Help required to find family pre-registration

[Rossdal3]

Hi Cass and Dave,  I have 2 dates that I got from the bmdregisters web-site.  Birth was 2 june 1815 and baptism was 18 August 1815.

I'm just not sure this is my Betty, given her marriage in 1830, sould only make her 14 - 15 years old.  Plus census docs show her DOB as 1812/1813 which would add up better. I can't find a Betty for those years though.  Plus my betty didn't call one of her 10 children Samuel, which could be another clue, unless of course she lost one between censuses with the name   

regards,
Jill

[dave the tyke]

Jill,
There was a family that could have been yours living in Tong in 1841

Cutler Heights Lane
William Wells age 30 Worsted Weaver
Betty 28
Mary Ann 11
Isaac 9
John 2

This would indicate a marriage about 1830 by licence ? because Betty was not yet 21. Perhaps she lied about her age - it often happened.
Perhaps the marriage was after the birth of Mary Ann that also often happened and still does.

Tong information (and much more) can be found on this excellent site
http://vitaldb.moorlandit.com/

Tong is border line Bradford / Leeds perhaps you should widen your search ?
Have you got the family in 1851 and if so what places of birth are given - particularly for Betty because that is the likely place of marriage.

Dave

[Rossdal3]

Hi Dave,

That is definitely them in 1841 and in 1851 the census says Betty and her family were living in Bowling.  They now had:
Isaac Wells 18, Elizabeth Wells 16, John Wells 13, William Wells 10, James Wells 7,Henry Wells 4
Edwin Wells 7 Mo, Emma Wells 7mo (twins)

James Wells my Gt Gt Grandfather, was also born in Bowling in 1844 and got married to Martha Coultas in Leeds. Henry married Sarah Coultas and emigrated to the USA.  Isaac and William also married sisters (named Sagar). I have my suspicions that William may have been a bigamist, or it may be a coincidence that someone with the same details died in Scotland in 1901, with a family there, whilst his wife in Bradford lived with her parents, with no trace of a husband, but still listing herself "married" on the censuses!

In the Cudworth book 'The history of Bowling' there is a bit written about Isaac Wells the "trusty agent" of Sir Francis Lindley Wood.  The Wells family seem to be fairly well off, with William listed as a shopkeeper/grocer/clothier as well as worsted weaver in various documentation through the decades.

Would also love to know if Betty was part of the Tetley's tea family!!!
Cheers,
Jill

[dave the tyke]

They are more likely to be part of the Tetley's ales  family given their proximity to Leeds. You still haven't mentioned the birth place for Betty and does it follow through on subsequent census's. Do you have her death and burial details ?

Just suggesting lines of research for you and thinking aloud. My wife hailed from West Bowling so I am quite familiar with the place.

Dave

[Rossdal3]

Sorry Dave, she was listed on the 1851 & 1861 censuses as  being born in Bowling and in 1871 as Bradford, Bowling - Civil Parish.  She died in Jun Q 1971 age 58.

This gives her a consistent DOB of about 1813. I'll accept though that she may have originally lied about her age to marry William in the first instance and then kept it up, or maybe just lost track of how old she was.  My Dad went to school with a boy who didn't know how old he was.  His parents didn't tell him when his birthday was because they couldn't afford to buy him presents 

The web-sites you've given me so far, show a few Betty Tetley's listed, but across different generations, it doesn't seem to be too common a name and maybe is a name passed down in this particular family.  There is also the possibility that she may have been illegitimate and therefore we might not be looking for a Father Tetley or she may have been christened 'Elizabeth'!

Jill

[Rossdal3]

Hi again Dave,

In the parish registers Betty Tetley daughter of Samuel and Betty was born in Churwell.  She lived in Rooley Lane Bowling in 1871. I just put the 2 addresses into Googe Maps and it seem the distance is about 7-8miles, making this entry a probability in everything but the age issue.

Cheers,
Jill