Completed My Visit to Cambridgeshire County Record Office - will do simple Look-ups

[Keith Sherwood]

Dolly,
Nose to the grindstone again with those WHETSTONE's!
Still in the Sutton registers, found a marriage between Jane WHETSTONE, of full age, spinster, father William  to William ABLETT, full age, widower b.o.t.p. By banns.
Looks like your ancestor Robert WHETSONE's sister tying the knot, followed by baptisms for their children in 1854, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, and 1860 (2).  Probably a few related burials too, but I imagined you might have these later WHETSONE entries, anyway.
The earliest WHETSTONE entries in this Sutton register (1558-1812) were:
Marriage: 14-08-1706: Arthur WHETSTONE to Margaret GRAY
Baptism: 08-02-1707: William WHETSTONE, son of Arthur
Burial: 06-10-1710: Margaret WHETSTONE, wife of Arthur

After this sad note, I moved onto the Wentworth register, the earliest baptism being in 1766; the earliest marriage in 1782; and the earliest burial in 1768.  There were dozens of WHETSTONE entries...
But did pick out possibly a significant marriage in Wentworth:
05-03-1816: William WHETSTONE to Elizabeth SANDIVER, b.o.t.p.
I began to search for a possible earlier generation of WHETSTONE's that might throw up your ancestor William.  I thought I was on the right track with these, until I matched up burials.  I might as well give them to you - don't despair, there's a rainbow at the end of all this searching!
Baptisms: 09-02-1766: William, son of Thomas and Mary WHETSTONE.  (William WHETSTONE buried 31-01-1770)
24-07-1768: Mary, daughter of       ditto    (Mary WHETSTONE buried 23-10-1768)
21-08-1769: John, s. of                   ditto
03-11-1771: Mary, d. of                   ditto
24-04-1774: William, s. of      ditto  (William WHETSTONE buried 24-01-1781)
17-08-1777: Archer, s. of       ditto  (Archer WHETSTONE buried 29-01-1781)
25-12-1779: Sarah, d. of       ditto  (Sarah WHETSTONE buried 09-02-1781)
14-04-1782: Sarah, d. of       ditto  (Sarah WHETSTONE buried 26-09-1783)

A very sad story for this family, especially in the year 1781...
From 1789 through to 1805 there were also 5 WHETSTONE children born to a John and Sarah.  I found a marriage between John WHETSTONE and Sarah BARBER, b.o.t.p. (Wentworth, still!), and these are the baptisms:
07-07-1789: Alice, d. of John and Sarah
29-11-1801: Robert, s. of    ditto  (must have died, didn't have time to check)
24-10-1802: Robert, s. of    ditto
29-05-1805: James, s. of     ditto
04-10-1807: Jonah, s. of      ditto
(Also a baptism: 30-10-1794: Mary BROWN, d. of John BROWN and Mary WHETSTONE)
So then I decided to widen the search a little to neighbourimg parishes, including Ely St Mary's, Ely Holy Trinity, Haddenham, Witcham, and finally Witchford, and I think things may just as a result fit together.
But after the commercial break, like all good reality TV shows, I'll PM you...
Keith

[dollylee]

I am overwhelmed!!! Almost, but not quite at a loss for words.

Thank you SO much Keith for not only your time but for your generosity in going far above and beyond!!!  Possibly leaving the window at home and using either that grindstone or my Whetstone's to sharper your pencil was an inspiration. 

Thank you for Turning my Elizabeth Yourguessisasgoodasmine into Elizabeth Sandiver.  Hopefully Mary Somethingorother will have the same good fortune.

I have an "unclaimed Whetstone" file where I have kept names I have stumbled on and do recognize some of the names you gave me but I didn't have definite birthdates or last names of the wives.  Hopefully these will one day sprout new Branch's on my tree with the additional information.

Am off to try and sort the pages of information you gave me and see if I can pull a couple of people out of the "unclaimed" file.

We could be onto something with Arthur born sometime 1600's.  Arthur is not at all a common "Whetstone" name, seems somewhere along the line they thought they could only use William, John, James, Thomas, Mary, Jane and one of two others, over and over and over each child naming all their children the same.  Off track sorry....back to Arthur my grandfather's brother's name was Arthur (I have only seen this name two other times in hundreds of Whetstone's in this are)

Sorry, but I tend to talk too much when this excited.

Thank you Thank you Thank you !!!!  You are a Prince.

Dolly

[Keith Sherwood]

Dolly,
Unfortunately Rootschat doesn't do the "Prince" category, only "Aristocrat".  Don't forget that I e-mailed you after my labour of love to tell you that the Mary Somethingorother might well be Mary TALL from that 1761 Mepal marriage.  As well as Arthur, the forename Archer cropped up quite a bit too..
Ah well, back to the day job now with the double glazing...
Keith

[dollylee]

"double glazing"....ewww that panes me !

Went into my "unidentified" file and there they all where!!!  Mind you I also have that Elizabeth - Ellen - Helen thing happening.  I added lots of dates, spouses last names, Arthur of course and whipped them all into a lovely looking family.  You provided ALL the links to enable me to do that.  You are now my new best friend!!!

As you go from one generation to the next it all looks pretty good.  Of course more checking needs to be done....but "golly gee whiz" looks like you have taken me back a hundred years.

If this really was a reality tv show my husband would thank you.. har har

I am on cloud nine!! (it's very crowded here) and hope with further checking I don't go plunging back down to earth...but this looks pretty solid.

Can't thank you enough Keith.  Might try to contact the Chat admins. and see if they will give you the Princely designation you so deserve.  You are a gem and I am a gushy Canadian...

Dolly

[Keith Sherwood]

Dolly,
It was all great fun re-visiting those places such as Witchford and Sutton, near Ely, where we used to play those Primary Schools at football on Saturday mornings in the 70's and 80's (not any more!)....
And I'll clarify that Elizabeth/Ellen/Elizabeth thing next time I'm up Castle Hill...
Regards,
keith

[wdurham]

Keith - having read and enjoyed the thread I would like to add to your already not-inconsiderable burden next time you visit the records office.

A John Watson married Elizabeth Cooper in Cherry Hinton in 1806 according to Boyds.

Could you find their marriage record?

I believe they are the parents of my ancestor  John Watson, 4xgreat grandfather, born 1806, Cherry Hinton, son of John Watson and Elizabeth according to the Cambs Baptism index that is online at CFHS.

Can you find his birth record for me to confirm his parentage?

The second part of my query sounds more dificult, but is actually quite simple. Was William Watson, son of John and Rebecca, born in Cherry Hinton in 1832 or 1837?

I will explain the background first:

John Watson Jnr was, according to Boyds, married to Rebecca Harrison (b 1810 in  Downham) in Cherry Hinton in 1829, and Cambs Baptism index shows the birth of 3 children, James in 1830 , Hannah in 1935 and William in 1832.  I believe William's birth date has been mis-transcribed, and should be 1837.

I think this because in 1841 a Rebecca Watson aged 30 and children James aged 11, Hannah aged 6 and William aged 4 are in the Chesterton Union Workhouse as paupers. There is also a Francis Watson in the workhouse, aged 3 months. Rebecca Watson's father was Francis Harrison, so it is possible that baby Francis also belongs to Rebecca.  But there is no sign of John other than a suitably aged agricultural labourer in the ex-parochial district of Wolvey Hills, some distance away.

John appears to surface in 1851 after the death of Rebecca and Francis, living in Newmarket Road, Cambridge St Andrew the Less, with William Watson born Cherry Hinton aged 14 - who matches with the workhouse William in 1841, but NOT with the Cambs Baptism index of the William born to John and Rebecca Watson. Also in Newmarket Road, James Watson born Cherry Hinton, aged 20, is a live-in servant for William Law, an innkeeper.

It seems likely that the John in Newmarket Road in 1851 is the husband of Rebecca and father of James and William  - only the birth date of William casts doubt on the link.

If you could check the actual birth record, it would reveal whether the index has been correctly transcribed or whether a "7" has been misread as a "2".

Many thanks in anticipation of anything you might find....

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi, Wdurham,
Glad you've enjoyed the thread - we've certainly had fun while solving a few mysteries in Cambs.  Opportunities for me are rather running out between now and Christmas, but if I can get to the CCRO in the next few days, I'll certainly give Cherry Hinton the once over for your WATSON's.
Should be elementary, after all...
Keith

[loo]

Elementary indeed!  -- especially with a "Hint"-"on" it.

[Keith Sherwood]

Loo,
I'm afraid all my puns are rather basic and elementary, but this Watson look-up should be a good one - if I can fit it in with the Festive Season swirling uncontrollably around me...
Keith