Could this be her?

[fran]

Margaret COOTON m.Thomas Radley 29th Dec.1841,She said she was of full age.No father is named.
1851 census states that she was born in Tarleton,Lancs.-age 29.
She died April 1854 aged 32.
I have just found a baptism on Lancs.O.P.C.
Bap.7 Oct 1821
Margaret COOTON d.of Richard Cooton and Betty
Born- 7 S19ep
Abode -Tarleton
Occupation -Spinster
Notes-Richard is crossed out
Coincidentally I have found a marriage in 1824 for a Betty CootEn and Richard Twist .
Could I have found my woman at last?
Any thoughts please.
Fran

[Christine in Herts]

The Baptism record looks very persuasive. I should certainly be inclined to regard it as a probable and look to get my own copies of the relevant records.

On the safe side, you should try to see if there are any others in the censuses and BMD records who could be this Margaret, and also not yours. You would need to prove that she can't not be yours.

Christine

[fran]

Thank you for your reply Christine.I don't have access to census records at the moment,but when I did, I could not find this Margaret on the 1841.I did find her on the 1851,but she died shortly after that.If I get to see the actual record will there be more information on it which would help me prove she was the right person?Or prove she isn't of course!Just before the marriage she was living in Tarbock,Lancs.
Fran

[Christine in Herts]

With parish register records, you can never be certain just how much info you'll get - nor how useful it will be. Sometimes a name crops up and you think nothing of it - until much later when the same name crops up in a different context and you realise it does mean something after all!

My example is that my Gx2-g-father, Eli Christmas, married twice. My cousin got a copy of the second marriage cert and let us know, amongst other info, that "The licence was witnessed by Richard Bickerton and Wilhelmeena Cochrane". The bride's maiden name was Cochrane, so that took care of the relevance of the second witness. The first name meant nothing to me... a friend of the groom, perhaps, or the verger/sexton?
Later on I got a copy of my Gx2-g-father's death cert. The informant was "C Bickerton, daughter, present at death, resident Bow, London". Well there had been a daughter, Charlotte, of whom I'd lost trace after 1841. I looked for a Bickerton/Christmas marriage, and there it was in 1849. Tracking Charlotte through the censuses, I also found her with another of her missing sisters (Ann, now surnamed "Newman") in Portsea.

In your situation, I'd be inclined to try for a copy of the baptism register page, mainly for completeness - in lieu of the birth cert which won't exist so early - but also because there could be more info on it that hasn't been transcribed. There could be some nugget that will click into place later. Or it could just be more convincing for your existing (very plausible) theory.

I'd also go for a register-page copy of that marriage which looks so tempting in 1824.

The combination of names, dates, and event-sequences all encourage the idea that Margaret was born to the couple before they were married, so she used her mother's maiden name at marriage, at least.

Could your Margaret be here in 1841, as Margaret TWIST?
HO107; Piece 570; Book: 18; Folio: 13; Page: 20; Line: 20
In similar situations, I've often seen children using their stepfather's name until they get to adulthood/marriage, when they revert to their legally-correct name.

Christine

[fran]

Thanks again Christine.I can't look at that reference as I do not have access to Ancestry.Can you remember where she was living? I think the baptismal records for Tarleton are in Preston.I will find that out.
I did wonder if she knew her father why didn't she put his name on the marriage cert.?
I noticed that Richard Twist and Betty have children dating from 1824-1830.
Fran

[Christine in Herts]

Hewitt St, Deansgate, Manchester

Household of James GRAY, 55+ (b Scotland), iron founder
James GRAY 25+ (N), iron founder
Alexander GRAY 20+ (Y), iron founder
Ann GRAY 60+ (N)
John TAYLOR 25+ (N), iron founder
Margaret TWIST 20+ (N) silk weav

The (N) suggests not b in Lancs, so possibly not yours?

Christine

[Christine in Herts]

...
I did wonder if she knew her father why didn't she put his name on the marriage cert.?
...
Fran

She may not have been allowed to put her father's name on the cert if it were known that she was born before her parents were married.

Christine

[fran]

Thank you very much for all your help today Christine,I am very grateful.
Fran

[Christine in Herts]

I think it was this thread that set me off on a sideline in my mother's tree this afternoon! I doubt it'll contribute to the ancestral chart - it's from my Gx2-g-father's second wife (who wasn't my ancestor), but you never know what the knowledge it brings might contribute to some other bit of research - by just closing a loop of understanding, perhaps.

Besides - I always get a kick out of finding a possible contribution to a tree, even if it isn't my own.

Christine