The Diary of Nathaniel Bryceson Revisited

[Aniseed]

Thanks for the info, alpinecottage, I'll have to have a look on ancestry. I suppose in those days everything a woman owned belonged to her husband when she married, so technically she couldn't be held liable for tax if she didn't own anything. It would be interesting to see if any single women or widows were listed.

[Ruskie]

What a lot of replies since my last post! 

Deb, you are brilliant. I love your logic and how you went about hunting down Ann Gullan. Fabulous work!!!

Yes, Mary Shepard has still not been found on the 1841 census. When she married she was 'of Dean Street', and I think someone checked the whole of Dean Street in 1841 but couldn't find her. It's possible that she wasn't at Dean Street on census night, but where on earth was she? Horribly mistranscribed? Dittoed under someone else's surname? Did she call herself Mary Shepard or Mary Bryceson or Mary White? She was Mary Bryceson, widow when she married Matthew Ward. 

avm - I'm glad you've joined us.  Interesting stuff about the Land Tax Records. There are so many things that most of us don't think of checking.

I'll have to dig it out, but at some stage I think I made a list of all the residents of Richmond Buildings (can't recall which census it was though) - there were loads of people living there, and many of them had 'foreign' names.

Back to Matthew Ward ... I wonder if he was buried with Mary? Graves? Headstones? As we are talking London here, unfortunately I don't think we have a chance of locating them.

[Ruskie]

I've just been all the way down Dean St (District 9) in 1841 looking for Mary Bryceson, or someone of about the right age who could possibly be her, but I've had no luck.  She's obviously not at home. (or perhaps she fibbed about being from Dean St and was already living with Matthew Ward .... maybe Matthew didn't record her name for fear of being seen as 'living in sin'?  )
 

[deb usa]

Hi Ruskie

I searched for her again yesterday ...using just Mar* ...no luck! She's nowhere to be found. As you say, maybe she was just left off the census ...accidently on purpose

I also looked for Matthew Ward's burial ... nothing!

[deb usa]

Humm the rest of her family was in Stephen Street in 1841 ...we think we have Nathaniel as Vagg  ...  She has to be lurking somewhere 

[Ruskie]

Even with really broad searches - I've tried everything I can think of - I still can't see her. I even tried just Bry*n, no first name, no place of birth ... still no Mary. 

Maybe someone with FindMyPast would be kind enough to see if they can spot her.

[Ruskie]

I have also been thinking about Ann Fox. We have her in 1851 but not in 1861. There are several deaths for Ann Foxes between 1851 and 1861. I had a look on Freebmd yesterday but couldn't narrow down one who may be our Ann. If there is one that stands out as being likely, I would consider buying the d/c.

[Ruskie]

I'm very disappointed. I just received this email:

Thank you for your order as detailed below.

Death Certificate: MARY WARD died 01-JAN-1847 in RICHMOND BUILDINGS

We have been unable to process your application, please refer to the paragraph below.

We have searched the indexes for events registered in England and Wales during the years specified (1846-1848). We have been unable to find any entry with the details you provided.

A full refund of £9.25 has been credited to your account via Worldpay.

If you have any questions concerning this order please email us using our online complaints form found at www.ips.gov.uk/certcomplaints or phone +44 0300 123 1837. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm.

We have Mary's burial:
29 Oct 1847 
Burial - St Anne, Soho 
Mary Ward, Richmond Buildings, age 50

Where is her death registered?

Where should we go next? I am wondering if she was in an infirmary or other institution maybe she wasn't registered as living at Richmond Buildings? Maybe this is the stopping point? Should I try again perhaps specifying that she should be the wife of Matthew Ward? Or if she died in the workhouse would her husband's name even have been written on the d/c?

Should I elaborate and explain what I am looking for via their 'complaints' form? (even though I would not be complaining, just asking a couple of questions)  When filling out the request on the online form, there is no opportunity to add additional information, and I had to put 1 Jan 1847 as her date of death due to not knowing the exact date of death, although we do know burial date ....   

Has anyone else been in this situation before and can point me in the right direction on where to go next?

Any suggestions and advice very gratefully received .... 

[alpinecottage]

Hmm, I was about to query your date of death because it's not even in the correct quarter - I think that could be the stumbling block.  mary would have died just a few days before being buried, so perhaps a letter to the GRO saying the death took place between 22 and 28 Oct may be better.  You could also put in she was the wife of Matthew Ward and their usual address was Richmond Buildings, but that you can't be sure all that info is on the death cert.