mother I couldn't find at all. I spent a few years trying to find her, even got in touch with the person who researched my ancestor in the mutiny - nothing.
    In desperation (and a "last" attempt) I got in touch with the GRO in Southport for their marriage certificate. Eureka! The GRO found it and you could have knocked me down with a feather because they had got married in Exeter, which is near to where I was living at the time. I had searched everywhere that I could think of with them, but not Devon. Not only did they marry there, but she was a domestic servant on a road I had walked down many times!
    That taught me a valuable lesson.
    Good luck with the rest of your research.

    Joan (Wales)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of DB's relatives was born in Poona (so he always told people) so far no such and we have tried everything to find him, so that line is stuck at the moment.

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  2. Absolutely wonderful and good job you!

    I love geneology and have searched family lines off and on for the last 50 yrs. I'm stymied at getting my paternal John Veazey born abt 1640s back to England. He just sits there in Maryland and frustrates me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you know for sure when he came over to be able to connect him back to England?

      Delete

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