I need some help to solve this MERRY mystery!
I've been searching for any trace of the family of Joseph Merry (b: 14 Dec 1828, Ripon Yorkshire), Inland Revenue Officer, who was found drowned in the River Carron (Scotland) in September 1861. His body was not recovered until 30 November. At the time of his disappearance, his wife, Elizabeth (nee Shaw bc: 1832 Wolverhampton) was pregnant with a son, Joseph Charles Merry who was born in Falkirk, Scotland on 16 Oct 1861. There were also three girls, Anne Merry bc: 1856 Ireland; Mary Elizabeth Merry bc: 1858 Ireland; and Catherine Merry b: 1860 Falkirk, Scotland. Ireland and Scotland were both postings of their father as an Excise Officer.
After Joseph's untimely death and the discovery of his body, his widow stayed in Scotland until her son's birth had been registered in mid-December. Then she returned to her parents home in Wolverhampton. On 12 Mar 1862, Probate Admon records show Elizabeth living on Melbourne St, in Wolverhampton (her parents address in the 1861 census). Elizabeth's father, Thomas Shaw, dies in April 1864. On April 15, 1864, Elizabeth marries another Excise Officer, Joseph Blackler Coombe (b: 26 June 1838in Ashprington, Devonshire....at least she didn't have to worry about calling her new husband by her former husband's name!!
Here is where things get interesting. Elizabeth, her husband and her 4 children all disappear from the records after 1864. Her new husband can be tracked in the Excise Officer records until 1866 and then NOTHING. None of them appear in the 1871 census, I cannot find them in any immigration records. I have found no BMD records that show marriages for the girls or a marriage/death for young Joseph Charles.
I've hit a brick wall and am asking if anyone has any ideas on where to go next. I have run out of potential descendants on my direct line and finding any descendants of my gg grandfather's brother would make all my research time worthwhile. I have spent many hours searching the newspapers about Joseph Merry's death (which was never confirmed as an accident, murder or suicide) in spite of an inquest. His father, also a Joseph Merry (b:1801 Scarborough, N Yorkshire), was a Supervisor of Excise in Wolverhampton in 1861 and died in Aston, Birmingham in 1871. None of the children, however, are ever tracked living with him and his wife.
Many thanks for any help or ideas.
Louise Merry Larson
California
I've been searching for any trace of the family of Joseph Merry (b: 14 Dec 1828, Ripon Yorkshire), Inland Revenue Officer, who was found drowned in the River Carron (Scotland) in September 1861. His body was not recovered until 30 November. At the time of his disappearance, his wife, Elizabeth (nee Shaw bc: 1832 Wolverhampton) was pregnant with a son, Joseph Charles Merry who was born in Falkirk, Scotland on 16 Oct 1861. There were also three girls, Anne Merry bc: 1856 Ireland; Mary Elizabeth Merry bc: 1858 Ireland; and Catherine Merry b: 1860 Falkirk, Scotland. Ireland and Scotland were both postings of their father as an Excise Officer.
After Joseph's untimely death and the discovery of his body, his widow stayed in Scotland until her son's birth had been registered in mid-December. Then she returned to her parents home in Wolverhampton. On 12 Mar 1862, Probate Admon records show Elizabeth living on Melbourne St, in Wolverhampton (her parents address in the 1861 census). Elizabeth's father, Thomas Shaw, dies in April 1864. On April 15, 1864, Elizabeth marries another Excise Officer, Joseph Blackler Coombe (b: 26 June 1838in Ashprington, Devonshire....at least she didn't have to worry about calling her new husband by her former husband's name!!
Here is where things get interesting. Elizabeth, her husband and her 4 children all disappear from the records after 1864. Her new husband can be tracked in the Excise Officer records until 1866 and then NOTHING. None of them appear in the 1871 census, I cannot find them in any immigration records. I have found no BMD records that show marriages for the girls or a marriage/death for young Joseph Charles.
I've hit a brick wall and am asking if anyone has any ideas on where to go next. I have run out of potential descendants on my direct line and finding any descendants of my gg grandfather's brother would make all my research time worthwhile. I have spent many hours searching the newspapers about Joseph Merry's death (which was never confirmed as an accident, murder or suicide) in spite of an inquest. His father, also a Joseph Merry (b:1801 Scarborough, N Yorkshire), was a Supervisor of Excise in Wolverhampton in 1861 and died in Aston, Birmingham in 1871. None of the children, however, are ever tracked living with him and his wife.
Many thanks for any help or ideas.
Louise Merry Larson
California
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