Advice on where to look for a London marriage

[Selous]

I'm certain this is not my Charlotte Mead, as she and Joseph, a bootmaker, are together on the census until Joseph died on 13 March 1892. in 1861 Newington St Mary, 1871 Bermondsey, 1881 Camberwell, 1891 St Paul Deptford. Joseph died at 95 Bolina Road as did Charlotte in 1908. My grandmother Minne's wedding certificate in 1894 also list her address as 95 Bolina Road. Charlotte and Joseph had 7 children - Rosannah Charlotte 1855, Thomas 1858, William Henry 1860, Joseph Benham and Julia in 1866, Amelia 'Minnie' 1870 and Bertha in 1874.
I have checked Free BMD for their marriage but no luck so far - I thought it might help to view the original registration records, but I don't know which registry offices I should try

Thanks

[Maggie1895]

Selous, this may sound a silly question but where has the information on Charlott's maiden name come from?    I've been assuming that you have a copy of one of the children's birth certificates that lists both parents?   Is it possible, for instance, that she was always known as Charlotte but may have been married / baptised under her Sunday name?
Do you have dates of birth, or even years of birth, for Joseph and Charlotte from the census returns or from Joseph's death certificate?

[Selous]

Yes, I have three including their first child Rosannah Charlotte who was born on 9 April 1855 at 25 Litchfield Street Soho - maiden name definitely given as Mead on all three

[Maggie1895]

Thanks, it probably did sound a daft question but sometimes we all make assumptions. 

p.s. have now found the entry in 1881, when Joseph is 56 and Charlotte 53.  Based on that Joseph was born in Harford approx 1826 and Charlotte in Stepney in Middlesex approx 1828.   Shame it's not the other way around as it would be a lot easier to locate a Charlotte in 1828 in Hartford than Stepney!  

corrected:  I can take 53 from 81 and had the right answer in my head - just not on the keyboard!

[Selous]

Sorry Maggie, posted too quick

On Joseph's death certificate his age is given as 69 years - daughter Minnie is the witness and for Charlotte her age is given as 78 - widow of Joseph Benham Roberts - daughter Julia is the witness.

[Maggie1895]

Having been tripped up by my own typo, I'll try again.

Possible baptism for Charlotte Mead
Daughter of John Mead, Leather Draper, and Charlotte Mead
Tower Hamlets, Entry No 373, 26 February 1827.

No guarantees, but as the marriage record is proving elusive I wondered if it might be worth approaching it from another angle

[Selous]

I am happy to try any approach - I'm just less confident about how to proceed without the wedding certificate evidence of Charlotte's fathers name - but I will look at the 1841 census possibilities for Charlotte Meads born 1827 - although if she was born in 1827, I guess she could have been living away from home by 1841.

[Maggie1895]

Onthe pilot.familysearch (free) site I've found a family in Hartford in Huntingdon whose children are being baptised in the 1820s.   They are Thomas Roberts and Anna.

Joseph, baptised 30 November 1822, so his death certificate age is correct but his census age may not be
Elizabeth, baptised 6 August 1826
Rosanna, baptised 1 June 1828 - a name that is repeated in Joseph/Charlotte's family

Sorry that hasn't helped with the marriage record, but at least it gives you Joseph's parents and sisters if you didn't have them before. 

Your last post - I agree with you.  The biggest mistakes I've made were nearly always based on my roaring ahead following assumptions, and ones I've got right are usually painstaking step by step.

Looking at the 1851 census, the Charlotte I found baptised in 1827 is the only one coming up in London of the right age, living with her parents John and Charlotte.  She is married and listed as Charlotte Jones, with a daughter age 1 month named Sarah Anne.

This gives a few possibilities, the first of which is that this may be a giant red herring, and not related to your family at all.

The second is that Charlotte married and had a little girl then was widowed, or maybe even the little girl died.

Would it be worth trying to see if there are any records of a marriage between Joseph Roberts and Charlotte Jones?    If it was a shortlived marriage it's possible and Charlotte's maiden name, for all the children's birth records, would still have been Mead.

- added -   Good theory, but I've just done a quick search and a Joseph Roberts to Charlotte Jones marriage isn't coming up either.  Sorry

[Selous]

Thanks Maggie - similarly to Charlotte, I am nervous of deciding on Joseph's ancestry without a wedding certificate - I had found the baptism on Ancestry but not those of his potential siblings, so thank you for this helpful additional info - I can pursue this line back and see if it helps confirm any other facts - I have wondered about the Benjamin/Benham middle name that is periodically/interchangably used.  Joseph and Charlotte's third son was named Joseph Benham in 1866 and as I mentioned on Charlotte's death certificate she is the widow of Joseph Benham Robets master bootmaker -if that comes through further research of this new lead that would be a useful confirmation.