Marriage: James & Mary Prime

[lindajae]

I'm looking for marriage information for:
James & Mary Prime  (Mary's Maiden name--if possible). 
Here are their stats:
James Prime (Pryme) b. 1809/10 Barley, Herts Huntingdon
Mary Prime (Pryme) b. 1817 Needingworth, Huntingdon
First child born:  Rebecca Prime b. 1843/45 Barley, Herts Hunts
Thank you for your time.

[bedfordshire boy]

The marriage is not on the IGI or BVRI, so the next best thing is to check on FreeBMD - http://www.freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl or go through the images quarter by quarter which can be done free at http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx

You'll then need to purchase the certificate for any likely marriages

Another, and more reliable, way of finding Mary's maiden name is to purchase the birth certificate of one of her children. You can then find the correct marriage in the marriage index. Rebecca's birth was registered in the Dec quarter of 1843 and her baptism is on the IGI - if you then click on the batch number on the Individual Record, put in Prime in Last Name you will get all the Primes baptised in Barley for the period covered by that batch. There is an earlier James Brand Prime in 1842 - I wonder if Brand might be a clue.

There's also an 1832 entry for a son of James and Eleanor - given the age difference between James and Mary I wonder if this might be an earlier marriage for James. There's a death of Eleanor Prime on FreeBMD in the Sept quarter 1839 in Royston reg. district which includes Barley.

I can't find them in 1851**, which would have been helpful, but living in Holywell cum Needingworth was Daniel and Eliza Prime and family, including Abraham 16, who were living in Barley in 1841.  Daniel was a blacksmith and there was also an Abraham Prime 71 blacksmith living in Holywell in 1851 (and 1841). If you'd like full details of these I'll run them off. It would not surprise me if Abraham, Daniel and James were connected. I do not believe in coincidences.

I'll carry on looking

Regards

David

** Found the family in Barley in 1851, although James must have been away as he doesn't appear. Do you have details? Probably not.

HO107/1707 folio 409A
High St, Barley
Mary (indexed as May) Prime wife 34 b Needingworth (indexed as Kneedenpworth Hampshire! - no wonder I couldn't find them)
John Prime son 16 ag lab b Barley
Rebekah Prime dau 7 scholar b Barley
Fanny Prime dau 6 scholar b Barley
Mary Ann Prime dau 2 b Barley
Susan Whitmore lodger unmarr 36 dressmaker b Barley

I am beginning to believe that it was a second marriage for James!

Later
Finally found them in 1841
HO107/443/4 folio 34B
Hamlet of N?ewsells, parish of Barkway (2 miles from Barley)
James Prime 30 ag lab
Mary Prime 20
Frederick Prime 8
John Prime 7
Henry Norris 15 ag lab
All born in Herts

So it was a second marriage for John, and it took place between Sept 1839 when Eleanor died, and June 1841, the date of the census.

[lindajae]

David,
You are the best!  You always find the "hard to find" and give me leads and information I would never have figured out.  On the FREEBMD I found a James Prime & Mary Prime 1840 Sept Quarter Vol 14 Pg 207-Hunts.  But they dont show Mary's maiden name. It says Mary Prime.  Unless her maiden name is the same as her married name, "Prime"? Is she his Cousin?  What and where is the IGI ??   
Thanks again!
Lindajae

[Pinetree]

Lindajae,

From the FreeBMD info PRIME would have been Mary's maiden name but I see a Mary STANYON also shares the same reference.  This means if this is the marriage for John and Mary either of the Marys could have been his bride.

Pinetree

[Pinetree]

The IGI is the International Genealogical Index which is a transcription of many Parish records produced by the Mormon church.  It can be searched on-line at

http://www.familysearch.org

From the IGI it looks as if Mary PRIME may well have been John's bride in 1840 as there is a baptism for Mary PRIME on 24 JUL 1828 at Holywell Cum Needingworth which would fit with 1851 census information.  Parents were Abraham and Catherine PRIME.

Nothing on IGI that fits for Mary STANYON which helps to rule her out.

Pinetree

[bedfordshire boy]

If Mary Prime  was born 1828 she would have been 12 when she married in 1840. I don't think so! Unless it was a late baptism and she was 11/12 when baptised - which it might have been as three sisters were all baptised on the same day

Her age of 34 in 1851 gives a birth 1816/17, not 1828

I don't think the Huntingdon registration district marriage is necessarily the right one. There was another marriage in Dec quarter 1840 in St Ives reg district which looks more likely, as Holywell and Needingworth fell within that district

With three possible Mary's the only failsafe way of separating them is to order Rebecca's birth cert from the GRO

David

[Pinetree]

David,

You are quite right of course 

Should have taken my shoes and socks off for the maths 

Pinetree

[lindajae]

Thank you both for sharing your opinions.  Both of you got me to digging deep and as I looked at the marriages by Vol/Page in FreeBMD instead of dates I see 6 people that got married in that Sept Qtr 1840 in Huntingdon.  There were two Mary's & one James.  Mary Prime & Mary Stanyon (as mentioned  above). I found a Mary Stanyon born 1817/18 too! 
The thought came to me that maybe James & Mary Prime are brother and sister and had a double wedding that day?  James married Mary Stanyon and Mary Prime married one of the other 2 men.  Which sounds so much better than marrying a cousin!  Yes, I will get the birth certificate for Rebecca which will solve this mystery.  Thanks you both for the ideas & guidance and giving me your time

[lindajae]

Another thing...   I didnt think about James being married before!  By not thinking about that it made all dates not fit.  Wedding dates after the birth of the two sons, etc. 
But when you mentioned the possibility of Eleanor.  That made everything come together.  Rebecca's two older brothers look like they are half brothers.  Thank you David for that enlighting information!
One more thing David... in one of your messages you discuss seeing Rebecca's christening (daughter of James & Mary Prime) in IGI and that I can see other Primes.  What & where is IGI?
Lindajae