William Lunn, according to Uttoxeter censuses , was born c1822 in nearby Abbots Bromley. I’ve been unable to find a baptism record, so no proof of father or mother. I think his mother was Frances Lunn, a spinster who married a widower, John Wood, a tailor in Uttoxeter, in 1823. I have concluded that William Wood, living with Frances and John in 1841, is William Lunn as I have been unable to find further records of William Wood, but William Lunn appears later as a master tailor.
In 1844 William Lunn married Sarah Aston, in Derby, though both came from Uttoxeter. On the marriage certificate, he claims his father was a surgeon called Charles (presumably not Lunn, as Frances was described as a spinster in 1823). As I have scant information about his father, I have tried to find out more about his mother, the elusive Frances. From the 1841 census, it would seem that she was born in Staffordshire c 1802/3. She died in 1849, so no clarification re her precise birth place. Her age at death is given as 53, indicating her birth to have been in 1795/6. I have trawled through Staffordshire baptism records 1790 -1805 – no Frances Lunns or variants, so I tried just Frances then went cross-eyed, trying to eliminate likely suspects through Staffordshire marriage/death records – failed to find any convincing individual.
This week, I decided to look for Frances Lunns born anywhere at around the right time and found one born in 1796 in Netherseal, Derbyshire , just 20 miles from Uttoxeter/16miles from Abbots Bromley. No father, mother’s name was Mary (it seems she had already had two other daughters without a father being identified).
How likely is it that she is my missing Frances?
In 1844 William Lunn married Sarah Aston, in Derby, though both came from Uttoxeter. On the marriage certificate, he claims his father was a surgeon called Charles (presumably not Lunn, as Frances was described as a spinster in 1823). As I have scant information about his father, I have tried to find out more about his mother, the elusive Frances. From the 1841 census, it would seem that she was born in Staffordshire c 1802/3. She died in 1849, so no clarification re her precise birth place. Her age at death is given as 53, indicating her birth to have been in 1795/6. I have trawled through Staffordshire baptism records 1790 -1805 – no Frances Lunns or variants, so I tried just Frances then went cross-eyed, trying to eliminate likely suspects through Staffordshire marriage/death records – failed to find any convincing individual.
This week, I decided to look for Frances Lunns born anywhere at around the right time and found one born in 1796 in Netherseal, Derbyshire , just 20 miles from Uttoxeter/16miles from Abbots Bromley. No father, mother’s name was Mary (it seems she had already had two other daughters without a father being identified).
How likely is it that she is my missing Frances?
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