RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Somerset => Topic started by: charz on Sunday 28 October 12 18:14 GMT (UK)
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hello
Could anyone please tell me what information is shown on the parish marriage records.
I am struggling to find a marriage of a William Smith to Mary, and wonder if the parish records for marriage show the address and occupation.
I have purchased the BAFHS disc for baptism 1812-1837 and have the baptisms of their children, so i now know his address and occupation, plus their address stays the same on all but one child, and all baptised in 2 parishes St Marys Redcliffe and Bedminster St John
Their first child was born 1815, so would i be right in assuming they would have married some time before this,in one of these 2 parishes? or is this too big an assumption.
I am flummoxed as to where to look next, any advice greatly appreciated.
Charz ;D
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Under Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753, and the later 1812 Act, the information recorded in the parish register is the names of the bride and groom, their parish, the date and place, whether the marriage was by banns or licence, the consent of the parents if either of the couple were under the age of 21, the marital status of the bride and groom, and the names of witnesses. Addresses, Occupation and the parents names are not given.
Stan
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Thank you Stan
So there is no way of knowing which couple is the right one :o if there are a few William Smith's marrying Mary's ::)
Mmmmm any suggestions of where i go from here, I know his name William Smith married to Mary and have the baptisms of the children and thats about it!! oh he was a coal miner and lived on North Street! Oh dear :(
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They may have married elsewhere & moved to Bedminster (St Mary Redcliffe is adjacent to St Johns, Bedminster - the churches barely half a mile apart). As a miner, William may have moved from the North Somerset coalfields nearby or could have come from any Bristol parish. Are you sure the baptism in 1815 is of the eldest child?
Steve
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Hi Steve,
I suppose when you put it like that no i am not sure, the family seem to stay in bedminster and live on the same street up until 1870's, when what would be William's grandchildren moved up to Yorkshire.
With a name like Smith, it is so hard to follow them when going back to parish records!
Now you have really put some doubts in my mind, but that would make them impossible to trace wouldn;t it? ::)
Charz
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Sorry to cause doubts Charz, but I think you may have a difficult task ahead - the names being such common ones. There is a chance that the children's given names might offer a clue, if there are any unusual ones there AND you can trace the marriage & William and Mary's origins. People did travel large distances in those days, but the chances are the marriage took place in Bristol/North Somerset or South Gloucestershire. Good Hunting!
Steve
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Hi Charz,
Have you considered looking at the census records? They may provide some detail
of where they were born/baptised.
Can you provide more info of their address(es) and children's names? although
by 1841 /1851 they children may have moved on by the time these censuses were taken.
Alan
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Hi Alan
I have all the children's baptisms except one
James Seymour Smith - bap 6.8.1815 North Street, Bedminster St John
John Seymour Smith - bap 4.7.1817 St Mary Redcliffe
Sarah Smith - bap 21.9.1817 North Street, Bedminster St John
Mary Ann Seymour Smith - bap 10.6.1821. Paradise Row, Bedminster St John
Edward Smith - bap 22.8.1824 North Street, Bedminster St John
William Smith - bap 22.8.1824 North Street Bedminster St John
Mary Ann Smith - bap 27.3.1826 North Street Bedminster St John
Eliza Jane Smith - bap 10.12.1828 North Street Bedminster St John
Susanna Smith - bap 25.12.1829 St Mary Redcliffe
Walter Smith - cannot find
I have the family on the 1841 census minus James and Sarah, still living in North Street and saying they were born in County, cannot find parents on 1851 maybe died by then.
James changed his name somewhere along the line to Francis,
I do think the Seymour bit must come into it somewhere but not sure where.
, and John Seymour had 8 children and four of them had Seaman as their middle name, and then the son called John Seaman Smith born 1848, became John Smith, then he used his mothers maiden name and became John Keene, then legally changed his name to Keen-Smith, so they seem to like playing around with names! ???
I hope this makes sense, it might just look like a load of ramblings ;)
Thanks for your interest
Charz
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Dear Charz
I have just come across the history of your postings after following up on the same death certificate which you obviously have!(that of John Smith killed in a mining accident in South Liberty Pit in 1875). I do not think I can give you any more information (in fact you have had more success than I have with the William Smith and Keene families!), but you would be the first 'distant cousin' I have come across from the Smith family, so I would be very interested to hear more (when I have posted enough to be able to write (or receive?) personal messages! :-\. John Seaman Smith was younger brother to my great grandfather Frank. Best wishes,
Knomur
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Hi Knomur
Good to hear from you, i have not come across many if any Smith ancestors either, and would be happy to share the information i have. They are a very complex family to trace.
Charz
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Hi Charz!
Thank you for your reply. Frank Smith moved away to the South Wales pits where he married, then moved to Yorkshire too, then back to Wales, then back to Yorkshire again, all to find work, I presume.
I look forward to learning more!
Best wishes,
Knomur
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Hi Knomur
John Seaman Smith joined the army as John Smith and when he came out he married Sarah Ann Leech and had adopted his mothers surname, then he legally changed it to Keensmith and had 8 children all who had the name Keensmith in various forms, Keensmith, Keenesmith Keen-smith, i have details of his mother and father and as you have probably seen from previous posts am trying to piece together the family going further back
Charz
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Hello again!
That is very interesting! I have just been on the IGI website and that has the same children of William and Mary (plus a couple more!) as you have, but it also says that they were married in 1814 in Bedminster (no further details, but also no sources, as you probably know!) It does not give Mary's maiden name, but it would fit in with their first child being James?
Best wishes,
Knomur
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HI there ;D
Yes i have come across that marriage i think it is Mary Flanigan on 17 Apr 1814 that married William Smith in Bristol would tie in nicely, might ask these nice people on here if any of them can look up the marriage and find any more details,
Charz
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Dear Charz
Sorry for the delay! Well done for finding Mary Flanigan - she sounds Irish! I'm a bit busy for the next few weeks, but will hope to catch up with you again soon - I'd love to know where you would fit into my tree . . . . .
Happy Christmas,
best wishes,
Knomur
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Hi,
As you say there is a marriage between William Smith and Mary Flanigan 17.4.1814 but this was at St Michael, not St John Bedminster or St Mary Redcliff although, not too far away.
William was a brickmaker and both were from the Parish and single.
What was William's employment on the census or did he die before it was required.
Elizabeth
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Hi Elizabeth
Thanks for the reply, but :-X William was a coal miner on the 1841 census and the birth parish records of his children, will have to keep hunting. :(
Charz
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Hi Charz,
Perhaps William changed his employment between marriage and the baptism of James either that, or the marriage to Mary Flanigan is not your William.
Have you looked to see if there is another William and Mary with children in Bristol.
I feel sure that I have done some research for someone else for the name Seaman or Seymour but I cannot find it in any of my PM's. I will check my box of notes which have kept after looking up things for others, it may be in there.
My first thought, was that Seymour was the mother's maiden name, so have you followed that line of thought.
If I find anything I will come back to you.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
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Hi Charz,
I knew it was familiar and I found the post. A bit embarrassing really as it was your original post of 25 Feb 2010 which I answered. It least it shows I am still functioning if I could remember that one post.
I don't know where else you can look as it all points to the Bedminster area and there are no other suitable marriages around 1814.
Best of luck anyway.
Elizabeth
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Hi Elizabeth
Thanks for your reply, yes it is me again, i have come back to it after a break of about 18 months, but am still chasing my tail. thought it might be worth posting on here again in case anything new had cropped up.
Thanks for taking an interest ;D
Charz
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Hello Charz!
I am back on line again and wonder whether you would share your bit of the Smith family tree with me? I am happy to send you mine if you are interested, but haven't been able to work out how to send you a personal message yet!
Best wishes,
knomur