Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

1800's History and Marriages

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 1800's History and Marriages

    Hi,

    I've recently come across a marriage certificate, i'm trying to work out if it is correct one but i'm so confused!

    I've noticed alot of the time that people in the 1800's married quickly and had children soon after.

    However, this one I've come across has marked Mary Jones down as a Spinster? Which would have been an older women, but she was only 20 years old? if not maybe a couple of years older? (i think)

    and also, after the marriage (1835), it was 9 years later she'd of had her first child with her husband. Could that be possible? it sounds so silly to ask but I've seen so many people having children quickly after marriage that it strikes me as a bit odd that it would have taken them 9 years!?

    Thank you

  • #2
    Spinster just means her status was unmarried - age irrelevant. With regard to children - I expect that fertility was as hit and miss in the past as it is now - some women having children every year or two, others not carrying their child full term and so on.

    Comment


    • #3
      Its also possible she lost babies before having the first one you know about. Or maybe her husband was away a lot. Did she have many other children after that? If not, as has been said, the couple may not have been particularly fertile.
      Anne

      Comment


      • #4
        Or you may simply not have found evidence of previous children. Many births went unregistered in the early years of registration and many church records have not survived or are not available on line.

        I have one family who appeared to have had no children for 7 years but in fact the first 4 children were born in the USA.

        OC

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by LaurenBailey View Post
          Hi,

          I've recently come across a marriage certificate, i'm trying to work out if it is correct one but i'm so confused!

          I've noticed alot of the time that people in the 1800's married quickly and had children soon after.

          However, this one I've come across has marked Mary Jones down as a Spinster? Which would have been an older women, but she was only 20 years old? if not maybe a couple of years older? (i think)

          and also, after the marriage (1835), it was 9 years later she'd of had her first child with her husband. Could that be possible? it sounds so silly to ask but I've seen so many people having children quickly after marriage that it strikes me as a bit odd that it would have taken them 9 years!?

          Thank you
          Do you mean you have the marriage entry from the register if Mary Jones married in 1835? Civil registration didn't start until 1st July 1837.
          What was her husband's name? By using the GRO index we can see if any children were born to the couple who died shortly afterwards and never appeared on a census.
          Elizabeth
          Research Interests:
          England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
          Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

          Comment


          • #6
            I should add the restriction "if their births were registered". As OC points out, not all births were at this time.
            Elizabeth
            Research Interests:
            England:Purkis, Stilwell, Quintrell, White (Surrey - Guildford), Jeffcoat, Bond, Alexander, Lamb, Newton (Lincolnshire, Stalybridge, London)
            Scotland:Richardson (Banffshire), Wishart (Kincardineshire), Johnston (Kincardineshire)

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by julite View Post
              Spinster just means her status was unmarried - age irrelevant. With regard to children - I expect that fertility was as hit and miss in the past as it is now - some women having children every year or two, others not carrying their child full term and so on.
              I just saw the "meaning" on google and didn't look into it much but i'm glad that it just means she was unmarried/age irrelevant. it makes things less confusing! it didn't even click to me that she might have had trouble with fertility!! i think the initial shock of finding the marriage certificate made me question why she wasn't like most of the women with big families back in 1800's! :P thank you!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Anne in Carlisle View Post
                Its also possible she lost babies before having the first one you know about. Or maybe her husband was away a lot. Did she have many other children after that? If not, as has been said, the couple may not have been particularly fertile.
                Anne
                Thank you for the suggestion! i didn't even think about fertility or about her husband being away which could have made so much sense, thank you! her husband was an engine driver so i think he was actually away quite alot!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                  Or you may simply not have found evidence of previous children. Many births went unregistered in the early years of registration and many church records have not survived or are not available on line.

                  I have one family who appeared to have had no children for 7 years but in fact the first 4 children were born in the USA.

                  OC
                  possibly! i've researched the family for years and sofar theres only ever 2 children, no other indication of there being more but that would be so amazing if there were more! its a shame that many births went unregistered :(

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Elizabeth Herts View Post
                    Do you mean you have the marriage entry from the register if Mary Jones married in 1835? Civil registration didn't start until 1st July 1837.
                    What was her husband's name? By using the GRO index we can see if any children were born to the couple who died shortly afterwards and never appeared on a census.
                    I'm not sure what kind it is, it was on FindMyPast and it was quite old! It doesnt give alot of information! Her husband was John Roberts i'm not very educated on all the different types of searches yet! what is the GRO index? that would be so helpful if it shows if there were anymore children :O

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      It's the General Register Office Lauren, local births death and marriages have to send copies of their entries, you have to register then you could search for births by surname and mother's surname though you also have to select male/female and a limit of +/- 2 years, you can also narrow it to a particular district. You can look for deaths too, they give age at death.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X