Mary Woods - birth c 1791 England; death 1866 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

[jdbPA]

Erroneous posts were made about her by me in previous years.  However a primary document from All Saints Episcopalian Church, Philadelphia shows that by the late 1820’s Mary was a widow who baptized her 2 daughters, Richmul Jane and Alice Drusilla.  The Richmul name is a clue that perhaps this family was from Lancashire.

I do not know the maiden name of Mary and have found a handful of Woods men who died in Philadelphia between 1825 and 1830.  It’s doubtful how complete the records are, and the family may have lived in a surrounding county.

There does not appear to be an immigration record for Mary, and I don’t know whether she was married in England or in the United States.  It’s not apparent whether she was widowed in England or the US.

The only evidence I have of England is census information stating England as the country of origin for both of Richmul's parents.  The Lancashire link is purely speculative stemming from the name Richmul.  Not much to work with eh?
 
Richmul’s husband worked in the woolen mills around Conshohocken, PA and spent time in Delaware County doing the same.  I suspect that the Woods family worked in textiles in the Delaware Valley.

Any ideas?  I tried punching in some names for results at a Lancashire site, but was wondering if I might get lucky here.

 

[jdbPA]

This post got the wheels turning better.  The online parish records turned up some possibilities:

Baptisms: 24 Nov 1793 St Mary the Virgin, Bury, Lancashire, England
Mary Smith - Daughter of Richmall Smith
    Born: 24 Nov 1793
    Abode: Tott.
    Notes: B.
    Register: Baptisms 1789 - 1798, Page 42, Entry 3
    Source: LDS Film 559157

Marriage: 17 May 1819 St Peter, Bolton, Lancashire, England
Thomas Wood - weaver of This parish
Mary Smith - of This parish

Looks like close parishes.  Any thoughts?

[garstonite]

Can`t say at the moment - but that couple you have as a possible marriage had a daughter Alice Wood
Alice Wood baptised in the same church as the marriage 9th july 1823

looking for the baptism of Richmull
ADDED
same church - Jane Wood baptised 10th june 1821 - same parents

Do you know whether there were any other children ?

[jdbPA]

Oh.  On the 1870 and '80 US census Richmul Jane claims a Pennsylvania birth.  The Baptismal record I found says she and her sister Alice Drusilla were baptized in 1829 in Philadelphia.

[garstonite]

If thats the case - I would say that the marriage you found in Bolton in 1819 is not your Mary and Thomas - cos they have children a couple of years later in Bolton.

the Richmall Smith you have as mother to Mary Smith ??  it is a strong possibility she marries in the same church 4 years later
7th june 1797 Peter Davenport a Wheelwright,bachelor of this Parish  to Richmall Smith a spinster of this parish ...the chances are  - Mary aged 4 ,would have been known as Mary Davenport - unless she went to live with a relative ??

[jdbPA]

Richmall Smith was a complete guess, sorry.  Because Mary Woods' child was listed as Richmul, Richmoel, etc, I thought I might get lucky and find that Richmul was named after her maternal grandmother.  Looks like you ruled out the Bolton couple.  Thank you.

I don't know what Mary Woods' maiden name was.  The baptismal record states that in 1829 she was a widow, but I'm not sure if her husband passed in the UK of US. 

Before the baptismal record was found, many family members in the US mistakenly listed Mary's daughter Richmul as Richmul Jane Fisher, although she had been on a census with Mary Woods and buried in the same plot.  The Fisher name comes from a secondary resource and the baptismal record along with the other evidence trumps that source. 

Maybe Fisher could be Mary Woods' maiden name, but it could just confuse the issue.  After using Fisher erroneously for years, I hardly want to mention it again, although it could be a clue.  I kinda doubt it, but I'm probably blinded by irritation.

A cursory look at records makes it seem like a Kay family in Bury used the Ricmael name quite a bit.  It looks like it was used in Middleton too, but the range of the name looks fairly limited?

Oh well, I was hoping someone out there might be missing a Mary who married a Woods near Bury and disappeared to America. 

[garstonite]

Just in case you are not aware - Richmal is not just a girls name - this man sold many many books and his dad was from Bury ,Lancashire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmal_Crompton

so there is a possibility Marys FATHER was a Richmal ??

allan

[jdbPA]

Sounds like a possibility.  Could Richmul be the female version or a just a variant? 

The name could have had some family significance because Richmul Jane's granddaughter was named Richmul.  I believe in Scotland it was common for the first born male to be named after his paternal grandfather.  Wondering if first born females were named after their maternal grandmothers.