Marriage Bond & Marriage

[BridgetM]

I'm confused about the marriage of Thomas Birkett and Abigail Fawcett/Thexton in Firbank, in Westmorland.

Here is their marriage bond:

25 July 1741
Marriage Bond: Thomas Birkett, Age 47, Bachelor, Husbandman, Lambrigg Park, Lambrigg, Westmorland; Abigail Fawcett, Age 23, Spinster, Grayrigg.  (I have a copy of the actual document.)

But their actual marriage was 18 days BEFORE the marriage bond:
THOMAS BIRKETT & ABIGAIL THEXTON: 7Th JULY, 1741 Firbank  (And Abigail's surname was THEXTON, not FAWCETT.) 

To add to the confusion, there is this Firbank marriage of an Abigail Thexton to a Richard Woof in 1740:
RICHARD WOOF & ABIGAIL THEXTON: 19th OCTOBER, 1740.  (Abigail Woof, wife of Richard Woof, died in 1772.)

THEXTON is not a common name in Firbank, and neither is Abigail!

So, did Thomas Birkett marry a FAWCETT or a THEXTON?  Which is the more reliable record: the marriage bond or the actual marriage. 

[jim1]

I would tend to go with the marriage entry.
Have you tried to find births for both women to see which one was born 1718.

[BridgetM]

I've spent a few years looking for the birth/baptism of Abigail Fawcett circa 1718. and have had no luck finding an Abigail Fawcett born at any time in Westmorland or Yorkshire. 

The co-signer of the marriage bond was George Dixon, a writing master in Kendal, so presumably he read the bond before he signed it, and would have noticed if Abigail's surname was incorrect?  (He was Thomas Birkett's cousin.)

I was just in the record office in Kendal, and found the actual marriage to Thomas Birkett, and was surprised, to say the least, that Abigail's surname was Thexton!   I then started researching Thextons, Theakstones, etc. 

(The Abigail Thexton who married Richard Woof was a widow, who'd previously been married to Richard Thexton, a shoemaker in Firbank.  They had 2 children, Thomas and Margaret, born 1718 and 1720, baptised in 1738 (Quaker).  Richard Thexton died in 1738 and Abigail then married Richard Woof in 1740.)

[jim1]

As you've worked out for yourself the Abigail Thexton who married in 1740 must have been born around 1695 so not the same lady.
The only explanation I can offer is that the marriage entry was entered into the Parish book some time after the event. As this is pre Hardwicke Act (1753) they wouldn't have needed to sign the register & the Rector got her name wrong.
I have seen similar on Baptisms but I don't recall seeing this on a marriage.

[BridgetM]

I suspect the rector got her name wrong.  Prior to 1745 marriages in Firbank chapel were recorded in the Kirkby Lonsdale register, and it's not unlikely that the name was entered incorrectly.

Also, the Abigail who married Richard Thexton and then Richard Woof in 1740, could have been the mother of Abigail Fawcett/Thexton.  Perhaps the daughter was illegitimate.  Abigail Fawcett/Thexton was buried in Grayrigg in 1801, so she could have been born before 1718.

[jim1]

Also, the Abigail who married Richard Thexton and then Richard Woof in 1740, could have been the mother of Abigail Fawcett/Thexton.  Perhaps the daughter was illegitimate.

Perfectly possible. Children from a previous marriage/relationship were often given the surname of the new husband.
The marriage allegation would have required the correct information whereas the marriage entry would only require her name as she was known by.

[fretep]

Have you viewed any of these probate records?

Thomas BIRKETT (of Lambrigg Park, husband of Abigail). Probate 18 Sep 1756. Contains (W, I, A)
Richard THECKSTONE (shoemaker of Dowgill, Firbank). Probate 3 Mar 1738. Contains (A, I)
Margaret THEXTON (spinster of Dowgill, Firbank). Probate 24 Apr 1740. Contains (W, I)

If not, then perhaps you may be lucky and find hints within the wills.

Note that the name Abigail is present within earlier HELME and AIREY families (Quakers) of the region. Although I have no other evidence for an Abigail FAWCETT (of an appropriate age), I wouldn't dismiss this surname on the basis of the parish marriage entry. I have found a somewhat similar case, where the name on the marriage-bond was different from that within the register. However, in this particular case, the wife-to-be's surname was recorded three times within the bond as HAISTING. Sometime later, all three were crossed-out and the name ASHTON placed above - which is the name as it appears within the register. Note that the register also records her as a widow. A little over a decade later a Richard ASHTON  (from the same small parish) was buried, being recorded as Richard ASHTON alias HAISTINGS. Therefore, the original entries within the marriage-bond may not have been in error after all.

[BridgetM]

Thanks for the reply.  I have all the Thexton (and Birkett) wills that are in the Lancashire Record Office, and all the Fawcett wills from all the parishes in and around Kendal, including Sedbergh, etc.  Abigail Airey seemed very promising, so I ordered her father's will from Carlisle, but she was still a spinster when he died.  And her grandfather's will wasn't helpful because John Helme/Holme died before her parents married.  Abigail Fawcett/Thexton is proving to be annoyingly elusive!

[BridgetM]

Also, I've found the Quaker baptisms of 2 children of Richard and Abigail Thexton, in 1718 and 1720, but no marriage for a Richard Thexton to anyone, and no marriage for an Abigail to anyone.