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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Yorkshire (West Riding) => Topic started by: Rossdal3 on Thursday 06 May 10 09:27 BST (UK)
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Hi there,
I have just got my Gt Gt Grandfather's birth certificate. He was James Wells, born 9 Aug 1844 to William Wells, Father, worsted weaver and Betty Tetley, Mother. His birth was registered on the 23 Aug 1844. Place of birth was Wakefield Road Bowling Yorkshire. I have all his details after birth, but I want to track the Wells and Teltley families back further and am not really sure how to do that.
Ancestry has plenty of people who have the Wells family (nothing proved though) back to the 1650s, but all trees have drawn a blank at Betty Tetley. William was born abt 1807 and Betty abt 1811. How do I now find their marriage certificate and also their parents, their birth date etc?
Any help gratefully acepted!
regards,
Jill
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Hi Jill,
The IGI (www.familysearch.org) has this extracted marriage:
William Wells - Betty Tetley
2 Feb 1830 Bradford, Yorkshire
I'm afraid the original record won't be all that useful. It should tell whether they were single or widowed, and have witnesses names.
I see the family were at Tong in 1841, hundred of Morley. Making this christening possible, I suppose:
Betty Tetley
5 Aug 1815, Morley Yorkshire
Father Samuel Tetley, mother Betty Tetley
Found in the England and Wales, Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8) Collection at http://pilot.familysearch.org
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Tati, you are brilliant I had actually tried familysearch.org as well! I clearly don't have the touch. Thank you so much!!
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It's off the familysearch pilot site actually ;)
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The 1815 birth is probably the one on
http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/bmdr/results.php?fn=betty&sn=tetley&exact=yes&event=All&all=1&all_set=1&st=s
In my experience it is worthwhile to buy and download the entry, sometimes you get mother's maiden name and grandparents names.
If you do buy it then save all the pages that you can, either side of the one with the entry, often you can pick up other family members.
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Thanks Dave, I've registered on this site and will do as you advise!
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Hi Jill,
The IGI (www.familysearch.org) has this extracted marriage:
William Wells - Betty Tetley
2 Feb 1830 Bradford, Yorkshire
I'm afraid the original record won't be all that useful. It should tell whether they were single or widowed, and have witnesses names.
I see the family were at Tong in 1841, hundred of Morley. Making this christening possible, I suppose:
Betty Tetley
5 Aug 1815, Morley Yorkshire
Father Samuel Tetley, mother Betty Tetley
Found in the England and Wales, Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8) Collection at http://pilot.familysearch.org
Hi Tati,
If this is the right Betty Tetley, it would make her only 14 when she married. I wonder if this would be common at the time.
Jill
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1815 would be the year she was baptised, not necessarily when she was born. She could have been baptised as an older child. I have come across baptism records where all the children in the family were baptised at the same time.
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Jill,
Christenings were usually about 6 weeks after birth but this was not always the case, sometimes a 'clutch' of family members were all done at the same time and at other times the christening was done when the parents could afford it.
Typing this at the same time as Cass75 so we concur on that.
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Hi Cass and Dave, I have 2 dates that I got from the bmdregisters web-site. Birth was 2 june 1815 and baptism was 18 August 1815.
I'm just not sure this is my Betty, given her marriage in 1830, sould only make her 14 - 15 years old. Plus census docs show her DOB as 1812/1813 which would add up better. I can't find a Betty for those years though. Plus my betty didn't call one of her 10 children Samuel, which could be another clue, unless of course she lost one between censuses with the name ??? ??? ???
regards,
Jill
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Jill,
There was a family that could have been yours living in Tong in 1841
Cutler Heights Lane
William Wells age 30 Worsted Weaver
Betty 28
Mary Ann 11
Isaac 9
John 2
This would indicate a marriage about 1830 by licence ? because Betty was not yet 21. Perhaps she lied about her age - it often happened.
Perhaps the marriage was after the birth of Mary Ann that also often happened and still does.
Tong information (and much more) can be found on this excellent site
http://vitaldb.moorlandit.com/
Tong is border line Bradford / Leeds perhaps you should widen your search ?
Have you got the family in 1851 and if so what places of birth are given - particularly for Betty because that is the likely place of marriage.
Dave
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Hi Dave,
That is definitely them in 1841 and in 1851 the census says Betty and her family were living in Bowling. They now had:
Isaac Wells 18, Elizabeth Wells 16, John Wells 13, William Wells 10, James Wells 7,Henry Wells 4
Edwin Wells 7 Mo, Emma Wells 7mo (twins)
James Wells my Gt Gt Grandfather, was also born in Bowling in 1844 and got married to Martha Coultas in Leeds. Henry married Sarah Coultas and emigrated to the USA. Isaac and William also married sisters (named Sagar). I have my suspicions that William may have been a bigamist, or it may be a coincidence that someone with the same details died in Scotland in 1901, with a family there, whilst his wife in Bradford lived with her parents, with no trace of a husband, but still listing herself "married" on the censuses!
In the Cudworth book 'The history of Bowling' there is a bit written about Isaac Wells the "trusty agent" of Sir Francis Lindley Wood. The Wells family seem to be fairly well off, with William listed as a shopkeeper/grocer/clothier as well as worsted weaver in various documentation through the decades.
Would also love to know if Betty was part of the Tetley's tea family!!!
Cheers,
Jill
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They are more likely to be part of the Tetley's ales family given their proximity to Leeds. You still haven't mentioned the birth place for Betty and does it follow through on subsequent census's. Do you have her death and burial details ?
Just suggesting lines of research for you and thinking aloud. My wife hailed from West Bowling so I am quite familiar with the place.
Dave
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Sorry Dave, she was listed on the 1851 & 1861 censuses as being born in Bowling and in 1871 as Bradford, Bowling - Civil Parish. She died in Jun Q 1971 age 58.
This gives her a consistent DOB of about 1813. I'll accept though that she may have originally lied about her age to marry William in the first instance and then kept it up, or maybe just lost track of how old she was. My Dad went to school with a boy who didn't know how old he was. His parents didn't tell him when his birthday was because they couldn't afford to buy him presents :)
The web-sites you've given me so far, show a few Betty Tetley's listed, but across different generations, it doesn't seem to be too common a name and maybe is a name passed down in this particular family. There is also the possibility that she may have been illegitimate and therefore we might not be looking for a Father Tetley or she may have been christened 'Elizabeth'!
Jill
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Hi again Dave,
In the parish registers Betty Tetley daughter of Samuel and Betty was born in Churwell. She lived in Rooley Lane Bowling in 1871. I just put the 2 addresses into Googe Maps and it seem the distance is about 7-8miles, making this entry a probability in everything but the age issue.
Cheers,
Jill