Handwriting help, please

[Ewan]

Hello, bow, curtsy- inspectors

Maria Thomas nee Lewis died aged 59, buried 24.07.1871.  Through my contacts as Chiswick Church they told me there was not a lot of hope in finding her grave as it could have been under a pathway!  I suppose it happens.

When I visited the church back last year, my contacts, met me in the church and showed me what they thought was in fact Maria's grave.  It was just on the other side of a path behind some railings with other graves.  However, it did seem that Thomas Davis was not buried with her as they had another plot number for him.  At the time I did not know that he had been married before, so he could have quite possibly been buried with his first missus.

Ewan

[Gadget]

Hi Ewan

Didn't find an appropriate Henry. I think he might well have died given Maria's age. The early certs don't always state deceased.

I'm sure Maria's birthplace  is somewhere in Middlesex (well north of the river anyway!) - otherwise a different county name would have been given on the censuses.

I've been pouring over maps - A to Z, OS, old ones. The problem is that the old London maps don't extend that far. I've found this one though:

http://archivemaps.com/mapco/whit1865/whit.htm

You could have a pour over it as well - just click on the squares to enlarge, concentrate on bottom left hand area.

Think my idea of the Bull in Barnes wasn't too far out  - perhaps we could get to Kew on the same trip

Gadget

[Ewan]

Hello Gadget

The thing is Maria married quite late in life (30) back in 1843, there must have been a reason for that.  Unless of course she was waiting for the man of her dreams in Thomas Davis .

Just to recap:

Thoma Davis born in Chiswick, living there in 1841.
Don't know where he married his first wife Susan, but I bet it was in Chiswick.
Maria Lewis and Thomas Davis married at Hammersmith and then went on to live in Chiswick.

It is only on the 1861 out of the 3 censuses Maria is on that states her as being born in Chiswick.
 
The only thing I can think of as to the reason why they married in Hammersmith is because Maria was from around there.  So I will have a look at those maps and see if anything turns up.

Many thanks for continued help
Ewan

[Gadget]

Hi Ewan

I've attached the places of birth for Maria, in case anyone else has ideas. The first looks like Brokeworth and the second Brankhurst or Bankhurst. The 1861, Chiswick, maybe an anomaly.

There's a Batchworth, just SE of Rickmansworth and Buckhurst, north of Woodford in Essex.

Sorry - I think this thread is merging with your 1851 thread now. I've got two computers, each with 4 window open on your case - must be some kind of record.

Gadget 

[Ewan]

Gadget you are a real star.

It would have taken me 2 weeks to have worked out how to attach those onto the message,  thanks for that.

Hopefully as you say, someone may have some ideas.

Looking on my little map again , I see that Batchworth is pretty near where all the action seem to be taking place.  And I must say it looks like a cross between Brokeworth and Brockenhurst.  If this isn't resolved I think a search through parish records for Batchworth may be in order.

Thanks
Ewan

[Gadget]

Found a link to something. It states

BANKHURST Road is situated in the Borough of Lewisham, SE6. Oh dear, South of the River - not  my scene

http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/bankhurst_road_eed.html

We'll get there 

Gadget

(now 5 screens  on one and 4 on the other - think a coffee break  )

Just realised the time  Remember that if they or anyone in the household could write, the enumerator would take what they had written and try to transcribe that --- so.........)

[lizdb]

I've just been flitting between this and your other post on this family - trying to follow the plot!!!

I would suggest that it would be a good idea to concentrate on pinnig her down in 1841, just before her marriage. Your other thread comes up with a possible for her, in the household of Frederick.
When I put her name and dob as 1811 +/- 2 yrs into the Ancestry search for 1841, there are about 12 possibles. Has anyone followed these up to see if any are living with a Dad called Henry, a gardener, ?

Probably you have, but sometimes it is easy to miss the obvious!

[Gadget]

Hi Liz

We have, we have..................

None are living with a Henry - gardener. In fact he's dead, I think. Anyway, I can't find a suitable one at all. The early marriage certs didn't always state the life/death status of fathers.

We only have the one Maria on the 1841 who fits - in terms of age, area and status. The female servant with Frederick in Chiswick. We are now following her up to dicipher her birthplace.

Gadget - patron saint of lost causes, that's me 

[Ewan]

Hello Liz and welcome to the plot about a girl called Maria Lewis with a dad, possibly dead, called Henry.

Regarding the Maria Lewis living with a Lewis family in Chiswick, I secretly think that could well be her.  Now was she related to them and worked as a female servant, perhaps at Chiswick House, where her husband-to-be worked, or did she just work for them Lewises of whom she lived with? 

Any ideas of if/how she was related to them?

Thanks in advance
Ewan