BURBIDGE or BURBRIDGE + SMITH

[Ossibus]

I am trying to trace the origins of Elizabeth Burbidge SMITH, born London about 1820, under which name she married Henry Doughton PULFORD at St James Westminster in the Dec. quarter of 1842.

In 1851 they were living at 29 Onslow Square, and she died in Kensington in the June quarter of 1860.

In the 1861 census her widower Henry, misspelt Pidford in the transcription, was living at South Street , Dorking, and living or staying with him was his father-ln-law John BURBRIDGE, widower, 75, retired merchant, born Welford, Northants.

John and Elizabeth BURBRIDGE, aged 55 and 20, were possibly the two such recorded at Warblington, Hants in the 1841 census.

Among the many people of these and similar names I have failed to pin them down further, and am particularly puzzled about where Elizabeth got the SMITH from.

I would be very grateful if anyone has any other information about them.

[CaroleW]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat

Do you have a copy of the 1842 marriage cert to confirm her fathers full name and occupation

The Elizabeth Burbridge on the 1841 census was shown as 24yrs old - not 20

It's possible she was born Elizabeth Smith and her mother married Burbidge after her birth (eg)

From the IGI

JOHN BURBIDGE     Spouse:  ELIZABETH SMITH    Marriage:  17 JAN 1826   Barnack, Northampton 

[Ossibus]

Hi CaroleW, and thank you for your quick response.

No, I have not yet got the marriage cert.  I am fairly new to this, and was trying to get as far as I could online before sending off for this and a few other awkward ones I am accumulating, but perhaps I should now get on with it.

I think your suggestion about Elizabeth's birth is interesting and feasible.  I suppose in that case John B. may or may not be the father.  In the latter case calling him father-in-law in the 1861 census would be sort of honorific.

I have looked again at the 1841 census entry, and I really do think she is 20 (having magnified it), though the 0 could possibly have been inked over something else.  She is said to be 31 in 1851.

[CaroleW]

Hi

Yes - having had another look - she is 20 and not 24 so I have notified an amendment to her birthyear

I think John B was her stepfather and it's quite possible he may be shown on her marriage cert as her father - be interesting if he isn't!!

[Ossibus]

Thank you again.  I think your stepfather suggestion must surely be right.  I will now set about getting the certificate, which seems the best chance of making progress with this.

[Ossibus]

Hi, CaroleW,

I now have the marriage certificate, and as you expected John Richards Burbidge, Esquire, appears as father.  Since Elizabeth is given as spinster, any lingering suspicion that she had a quick marriage to a Smith in between can be ruled out.  So he adopted her in some way, most likely as you suggest by marrying her widowed mother, in which case the marriage you found at Barnack certainly looks like the best bet.

It is strange that IGI gives his name as John Widower Burbidge, presumably misplacing the middle name as a copying error; unless they did sometimes describe someone like this

Between then and 1841 several Elizabeth Burb(r)idges die in Northants, but the most promising seems to be one who was buried at Barnack on 8 Feb 1831, though she is spelt Burbridge.

I have failed to find any trace of the father on the census in 1851.

Given the frequency of these names in Northants it will no doubt be difficult to get more certainty on this, and I am not sure how best to proceed.  Would you think my next move should be to transfer enquiries to the Northants section to see if anyone there has access to information from Barnack?  Or is there some way of getting more information from those on the IGI list?

[CaroleW]

This is a dreadfully spelt submitted IGI entry.  As the marriage I found was in Barnack - I just wondered??

JOHN BURBIDG (Burbidge)   Christening:  13 JUL 1783   Barnack, Northampton   
Father:  FRANCIS BURBIDG    Mother:  ALCE (Alice) 

[Ossibus]

Thanks again.  This seems likely to be the groom of the Barnack wedding.   But EBS's (step)father is clearly down in 1861 census as 75 and born in Welford, some way from Barnack and 2 or 3 years away from your new find.  Perhaps one could be born in one place and taken home for christening, and clearly numbers can go wrong. 

 

[delicado]

Hi Ossibus

I'm joining you in your Burbidge search. Not straightforward, is it!
I'm pretty sure John Richards Burbidge (b. circa 1786, d. 1873) was the daughter of Mary xxxx, who later married someone called GRAVATT.  I have a newspaper cutting of a death notice which clearly identifies Mary Gravatt, who died aged 84 in 1843 in Molesey, near Surbiton, as the mother of John Burbidge Esq.  Annoyingly I can't find her in the 1841 census though!

My connection is that this Mary Gravatt is also identified as the mother of my GGGG Grandmother, Elizabeth Burbidge (this identification is on Elizabeth's marriage licence). Elizabeth was born around 1787-8. I had always assumed in Southwark, but will now look for her in Northants thanks to your detective work.

I note that when John died, he also had funds in Ireland. Yet he died in Brighton, and Emsworth is also mentioned as well as Surbiton/Kingston, with his business being at 58 Bread Street in the city of London [I'm 90% all these people are the same person!]

So lots more to unfurl alongside your original mystery of Smith / Burbidge.

Please let me know if any of this seems way off...