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Hi all! I have a George Bentley in Birstall, and his wife is Susanna/Susannah/Susan. I'm having trouble finding out her maiden name, because their youngest child was born in 1834, too early for a birth certificate. I've been searching for a marriage between them, and the only one I can turn up - I just can't decide if its feasible or not.

Background:
George Bentley (1793-1868). In the 1861 census, he says he's born in Birkenshaw. All my records for him, have him living on Moor Lane in Gomersal/Birstall, so he must have moved there before 1841.
Susanna (1795-1843), all I know for sure is that she was born in Yorkshire!
They had eight children, 1824-1834, although its possible I've missed one earlier?

The marriage I found was at Woodkirk St Marys, in October 1820, between George Bentley, clothier and Susanna Wilson, spinster. It seems too far away to be them, its by banns and says "of this parish". However George's name and occupation are the same. I know, there are tons of Bentleys in the area! And clothier is not an unusual trade I don't think? The one big thing that counts for this, is that their third son was named Wilson Bentley. This is a pretty unusual name, and would be her maiden name if I have the right marriage. The only possible reason I can think for them to have gone to Woodkirk to get married is if it is her home parish? The witness names on the marriage aren't any help either, I can't really make them out and they don't appear to be any names I know.

I'm on the other side of the world from Yorkshire, so I don't have access to any parish records to look through records for St Peters in Birstall (where every other family event seems to be registered). So, I don't know what to make of this. It being in a church that's not in Birstall makes me very hesitant, but the Wilson name seems like a good reason.

I was hoping someone with local knowledge could theorise any reason for them to have got married in Woodkirk? Or you are all welcome to say this sounds like a terrible match too.
Cheers,
Jo

Hi there. I'm relatively new to genealogy, and while I feel like I've got the hang of census and BMD data for the most part, I'm all at sea when it comes to parish records. Aside from the issue of actually getting to search them Once I get them, I'm not sure how I can possibly confirm anything I find? For example, I have searched some West Yorkshire parish records I found online, and found a marriage with the right names for some ancestors, and the date sounded about right, but the area was close but not exactly where they lived once the census started. I suppose this might be because they used to live there, or because her family was from there, or maybe they were just the wrong people!

I have read that wills and probate are a good resource for cross-referencing, but pretty much my entire family tree is made up of agricultural labourers and miners, who lived in great poverty. I can't imagine they would have had a will or had any assets to go to probate. So, am I out of luck, or is there some other way to feel certain about records you find, that I'm not thinking of?

Thanks!
Jo

Thanks again for the help Wiggy, much appreciated!

Hi Wiggy,
Thanks for the marriage info! I will be ordering a copy of that, as it seems to be an excellent match.

In terms of the birth info, I was looking at both those indexes earlier today, and thinking Clutton was a likely candidate. All I have on Eliza right now is census records (after her marriage), so I don't really have enough info to determine if either or neither is a match. I tried looking for census records before her marriage and no good matches came up, except an 1871 census which looked promising (born in Bath, resident in Walcot) but born in 1863. Since there were no other really good possibles for the 1861 or 1871, I decided that I would try and get marriage info first (for her father's name). I agree Clutton is a good possibility though.

Cheers,
Jo

Wow, thank you so much Orielbenfro 

To clarify, the reason I thought Thomas was a stepson is based purely upon the small age difference between him and George James (12 years) and the fact that Hannah is older, so may either have been married before, or had a child out of wedlock. I will search for Isaac Parry's death or burial with the clues you have given me.

I will PM you my email address, but thank you so, so much for your excellent help! 

Cheers,
Jo