Lookup request for Hawkins in Awre

[hawkeye_1967]

Regarding Jane Hawkins and her son John Hawkins (father unknown) of Awre:

IGI has a reference to the Birth (09/Mar/1808) and Christening (13/Mar/1808)of Hannah Clay daughter of Thomas Clay and Jane Hawkins at Awre with Blakeney batch C023302. I think this is John's half sister.

However, I suspect that Jane Clay (nee Hawkins - John and Hannah's mother) dies somewhere between 1808 and 1810.

IGI then has a reference to the Birth (15/Jun/1811) and Christening (14/Jul/1811) of a William Clay son of Thomas Clay and Jane Tirley at Awre with Blakeney batch C023302

They also go on to have two more sons Thomas (05/Oct/1817) and George (20/Apr/1823)

Now looking at marriages in IGI there are two references to a Thomas Clay marrying a Jane (neither of these have official batch numbers though)

Abt 1807 Thomas Clay mr Jane Hawkins at Awre (1st wife?)
Abt 1810 Thomas Clay mr Jane Tirley at Awre (2nd wife?)

So Thomas has 2 wives both named Jane...how inconsiderate of him!

Interestingly the census records for 1841/1851 and 1861 show a Jane Clay wife of Thomas living within a few houses of the Tirleys.

Unfortunately I cant look at the Deaths Register to confirm the death of Jane Hawkins as this only starts from 1813.

I suspect that the only routes forward from here are...

To look at parish records to find a reference to the marriage of Thomas Clay and Jane Hawkins abt 1807 - although I wonder if this exists, otherwise why is it not in the IGI official batches already?

To look if there are any monumental records in support.

I have a few questions if anyone can help me...

Are the parish records for Awre complete around the period 1780-1813? Does anyone have access to them - apart from submitting a query to Gloucester Records Office? (I have just recevied a reply from them some six months after submitting it.)
I find it strange that there are no references to either the Birth/Christening of Jane Hawkins or her subsequent marriage.
The location of Awre and Blakeney is I think a 'constant' throughout my research

Do death records exist prior to 1813?

Does anyone have any other suggestions of what else to try?

Many thanks,

Andy (Hawkeye)

[AngelaR]

Hi Andy

Just to tackle a small bit of your query    -

You refer to the death indexes starting in 1813. Did the ones you looked at come from Family History Online? If so, they start at 1813 because they're far and away the easiest to transcribe, so most family history societies start with those.

From all indications (Genuki etc) it does look like there will be burial records from Awre/Blakeney from long before that, although the earlier you get the more likely that there's missing pages  The Gloucester Record Office is the best bet, but you're not limited to email. Quite a few RootsChatters go there on a reasonably regular basis, so could look up Jane no. 1's death for you. I should be going myself, but it won't be until after my (immanent!) holiday.

I think you're right about the missing marriage. Where the LDS have transcribed parish records they are reasonably complete. I would normally think that Jane Hawkins must have come from elsewhere and therefore married in her home village, but if she had a child in Awre prior to the marriage, it seems unlikely that they would have married elsewhere. It's probably worth looking in Newnham though. I would take the IGI references you have with a distinct pinch of salt - I've had a look and they seem to be guesses to me  The fact that Jane's baptism doesn't seem to be there might also be confirmation that she came from outside (or she was a widow?)

I think it just has to be the parish records. Can you get to an LDS family history  centre and order the microfilm to look at yourself? They usually (but not always) have surrounding parishes on the same film so you can kill more than one bird with one stone.

Best I can suggest at the moment!

Best wishes

Angela

[hawkeye_1967]

Thanks ever so much Angela.
In fact I had another pm from another RootsChatter to suggest the LDS Family History Centres to me. I had not heard of them before.
So, I have done just that and have an appointment to view the christenings of Awre and Blakeney from about 15?? to 1875, on Tuesday next week.
I am not so sure about the possibility of Jane being a widow, as she would have been 14 or so when she gave birth to John Hawkins (based on her age at marriage to Thomas Clay) - thanks for the suggestion anyway.
It was kind of you to offer to look in the GRO - I'll let you know how i get on next week.
Have a good holiday!
Andy.

[AngelaR]

That's great Andy- I'll keep my fingers crossed for you 

Angela