Early Unitarian marriage of William & Margaret White

[Dinkydidy]

My gt-gt-grandparents Thomas & Margery White were the first couple married in the Hanover Square Chapel of the Unitarian Church (or Church of the Divine Unity) in Newcastle in February 1839. I understand that this was because the church was not previously authorised to perform marriages. The official marriage certificate names Thomas's father as William White, and the strong naming pattern of Thomas & Margery's children suggests that William's wife was named Margaret.

I have recently found in the filmed church registers a list of five children, Joseph, Margaret, William, George & Thomas, with their birth dates and a note, "of Wm and Margaret White, of Lemington". The dates of birth range from April 1808 to December 1815, the latter corresponding closely to Thomas's birthdate in a family Bible. The only Northumberland marriage reasonably prior to these births is of a William Stafford White to Margaret Smith in Berwick-upon-Tweed on 25 Nov 1800.

I can't seem to find any other sure reference to this couple. How likely are they to be the couple "of Lemington" - also a family I can't find on any census?

Didy

[Radcliff]

I was just looking at the death of Joseph White, burial Newcastle 4th March 1813 aged 4 , states he is American ,St Andrews Church ,
I am not sure where the American bit came from as I am now looking at The Bishops records, and it just states of This Parish

[AllanUK]

I was just looking at the death of Joseph White, burial Newcastle 4th March 1813 aged 4 , states he is American ,St Andrews Church ,
I am not sure where the American bit came from as I am now looking at The Bishops records, and it just states of This Parish

Possible a poor transcription of his religion which is shown on some records as ANGLICAN

[Dinkydidy]

Thank you for this reference, but I think it might be a different Joseph as the age seems too far out. My fault for not listing the specific birth dates, but they are as follows:

Joseph WHITE  born 6 Feb 1805
Margaret  "         "   19 April 1808
William     "        "    12 Dec 1811
George     "        "    15 April 1814
Thomas    "        "    21 Dec 1815

Didy

[Radcliff]

I see where you are coming from now Joseph was baptised Whickham Ebenezer Chapel Durham

[Dinkydidy]

I'm sure this is the entry you're referring to - does the place name indicate the residence of the family? If so, there appears to be some conflict with dates, as the list provided for the Unitarian church record indicates a birth date after the baptism at Whickham. Otherwise it appears to be the right family and place.

Unfortunately, the list of children is pretty much as I have typed it, with no places or baptism dates shown.

My ancestor was Thomas White, who recorded his date of birth (no place or baptism details) in his Family Bible as Dec 21st 1816 rather than 1815. Since he also misspelt his wife's name Margrey instead of Margery, I wouldn't be surprised at a small error. However, the difficulty in tracing this elusive family with common names and rubbery birth dates makes my head ache.