Any possible children for George & Martha HEAVENS ?

[Soureau]

Good morning,

George HEAVENS, b. 1804 Faringdon - son of Angel & Martha HEAVENS - married Martha ROLLANS on 2nd February 1829 in Bicester.
Martha was a widow, and considerably older than George, probably as much as 20 years or so.

At an informed guess, I would estimate Martha as being about 48 at the time of the marriage. The 1841 and 1851 Censuses vary between 15 and 20 years difference.

It hardly seems likely, therefore, that George & Martha had any offspring, but I would nevertheless be very grateful if anyone with access to the relevant PR's - Faringdon most probably - would be kind enough to check and see whether there was a child or two early on in their marriage.

The 1851 Census in Faringdon (London Street) shows, however, a granddaughter, Martha LAY, aged 9. The chances of there being a daughter, even born late 1829, old enough to be married and have a daughter of 9 in 1851 seem remote.

The alternative would be a granddaughter from Martha Senior's previous marriage to a Mr. ROLLANS somewhere. Which is another kettle of fish !

Many thanks,

Nick

[paulharrison57]

Hi Nick,

I will be visiting Berkshire FHS Reading on the 27th May and they have the parish records for Faringdon.

Are you still wanting an answer to your question regarding George and Martha?

I notice in Ancestry UK that there is a death entry for a Martha Heavens in Q4 1853.

There are 16 birth entries for Heavens in Faringdon from 1823 to 1853.

Kind Regards

Paul

[Soureau]

Good evening Paul,

Thank you for picking up my old message and for your look-up offer in Reading.

The short answer is "yes please"! An opportunity to check my information against Parish Records is always very welcome, especially since it is highly unlikely that I can ever get anywhere near Reading.

One other thing I would particularly appreciate whilst you're at the BRO would be if you could check whether you can find any trace of the birth or baptism of:

Ambrose HEDGES, occupation: tailor, born at an educated guess 1805 or 1806, probably  in Faringdon. Can't find him anywhere (my great great grandfather), despite having his marriage in 1827 and his death certificate in 1862 as well, both events having taken place in Faringdon.

Thank you for your kind offer once again. Greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Nick

[paulharrison57]

Hi Nick,

No problem at all.

I hope I find something for you.

Regards,

Paul

[Soureau]

Good evening Paul,

Most appreciated.

If it's not too much to ask it would be great if you could note them, if you come across HEAVENS baptisms.

As for the Ambrose Hedges baptism, it's possible that you may not find anything as he seems to be a bit of a mystery ! Married, worked, and died in Faringdon, but no trace of his birth that I can find.............maybe his parents simply "forgot" to register him; it did happen apparently.

Whatever, I shall be indebted to you for taking the time and trouble.

Best regards,

Nick

[paulharrison57]

Hi Nick,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner.

I have now been to the Berkshire FHS in Reading and looked through their records regarding George Heavens and Ambrose Hedges.

With regard to George Heavens I found the following entries:

Birth/Baptism - Born May 24th 1804 Faringdon. Baptised 17th June 1804. Son of Angel & Martha.

I could not find any baptism records where George & Martha are shown as the parents.

Ambrose Hedges.

Found quite a few records relating to Ambrose.

Births/Baptisms -

Born 10th March 1830. Baptised 5th April 1830. Son of Ambrose & Lucy - Tailor.

Baptised 20th April 1840. Son of Ambrose & Lucy. Tailor.

Marriages -

8th Sept 1807 Ambrose Hedges to Lucy Heavens (botp). Witnesses Henry Dunn & Mark Hedges.

I recorded all the Births, Marriages & Births for Heavens, Hedges & Hambridge. If you would like them let me know and will type them up for you. Leave me your email address.

Regards,

Paul

[Soureau]

Good evening Paul,

I have sent you a PM with my mail address.

Many thanks for your time and trouble.

Nick

[cello]

Hi Nick

Any luck with Ambrose's baptism? If not, any suggestions where to go from here?

I still haven't found a copy of the Longcot book for you. I keep looking in all the local bookshops hoping to find one but still no luck.

Cello

[Soureau]

Good afternoon,

Many thanks for keeping the Longcot book in the back of your mind ! Hopefully a copy will turn up one of these days.

Ambrose's baptism/birth is still a brick wall I'm afraid, and a frustrating one at that. I've tried almost every avenue I can think of but with no results so far.

I have scouted wide and researched the 3 Hedges families in Faringdon at the time, hoping to perhaps find a reference to Ambrose, but have drawn a blank so far after over 3 years of searching.

I know he died in Faringdon in December 1862 (I have his Death Certificate) and is very probably buried there at Faringdon All Saints, but apparently there is no record of his grave according to the present church warden. (A grave could have given the year of birth). As I cannot go there myself, I have no way of checking this for myself.

For the moment I'm stumped !

Nick