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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Hampshire & Isle of Wight => Topic started by: jh57 on Wednesday 12 October 11 11:28 BST (UK)
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Am trying to find out what happened to Catherine Merritt of Bramdean/Hinton Ampner.
Catherine Moran was born about 1789/1791 in Ireland, married her first husband, William Norgate in 1810, then married Stephen Merritt after William's death in 1818.
Catherine and Stephen last appear in the 1861 census, in Bramdean, (the census actually says 'Bramdean Common, Bramdean, Tents'),but then disappear, and I have been unable, so far, to find her death or monumental inscription for her, anywhere.
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FreeBMD has a death for a Stephen MERRETT June quarter of 1862 Alresford registration district.
If they were travellers they could died anywhere. She may have returned to Ireland.
Catherine could have remarried.
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Hi they were listed as Merrit in 1861.
Tinam
There is a Lucy listed further down as Merrit a needlewoman aged 34yrs. Address just says from house.
I can't see tents for Stephen, just living on the Common.
Hi Bearkat, I doubt Catherine would have remarried, she was 70 in census 1861
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Don't be too worried about the spelling of names.
Many of our ancestors were unable to read and write. They told the official their name and they wrote it down as they thought best resulting in may variants of the same name.
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Catherine Moran was born about 1789/1791 in Ireland, married her first husband, William Norgate in 1810, then married Stephen Merritt after William's death in 1818.
Do you have any idea where 1st husband William died/was buried and if he served in the Army?
I note that Catherine married MERRIT 25 Oct 1823 at Hinton Ampner and there was a William NORGATE aged 25 in their 1841 household in Bramdean who was not born in-County: possibly a son later claiming born c1814 Hampton Court?
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Am still trying to find out what happened to Catherine Merritt, who is in the 1861 census for Bramdean but then disappears.
I have tried her name with various spellings to no avail.
A few people have suggested she died in Bramdean in 1863 but I have been unable to find the exact reference of her death, so I could buy a death certificate and no-one else seems to have an exact reference either, other than Bramdean, 1863.
Anyone any ideas?
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Hi
Def no "Tents" in 1861. The tick box says "House" as Tina says.
They have lived next door to the farm for 10+ years.
They have lived in Bramdean for 20+ years, so no "travellers" either.
Possible? ....................
Henry Stephen Marriott
Death Reg. 1863 Q1 Andover 2c 123 ?
Ray
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Catherine appears to have been a well-travelled lady if she was mother to the two NORGATE children born in France whilst her first husband was serving with the 11th Lt. Dragoons. It appears that her daughter Catherine preferred the Christian name Caroline but I can't trace her marriage in either name to a FOSTER before she was recorded a widow with her brother in Hinton Ampner 1881.
I'm very cautious about the assumption that the MERRITTs lived for 20 years in Bramdean. Census nights are only a 'snapshot' of one Sunday night each decade, as I was reminded when it became evident that a reportedly 'silly-looking' and 'rather simple' Ag lab made it to USA and back as a Miner and otherwise appeared to have remained a rustic in the UK when he resurfaced in the home parish .....
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Don't know if it would help, but from somewhere, way back when, I've got George's name as George Lovell Foster.
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Having failed to find evidence in a census of the survival of Stephen MERRITT junr post-1851 and Lucy post-1861, it looks as if only the NORGATE children of Catherine married and produced children, unless you know different? As the NORGATE boys were settled into marriage and appear regularly in consecutive censuses, it's feasible that Catherine may have joined her married daughter, but I can't find any trace of a likely Catherine/'Caroline' FOSTER in the UK born France until 1881, by which time it's likely that Catherine senr had died.
I think the only way forward is to seach the Bramdean Burials PR 1854-1863 to ascertain which of the MERRITTs, if any, feature. Having regard to the variant spellings of the surname, I've noted deaths of 3 Stephens [1854, 1856 and 1862] and 1 Lucy [1863] in Alresford Regn District. I'll put them on my 'to do' list for my next HRO visit and, if applicable, delve further into the later burials.
Update: Found daughter Catherine FOSTER 1861; 1871, 1891, 1901. If you send your email address via PM I'll provide references. Still no sign of Catherine senr post-1861.
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Bramdean Burials
No 177 02 Sep 1856 Stephen MERRITT 27 years Hinton
No 201 04 Jun 1862 Stephen MERRIT 76 years Bramdean
No 205 26 Feb 1863 Catherine MERRITT 80 years Bramdean
No 208 28 Apr 1863 Lucy MERRITT 37 years Bramdean
No 365 12 Dec 1903 Catherine FOSTER 87 years Bramdean
No 265 02 Feb 1877 Henry NORGATE 59 years Hinton
No 312 23? Nov 1889 Sarah NORGATE 68 years Hinton Ampner
A ‘hunch’ paid off with location of the following marriage on Page 185 of St Mary Portsea Marriage Register [HRO Microfiche No 530 of St Mary Portsea M1842-1843]:
1843 Marriage Solemnized in the Church of the Parish of Portsea in the County of Southampton
No 369 11 Apr 1843 by Banns
George Lovell FOSTER (sgd) Full age Bachelor 16th Regt Father: John FOSTER, Builder
Katherine Jane NORGAT* (sgd) Full age Spinster Frederick St. Father: William NORGATE, Yeoman
Witnesses: X of Sophia SMITH; James SMITH[?] (sgd)
* A final ‘E’ was not visible on Katherine’s surname signature but George clearly signed his surname FOSTER, although it appears in some records as FORSTER .