Marriage of Martha NORTON & Henry HOLDEN at Hednesford (St Peter) Q4/1890

[alhal]

I'm having trouble confirming this marriage.

Most websites that I look at give Martha's surname as MORTON. One of them, the IGI entry, shows her father's name as Stephen DUCKHOUSE (which I believe to be correct) & age as 30 (should have been 37/38).

FreeBMD have 3 correct entries for her -
                    Birth: Jun 1853 / Wolverhampton / 6b / 410
                    Marriage: Jun 1874 / Wolverhampton / 6b / 748 (spouse: George NORTON)
                    Marriage: Dec1890 / Cannock / 6b / 847 (spouse: Henry HOLDEN)

The 1891 & 1901 census entries for Henry & Martha HOLDEN both show that they have a Joseph NORTON living with them. He is described as Henry's stepson & is presumably Martha's son Joseph who was living with her ot the time of the 1881 census.

It seems to me that the MORTON marriage entries are transcription errors, but would so many different websites make the same basic mistake?

[wrjones]

What are the other name or names involved in 1853?She doesn't show as such on Ancestry in 1853?

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[wrjones]

You confused me with the marriage entries!Her birth does show!

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[wrjones]

You seem to be following the right entries,I can only guess at the Morton being some sort of corruption of the Norton?

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[rosie99]

Which web sites apart from familysearch are wrong.

Freebmd, Ancestry & FindMyPast have got it right (which must be a result  ) and the GRO index that you can view on freebmd also has Norton.

Rosie

[rosie99]

I see Staffordshirebmd has Morton.

The information on familysearch would have been taken from the parish register as it would onStaffordshirebmd. 
The information on freebmd/Anc/FindMyPast would come from the GRO index.

When a marriage takes place I believe the parish retains the original record and a 'copy' is sent to the GRO.  It is obviously the same person that married George Norton as Staffsbmd give an alternative surname of Duckhouse on her marriage to Henry Holden.

Rosie

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
Marriage from Wolverhampton Archives index
Saint George's Wolverhampton 17.5.1874
George NORTON 22 miner Saint James Square s of George Lab
Martha Duckhouse 20 same daughter of Stephen Duckhouse keymaker
The familysearch website is not very good for wolverhampton.
Baptisms Wednesfield Stephen and Isabella duckhouse Wood End Keymaker
Martha 26.6.1853
Joseph 22.4.1854
Stephen 25.12.1856 -23.3.1857
John 23.5.1858
Margaret Elizabeth 25.12.1860(may have married Wednesfield 11.9.1888 age 29Elizabeth d of Stephen keymake John Thomas Wotten)
Sarah 25.12.1863
Samuel 27.8.1865
Stephen 21.8.1868
The couple married at Wellington Shropshire Dec 1851 18 291 her name Isabella Cadwallender
Baptisms George and Martha Norton Wood end labourer Wednesfield
Joseph William 28.4.1878
George 28.4.1878
Stephen 28.4.1878
Maud Mary 25.4.1880
Haven't got access to Coventry parish records
Sorry
Ciderdrinker

George senior ? bapt Wednesfield s of George and Hannah 23.5.1852 lab wood End.

[trish1120]

Isabella CADWALLADER Chrsitened 27 May 1827, Dawley Magna, Shropshire
Mother MARGARET Cadwallader

1851 Census
Coal Pit Bank,
Wombridge, Shropshire
HO107/1997/675/45
Mary CADVALLENDER, 49, Head, Unm, Miner Stone Picker, born Wombridge
ISABELLA, 24, Daug, Unm, Miner Stone Picker, born Wombridge
Samuel, 22, Nephew, Unm, Miner, born Wombridge

Image is MARGT Cadwallender
Address where Isabella was born on 1861/1871 Census is the same Coal Pit Bank

1861 Margaret Cadwalader is a Bread Baker at the Stafford Arms Public House in Wombridge.
Born c 1800 Wombridge.

1871 she is a Pauper born c 1799 Wombridge under Cadwalader. Living in Oakengates.
With her is Sister Ann WYCHERLEY, Widow, born c 1808 Wombridge

Death Reg prob 1872 age 75 on FreeBMD

Trish

[alhal]

Thanks to everyone for their help with Martha DUCKHOUSE/NORTON/HOLDEN. Sorry I haven't responded earlier but I just took advantage of the glorious weather and had a quick break.

Trish1120's pointer to the mistranscribed 1851 Census entry for her mother, Isabella CADWALLENDER, could be the most significant. Living next door are a couple who could be her Grandparents. That needs more investigation.

I now have an image of Martha's 1890 Marriage Register entry and I can see how the surname confusion arose. Martha embellished her initial letters and, taken in isolation, it might look like her surname starts with an M but when you compare it with her written M for Martha you can see a marked difference - it's definitely an N for NORTON.

Her age is clearly shown as 30 although I know that she was born in 1853 - little fibber! FreeBMD only show 2 Martha DUCKHOUSE entries in their entire index - one for 1853 and the other for 1869. This latter one can't be my Martha who married George NORTON in 1974 aged 20.

My biggest problem with Martha is proving that Thomas Frederick DUCKHOUSE was her son. The 1881 census entry for George & Martha NORTON shows that they have a Frederick NORTON aged 8 living with them. He is described as George's son but this is possibly not so given that he was born 2 or 3 years before they married. Furthermore their sons George, Stephen and Joseph were all baptised together in 1878 and their daughter Maud in 1880 - no sign of a Frederick NORTON baptism! - and no 1891 or later Census entries for him either.

There was, however, a baptism for a Thomas Frederick DUCAS at Wood End Primitive Methodist Church, Wood End Rd, Wednesfield on 11 Aug 1872. This is where Martha and her family hail from. FreeREG record this surname as being that of his father, a miner. On examining the actual register itself at Wolverhampton Records Office it quite clearly states "no father" and there is no "occupation" entry - unfortunately it fails to show a Christian name for the mother but her surname was obviously DUCAS (a phoenetical representation of DUCKHOUSE).

FreeBMD only show one Thomas F DUCKHOUSE entry in their entire index - for 1872  at Wolverhampton. This seems to tie-in with the Wood End baptism. There are no other Thomas/Tom/Frederick/Fred DUCAS/DUCKHOUSE entries that even remotely match the criteria.

Commiting this to writing has been helpful to me, but what little hair I have left is rapidly disappearing.

Onwards and upwards - or perhaps that should be backwards and downwards in this context.