Second opinions requested - Wilding marriage

[TimW]

I'm just hoping for second opinions on this.

I've always especially been interested in relatives who share my own surname, and I have an Ann Wilding, first cousin, three times removed who was born in Preston in 1859 but grew up in Penwortham.   I'm uncertain whether the details below from the wonderful LAN-OPC website are definitely her marriage, and don't want to update my tree if there's any doubt.

Marriage: 19 Sep 1882 St Mark, Preston, Lancashire, England
Thomas Atkinson - 26 Coachman Bachelor of Elm Villas Ashton on Ribble
Annie Wilding - 23 Spinster of 6 Mill Street West
    Groom's Father: William Atkinson, Yardsman
    Bride's Father: John Wilding, Farmer
    Witness: Henry Wilding; Margaret Atkinson, (X)
    Married by Superintendant Registers Certificate
    Register: Marriages 1866 - 1888, Page 140, Entry 280
    Source: LDS Film 1471020

Evidence in favour :-
Her father's name and profession is correct.
Her age is correct.
She was the eldest daughter in the family - Henry was the eldest son and could be the witness.
The other witness has the same surname as Ann's mother's maiden name.
I can't find another likely Ann Wilding on the 1881 census for this marriage.
She is no longer residing with her mother after the 1881 census and I don't see any likely death records.

Evidence against :-
Her father had died in 1877, but the marriage details from LAN-OPC don't mention that he was deceased.
Address seems odd, she was living in Cop Lane Penwortham in 1881.
I can't see her named as Annie (rather than Ann) elsewhere.

So this has created enough doubt for me not to update the tree. My next approach will be to compare witness Henry's signature as witness against his signature on his own marriage at Penwortham St Mary in 1884.  But I live more than 200 miles from Preston and only visit the LRO every six months or so.  And I only finished my last visit three weeks ago.

So if anyone has any ideas, please contribute.

Also is the "Married by Superintendant Registers Certificate" information significant?   

Tim Wilding

[dotty]

I will look tomorrow at the LRO for you and tell you what I think

Dotty

[Rena]

I think the couple were married in the district Registrars Office in Preston which is less than 2 miles from Penwortham.

[dotty]

On the OPC for Henry's marriage in 1884 it states John his farmer father was deceased

Dotty

[dotty]

Also a Thomas Atkinson was a witness

Dotty

[TimW]

Many thanks for your opinions Dotty.

After sleeping on this problem, I had the bright idea of looking at who was living at Ann Wilding's address - 6 Mill St West - in 1881.   I should have thought of this yesterday.   It didn't help much but I did notice that there were Wildings at both No.2 and No.8 of the same street.   None of whom are on my tree, despite the fact that I do have several hundreds of them.

So I'm not going to do updates my tree until I can get to the LRO and start comparing signatures as I described earlier.  What I might do is start researching the families from No.2 and 8 Mill St West (which I think was in the Maudlands area, north of Preston station) though.

Tim Wilding

[dotty]

I did look on both entries and Henry signed on both occasions.One of the entries was quite faint but although not identical they were very similar.

Dotty

[TimW]

Hi Dotty

Again, many thanks for doing that for me.   You are very kind.

But I still feel that I can't update my tree now that I've found these "unknown" Wildings living close to Ann's address at marriage, in 1881.   I'll begin investigations into them tomorrow.   Ideally they'll connect to my family, but it's rarely an ideal world with my surname.

Tim Wilding