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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Hampshire & Isle of Wight => Topic started by: BeccaH on Tuesday 24 April 12 22:33 BST (UK)
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I think I may have posted about this family on here before (I lose track of where I've posted what) but it's long since sunk into the depths of the archives here, and I have more information than I did when I was last posting here.
I am searching for information about one Isaac Harris, born in around 1793/4 on the Isle of Wight, Newport area, probably Carisbrooke (he isn't entirely consistent about his birth year or place). He married at least three times, and probably four. I know nothing about his first wife, except that they apparently produced a son, Isaac, in 1817. In 1826, however, he married Sarah Dunkinson, at which point he is described as a widower.
In 1841, he appears on the census in Carisbrooke, with his son by the first marriage, and several other children. His wife at this point is named Jane. However, I have looked at the index record for the birth of his youngest child, Martha, in 1839, and her mother's maiden name is given as Dunkinson, which leaves me with three possibilities (unless there's something I haven't thought of):
1. Sarah and Jane were in fact the same person (unlikely, but possible - I have come across someone on another branch who is known as Margaret on one census and Annie on another, her baptismal name being Margaret Ann...).
2. Isaac had two wives, Sarah and Jane, both with the same surname (even less likely).
3. Sarah died after 1839 and Isaac had already remarried Jane by 1841 (a small window, but possible). I can't find any obvious marriage record for him between 1839 and 1841, or any obvious death record for Sarah Harris.
Jane died in 1859, and in 1861, Isaac married again, this time to widow Ann Burt, nee Coward (in a bizarre twist, Isaac's son Henry had married Ann's daughter Mary seven years previously...).
Isaac is listed variously as a labourer, a miller and a market gardener, and there is also a record of declarations which I believe is by him, which lists him as a coal merchant. He lived in Carisbrooke, Newport and Whippingham, and his known children are: Isaac (1817), Mary Ann (1827), George (1829), Jane (1832), Henry (1835), Thomas (1837) and Martha (1839). He died in 1878.
I would love any information on him or any of his family - I know what happened to most of his sons, although Isaac seems to have disappeared (I have a possible death record for him, at the age of 24), but what happened to his daughters is unknown, except that Mary Ann married a soldier by the name of Bevan and then also disappeared. I would also like to solve the mystery of the multiple wives...
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There appears to be two Isaac Harris's born in Carisbrooke around this time-one was baptised 20/10/1793 with parents Isaac and Hannah, and the other baptised 2/3/1794 to George and Jemima. There is also a marriage 9/7/1822 between Isaac Harris and Hannah Dominy in Newchurch(Ryde IOW).
There is a son baptised 10/11/1816 in Carisbrooke to Isaac Harris and Clara. Hope this helps,
Regards.
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Thanks so much for those!
I wish I had some way of knowing which Isaac Harris is mine, but unless some more evidence comes up, I don't know that I ever will.
I had seen that marriage between Isaac and Hannah in 1822 - if it is my Isaac, though, that's yet another marriage I knew nothing about! Do you have a name for the son baptised in 1816?
Thanks again for your help!
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He was Isaac Harris, so he could be yours. All the info that I sent is on the IGI Familysearch site.
regards.