Leeds Parish Records - early Xmas present

[KathyM]

I may not get the chance to look this up for a couple of weeks.....but have added it to my list !  Will let you know if I come up with anything....

[Neko]

thank you, Kathy, that would be wonderful. any information on this family would be a boost. we've been brickwalled for several years on every branch! you'd think something would give! now if only there was a web site exactly like this for the USA! I can dream...

[KathyM]

I can look up the marriage in Batley - but at that date it will not give the father's name - but should give the names of two witnesses,  the groom's occupation and if they lived in the parish or not.

The baptism is VERY unlikely to give anything other that what you have, except perhaps where they lived, and sometimes the father's occupation.  The only other thing is that sometimes you can find more than one baptism and find Martha's siblings....which could fit in with something else.....there are quite a few on the IGI with John Smith as father.....but it may become clearer with an occupation or 'abode' that we can compare......will let you know what I find..Kathy

[Neko]

unfortunately I don't have it in my notes, but if memory is correct William Mason, Jr. (Martha Mason's brother) came to America to start up a mill of some sort in Massachusetts. that might help you in the occupation area. in the 1850 Massacusetts census his occupation is given as "operative" it doesn't say what of. it's quite clearly operative, not operator.
it's easy enough to get Martha Mason and her mother, Martha Smith, confused.
if you should get around to it, and I'm in no rush,

Martha Mason probably married in Armley (some descendants claim Massachusetts, but I'm finding alot of errors of that sort in what's being sent to me) about 1838, to William Clifford Moffitt

her brother William Mason, Jr. probably also married in Armley about 1837 to Amelia Murgatroid
their brother Christopher Mason m. Hannah Whittaker, but we don't know when or where.

oh, yes, the family was Presbytarian in the States, so I don't know whether they were C of E in England, or non-conformist.

[Neko]

I got Piggot's 1834 directory in the mail today, which didn't list Batley but has Armley and Bramley in it. of course none of my people are listed. darn. I was wondering if you would check for a marriage between Martha Mason and William Clifford Moffitt in Armley abt 1838, as well. family story is that they married and had thier children in Massachusetts, but early MA vital records a quite extensive, and they aren't there at all. since I've proved with the 1850 census that William Mason, Jr.'s family wasn't all born in America, it is probable that neither was William Moffitt's family. that, then would lead to baptisms, but I think I've asked plenty, if not too much of you, already.
bless you for your help to those of us who can't access the archives!

[KathyM]

Hi Neko

I have searched the GRO index feom the first entries in 1837 to the end of 1839.....found 4 marriages for William Moffat/Moffatt/moffit/moffitt

I have checked all the ref. nos. against Mason entries and found none that match up......only one of them was in Leeds...

That was William Moffitt (the only one with the same spelling)...however, on checking the Leeds records (on 'Yorkshirebmd') I found that this William actually married a Judith Fowler at St Peter's Church (Leeds Parish Church) in 1839.

There are no other William Moffitt's on the Leeds entries, for about 15 years...so I don't think they married there.

There is an entry for a marriage for a Martha Mason...she married Robert Chadwick, also at St Peters) in 1840.

The ref. for William is - June 1839  Leeds  23 311

for Martha Mason -  Sept 1840  Leeds  23 313

 I know it might sound weird...but maybe they were married to other people !

The best I can offer, is to look up the details of the marriages in the church records.....which I can't do for a week or so.......but that will save you sending for certificates that don't fit....and we should be able to work out if either of them fit .....they will have father's details, etc.

[Neko]

wow. I'm glad you did the search. they are an elusive lot. everything I have for these people place them in Leeds in the various towns I mentioned-Armley, Batley, Bramley, Leeds. the Mason's show up for one generation in the C of E. as they were Presbytarian here in America, I wonder what faith they were in England, as it is William's parents and aunts and uncles who are in the C of E, not William and his siblings. at least, not from what the IGI shows. or rather, doesn't show!
good luck on the church records. I have some dates available online at Rootsweb's WorldConnect if you need them.

[KathyM]

Neko = I have just got home from the Leeds Archives .... and here is what I have managed to come up with :
1)
Batley Parish Church - entry no. 781
1st May 1796  marriage
William MASON of this Parish to
Martha SMITH of the same
after banns
(both signed X their mark)
witnesses : Christopher Mason & Rebekah Dixon
(both signed their names)

2)
Armley - baptisms
2 June 1774
William   son of Christopher MASON

(NO OTHER INFORMATION WRITTEN) - sorry

BUT - there is also this entry :
March 4th 1770
John son of Christopher MASON  of Armley

I also had a look in the Armley mariages forChristopher's marriage - there were no Masons listed.

3)
St Peter's Leeds  (Parish Church)
6 Nov 1776
baptism of child of :
John SMITH of Holbeck  born 8th October 1774 and named Martha

4)
Marriage of William Moffitt & Judith Fowler - not able to find this ....but ran short of time....

5)
THIS IS A GOOD ONE !
Marriage at St Peter's )Parish Church - Leeds)_
3rd August 1840  by licence
Robert CHADWICK full age  bachelor  gentleman  of Claremont Place
to
Martha MASON  full age  spinster    of Boston

fathers :
Robert CHADWICK   gentleman
Christopher MASON  grocer

witnesses : 
Thos. WALKER & Mary CHADWICK


I hope there is something there which is of interest !

[Neko]

wow, thanks for looking this up. I didn't know if there would be anything with this family group because they are so elusive. so this is a bounty compared to my usual finds, which is zilch! it is a repeat of what's in the IGI, but it's good to get the little bits the IGI overlooks-such as which parish(es) the couple came from, who the witnesses were, etc.
I don't know the William Moffitt you found, but he may be related. the Moffatt's of Yorks are an elusive lot, as well, and it's obvious that William Clifford Moffitt spelled his name differently from most of the Moffitts in Yorks-those that I can find, that is.  the Martha Mason who m. in 1840... She's from Boston...have to look up where that is, but Boston doesn't fit into the family stories. from my atlas of England, Boston is in Lincs., south of Yorks. with Christopher and his family being of Armley, it makes it difficult for me to fit her in Boston...my Martha's death record places her birth in Armley, but those records are not always correct...
I wonder if Rebekah Dixon is family and if she's an important clue.
like another ancestor, Christopher may have come in from another area. his first child, George, is baptised in 1761 in Armley, but no record is found for Christopher's birth. I noted a number of early 18th century baptism's for various Christopher Mason's around England-if I recall two were in London, but not knowing migratory roots beyond Norfolk to Suffolk or Essex, Suffolk to Essex and Essex to London, Middlesex, Surrey and Oxon, I don't have any idea where or why people migrated. my other line was also a Grocer, though much earlier. but that goes back to the Boston Masons, and I don't know whether they connect.
I don't know if any of this is any help or if I'm just rattling around.
can you check outside of the C of E? would there be any non-conformist records for them? the reason I ask is because they are in the C of E for one or two generations, but the records are spotty and then they disappear from the C of E-if the IGI is accurate.
thanks again for your help!