RootsChat.Com

Is this correct.  A death has to be registered in the district it took place within 5 days.
Why do you say Ruthin.?

Yes, I don't know why it would be registered in Ruthin - is it OK to register a death anywhere in the same county?

I had assumed that this was her death record:

PERCIVAL, MARY  ELIZABETH     63 
GRO Reference: 1952  J Quarter in WREXHAM  Volume 08A  Page 403

It says widow of John Percival of Victoria Road Wrexham (Railway Signalman) registered by son W.J. Percival of Jubilee Road Wrexham. This isn't a match, they only ever lived in Rossett and their sons were Harold and Joseph who also lived in Rossett and John didn't die until 1959.

But this is the correct one:

PERCIVAL, MARY       65 
GRO Reference: 1953  S Quarter in RUTHIN  Volume 08A  Page 331

It says wife of John Percival, Retired General Labourer of Club House Rossett (this house is still in the family), registered by son H.Percival of 6 Green Cottages Rossett (which is the house my mum grew up in).

So by this, she was born in 1888
Her marriage certificate suggests 1891
The 1921 Census suggests March 1891
The 1939 register says 25th March 1890

A bit of something or nothing.
In 1853 Patrick Brown b Ireland marred Catherine Hegarty b Liverpool in Bangor
In 1861 they in Mold with daughter Margaret registered 1854 Holywell .
In 1871 they are in Bangor, Margaret is 17.
1881 and Margaret is missing, but there is a son James 12 b Bangor .
James is with the family till 1911, he married in 1912 and died in 1934 aged 63, so born 1871
A James Brown was registered June qtr 1871 Bangor mmn Brown.
Could James be the illigitmate son of Margaret Brown,  and Patrick and Catherine really his grandparents.

The birth registration for Mary Brown hasn't been found for sure, the only clue is she  says she was born in Bangor and her father was James Brown.
It's possible that if she was born c 1890 / 1891 that James b 1871 was old enough to be her father.
The only drawback is that this Brown family seemed to quite settled and employed .
This doesn't sit right with Mary being destitute,  but it depends on her mothers circumstances.
This all must be taken with a pinch of salt but .......

Well this is very interesting and i think it's something for me to consider.

I have messaged 2 of my mum's cousins who are older than her and may remember more about Mary. The first one has said that John 'brought her back from Wales' (whatever that means) and that 'her family was Irish which is why Harold and Joe had red hair' and 'she was older than she said she was'.

It's not a great deal of help I know, but it's something. I've asked her if she thinks that the reason that they didn't marry in Rossett church was because Mary was catholic.

I'm guessing you mean John.

Yes I do, sorry! I have a picture of Mary here with her son Harold, his name must have been stuck in my mind.

Where exactly did the marriage take place.
Where were both couples abode.
Who were the witnesses.

The marriage was in Wrexham register office. This is a little bit odd because everyone in the family that she married into (the Percivals) frequented and used Rossett church for every occasion. She wasn't pregnant (Harold didn't arrive for over a year) so I did wonder whether she possibly came from a catholic family. It was war time though so maybe this was the reason.

The addresses given are Harold's mother's house in Rossett for Mary and Acton Hall, Acton for Harold (this is a strange bit of information that my mum can't explain).

The witnesses were John and Mary Gibson, friends of Harold.
 

mary brown GRO search: 1887 march Bangor page 423, mother’s maiden name:  Jones

You can buy a digital copy to confirm that this is the correct person. She’s the only one in Bangor in the years around 1890.

You’ll need to register on the GRO and pay £3 for a digital image.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results

The father is Alexander Brown and it looks like she went on to marry an Eardley according to Ancestry.

Am I allowed to post the GRO images for all of the searches that I've done here?