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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Durham => Topic started by: Patsy Beech on Tuesday 08 November 05 17:42 GMT (UK)
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Please, please help I am going crossed eyed looking for the marriage index for my Great Grandfather John Thompson (born Co. Down, Ireland c 1842) and Mary Ann Curry (born 25th April, 1844 at the Nags Head, West Rainton).
I think they were married around 1868, because by the time of the 1871 census they were living at Wellington Row, Newbottle with their two year old daughter Elizabeth Jane.
Mary Ann's parents were George & Elizabeth Curry (nee Purvis), and although I can trace that side of the family the Thompson's are more elusive. I really do need to find the wedding certificate because without it I cannot be sure just who John's father was, and although I suspect his Dad's name was also John, and his mother was called Jane I could be going up the wrong garden path completely!!!! Not for the first time either!!!!!!
I have tried various spellings of Curry, Currey, Corrie etc., but still keep hitting that brick wall. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
Good searching to you all.
Patsy
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Have you tried http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl ?
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Have you tried the church records? If you can find them in the parish register you will at least know exactly when to look at the GRO index. Another option is to write to the local register office and explain the problem. At the top of the Durham board there are various links to sites which might help. Judging from their ages they could well have married earlier - perhaps had earlier children who died?
Good luck
Andrea
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Thank you both for your very quick replies, and no I have not searched the church records. I will look at the links at the top of the page to see how I can do that from Essex.
I had considered that John and Mary could have had previous marriages therefore her surname would not have been Curry at the time of their marriage, but I have also looked for Mary Ann Curry marring Mr. 'X' then a Mary Ann 'X' marrying John Thompson - still no luck! Now you can see why I am going crossed eyed!!!!! Several hours have been spent on freebmd, 1837 online & Ancestry.co.uk - poor husband gets fed in between!
I think I will try and find daughter Elizabeth Jane's birth certificate and check that her mother was Mary Ann Curry, the same as my grandfather Charles Herbert Thompson (their youngest child) born 31st October, 1887 at 97 Freehold, West Rainton, to make sure the two Mary Ann's are one and the same.
Any more suggestions on how to solve the problem or where to write/search most welcome.
Thank You. Patsy
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Searching the parish registers can be done at your local LDS centre. They are listed on www.familysearch.org You order the film of the parish you want. Some are on the IGI online but a lot aren't and looking at the actual register often gives you a bit more information. If you can get to London easily then a visit to the Society of Genealogists or the Hyde Park LDS centre might be an option.
With names like Curry and Thompson, both of which can be a spelling nightmare it may be a long search!
Andrea
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Thank you for the help. I feel a cheap day ticket to London coming on!
I have information on a few spare John Thompson's from the Houghton-le-Spring area if anyone needs them! Plus marriage details of John Thompson & Ann Giles who married on Christmas Day 1868 in Sunderland.
Also a marriage between Charles Henry Thompson, Royal Navy Petty Officer and Ada Pearson in West Hartlepool March 1919. You see I have been looking!!!! Not always with success!!!!
Best Wishes, Patsy
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I am from a family of thompson from ireland, my g g grandfather was john henry thompson b abt 1888, who married mary ellen lodge. My family of thompsons ended up living in west hartlepool. Any help to you please reply
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Dear Gillian,
Thank you for your interest in the Irish Thompsons. I expect you have found quite a few of them in your searching. I don't think I have a connection to West Hartlepool, but the reason I have a marriage certificate for there is I was looking for a first marriage between my grandfather Charles Herbert Thompson (1887 - 1951) to a lady called Ada, and this was the nearest match. Unfortunately my gamble did not pay off.
The details on the certificate may be of help to you, perhaps a brother or cousin of your John Henry Thompson so here they are.
8th March, 1919 at the parish church of Christ Church, West Hartlepool.
Charles Henry Thompson, aged 31, bachelor, Petty Officer Royal Navy, address: 60 Commercial Street, Middleton. Father: Charles Thompson, Father's occupation: Engineer
Ada Pearson, aged 20, spinster, address: 60 Commercial Street, Middleton. Father John Pearson, Father's occupation Shipyard Labourer.
Witnesses - J.C. Pearson, Ellen Boyd & William Boyd
All my Irish Thompsons from Co. Down seem to have settled in the Houghton-le-Spring, West Rainton, Rainton Gate, Fence Houses areas, that is until my grandfather decided that going down the pit was no longer for him. So after WWI he went south to London, where he met and married my grandmother Florence Marther Fricker (wife no.2).
Good luck in unravelling all your Thompsons.
Patsy
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Hi Folks,
Just to up-date - today I have received the birth certificate for Elizabeth Jane Thompson, born 19th April 1869, at Philadelphia, Newbottle, and as expected her parents were John Thompson, miner, & Mary Ann (formerly Curry). This means that from first born, Elizabeth, to the last born my grandfather, Charles Herbert, they all had the same parents.
Unfortunately still no sign of a marriage between John & Mary Ann! It must be there somewhere!!!!!!!!
Patsy
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Vague possibility from Durham County Council Search at http://www.durham.gov.uk/gro/newgro.nsf/search?open&C0718516211121112004$
John Thompson married Mary A Thompson 1868
You can order certificates via the Durham site.
Jennifer
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Dear Jennifer,
Thanks for your reply and the suggestion about the Thompson marrying a Thompson. I must admit I had noticed that entry during my searching and somehow wondered if there was a mistake in the index! I suppose there is only one way to find out and that is ordering the certificate. I will post the results so even if it is not my John Thompson it could be useful someone else.
Best Wishes,
Patsy
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Hi Folks,
Well the marriage certificate arrived this morning, but unfortunately it is not my John Thompson.
On the 6th June 1868 John Thompson married Mary Ann Thompson at Auckland Register Office. He was 21 & Mary Ann was 19. Neither of them had been previously married. John was a Colliery Cartman, and the address for both of them was Toronto Newton Cap. This is where it really does get strange because both fathers were called Thomas Thompson, but John's father was a Cartman, while Mary Ann's father was a Mason. The witnesses were John Naisbitt & Ann Thompson, plus a second registrar called Thomas Dean Superintendent Registrar. The normal Registrar was John Cary Heridy (I think that is how his surname is spelt!)
Well back to searching for my John Thompson & Mary Ann Curry!
Happy searching to ALL.
Patsy
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I think I found it ;D ;D
On Sunderland site: http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/pages/registrars/
John Thompson married Mary A Currey, 1865
GRO ref: 2nd quarter 1865. Sunderland 10a 628.
Jennifer
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Dear Jennifer,
Thanks so much - I feel another certificate coming on.
I had not found the Sunderland website before, and I will now give it a go to look for the details of my grandfathers 1st marriage. He was Charles Herbert Thompson, born 1887, and all I know is that when he married my grandmother in 1920 he was a widower.
I'll post the result of the certificate when it arrives, but I am very hopeful that this time it will be the correct certificate for John Thompson. Fingers crossed.
Best Wishes,
Patsy
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EUREKA
The certificate arrived this morning and it is the correct one. John & Mary Ann were married in the Parish Church of Monkwearmouth on the 3rd April 1865. He was 23 and Mary Ann was 20, and neither had been married previously. Their address is given as Stobart Street, so now I am off to look up just where that was. John's father was also called John Thompson, and Mary Ann's father was George Currey (Curry on her birth certificate) All the men were miners. The one surprise was the witnesses names William Lambert & Mary Milling because there is another connection to the name Lambert a couple of generations later. You see we solve one mystery just to start another one!
Thank you so much to all those who have helped in finding this certificate for me. After a three year search it has been well worth the wait.
Happy Searching to you All.
Patsy
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Good to hear that you have sorted this one out - but inevitably when one door closes another one opens!
Jennifer