Nice work Linell.
Hello Faysie - I also had problems posting earlier. There were two Elizabeths. Elizabeth Ferguson Frazer bp 1837, died 1837 and Elizabeth bp 6 Oct 1839, Norbury (apparently half-sister to Alexander and Anne). It was fairly common practice to re-use names of deceased children.
The deaths of Hugh and two children so close together suggests some sort of illness or tragic accident. Cause of death would be instructive.
I've found a few bits of jigsaw puzzle, but not sure how or whether they connect.
First, though, it is clear that Mary Frazer / Ferguson was widowed in 1837, just a few weeks or days after losing two children. But what of the Elizabeth Frazer or Ferguson baptised in 1839, Norbury? Thinking through the dates it seems inconceivable that Hugh was the father, but by naming him as such Mary may have been protecting her integrity.
As Linell says, there must have been some connection to Dursley for the children to have been admitted to the workhouse there. I think I am inching towards a connection.
A Mary Ferguson was baptised 14 Jul 1811 at Lydney, Glos. This is just across the River Severn from Dursley, but may have seemed a long way at the time. Her parents were Alexander and Elizabeth.
In the 1851 census there is a Sarah Ferguson, born Uley about 1816, married, visiting with William and Hester Robbins at Minchinhampton. Uley is very near to Dursley. These were Sarah's parents - baptism Sarah Robbins 18 Feb 1816 Uley. Apparently, she married a man named Ferguson, in fact 19 Dec 1840 King's Stanley, Glos to James Ferguson. A James Ferguson was living at Clifton in 1837 - today a suburb of Bristol. There is a death of Mary Ferguson 1839 Oct Bristol 11 151.
So, is this the story? Mary has a further child baptised in 1839. Widowed, with a babe in arms and two other children, she is destitute and heads for relatives in Gloucestershire - James and Sarah Ferguson. Sadly, Mary dies soon after and the children become the responsibility of James (Mary's brother?) and Sarah, who are unable or unwilling to care for them and place them in the workhouse. There had been a workhouse at Uley, but this closed when Dursley opened in 1839.
This could be a classic example of the difficulty that beset familes who fell on hard times in mid-nineteenth century England.
Good hunting,
Dion
