Hello everyone
I have struggled for a number of years to make a connection to my 4X great grandfather, George Snowball's parentage. If anyone is able to view this brick wall with a fresh pair of eyes and give some suggestions, I'd be really grateful.
Here's what I know:
The burial of George Snowball, aged 66, of Harlow Hill, took place at St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church in Ovingham, on 10th June 1824.Based on his burial date, his date of birth is therefore around 1758.
There is no registration of his birth in the Ovingham Parish registers. George does not appear on any baptism record for any contiguous parish to St. Mary the Virgin in Ovingham, around 1758, either.
I have searched the Wills and Administrations at the District Probate Registry at Durham and searched the transcript of baptisms of St. Mary the Virgin, Ovingham from 1750-1765. There is no reference to George Snowball at either, or in the baptism records of St. Cuthbert's Allendale. Dissenters (or Non-Conformist) baptism records for Ovingham parish also reveal nothing.
George Snowball appears in Ovingham in 1786, where he is recorded at his marriage to Mary Laidlar in Ovingham Parish church and where he is stated as being 'of this parish'.
I have checked to ascertain whether George was in 18th century Ovingham prior to the date of his marriage. These include a table of rents due and paid for Ovingham Parish (giving name of farms and occupiers), the Ovingham Parish Vestry Book (1680 – 1814) which includes pew allocation records, Ovingham Account Book (1736-1813) and Ovingham Churchwardens account book (1784-1860) but all to no avail.
George Snowball and wife, Mary, went on to have three children, Mary, John and George and lived at Fulan's Moor, just north of Harlow Hill. I can only hypothesise where he might have been born and who his parents might have been, so any clues are very welcome.
Steve
