How do I work out the correct person???

[Harrys mum]

I've got myself into a real mess here.

So far I definitely have:

Agatha Sawrey bap 18th March 1746 Hawkshead Lancs.
Father: Anthony Sawrey. No mother mentioned on FamilySearch.

I can't find a marriage for Anthony in Hawkshead, but there is one for Anthony Sawrey and Elizabeth Wilkinson 1730 in Matterdale (not too far away for this lot).

There are two baptisms for an Anthony Sawrey 1786 and 1797.
I've pencilled the 1797 one as I think the other fellow would be a bit old because there's a stack of children over a long time.

The 1797 Anthony Sawrey has Myles Sawrey for a father. Fine......Myles is a family name......also one of the most common Lancs names!!!!

BUT..........now I've got 5 possible Myles Sawreys for Anthony's father.

Does anyone know how I narrow them down.

Would the actual parish register have more info than FamilySearch?
I've also tried Hawkshead OPC site.

[KiteRunner]

Those dates don't seem to add up. Are the Anthony baptisms supposed to be 1686 and 1697, perhaps?

[HeatherD]

If they're like my family living in the area, they may have followed the naming pattern.

[KiteRunner]

Okay, having looked him up on Family Search, the baptism dates are 1686 and 1697. But there are also some other Anthony Sawrey baptisms at Hawkshead - 3 Jul 1720 (father Henry) and 30 Jul 1722 (father Wm). They would be the right age to be the father of Agatha, but not to have married in 1730. But because the IGI doesn't give mother's name, we don't know whether the Anthony who married Elizabeth is the same Anthony who was Agatha's father. There is a Myles born 1733 whose father was Anthony - could well be the child of Anthony and Elizabeth, but if that is the same Anthony who was Agatha's father, there is a big gap between Myles and Agatha, so it could be that Elizabeth died and then Anthony remarried. There is an Anthony Sawrey marriage 20 Apr 1747 (to another Elizabeth, just to be confusing!) in Matterdale. I'm wondering if there could perhaps be a muddle with the year of either Agatha's baptism or Anthony's marriage?

The next child after Agatha is Wm, so it could well be that the Anthony whose father and son were called Myles is a different Anthony from Agatha's father, and Agatha's father is the one born 1722 whose father was Wm.

You really need to look at the burial register for Hawkshead to see if any of the Anthonys died before they could be Agatha's father. Also, as you say, there could be extra info in the baptism entries PR's or BT's, although there may well not be! The only way to find out would be to look, or to find some other online transcriptions, e.g. FreeREG, OPC's...

Also, look to see if any of these Sawreys left wills. And if anybody else is researching the family and has them in their tree - although you do have to bear in mind that they may well have just put their tree together by guesswork from the IGI or the PR's!

[Harrys mum]

Thanks KiteRunner................

This family is how I accidentally started a one name study. I've written all the possibles out and tried to connect them. I have them all neatly done up to Agatha (b 1746) parents. I have Agatha's will and a few others before her. Even with the wills I still cannot put them in the correct families. They all had one son named Myles and most of the other names and dates are similar.

I haven't concentrated too much on the couple of families without a Myles, as it is still a family name.

[KiteRunner]

But the Anthony who was William's son could still be the one - perhaps William was Myles's son, for instance?

[Harrys mum]

That's a problem KiteRunner. I've tried GR for people doing the same family(not just these names) I've tried Curious Fox.

I now have a great pile of names with lines connecting them and it looks like a the electrical plan for a large city.LOL.

At least it's all still in pencil.

Just seems strange that a family with so many references in google (no, they don't help much) would have so few people looking for them.

One day...........

[Harrys mum]

Sorry if this is getting boring.............if I put it here someone might see something I'm missing.

Anthony Sawrey married Elizabeth Wilkinson 1730 (no idea if he's mine)
Myles Sawrey born 1733, father Anthony.

Next child to an Anthony Sawrey is 1846 (Agatha) She's mine.

I can't find another marriage for Anthony between 1733 and 1750. Can't find a burial for Elizabeth between 1733 and 1846, so MAYBE there was a big gap between children or maybe two Anthonys (can't find the other).
There is ALWAYS a Myles in my lot.

I do have burials for Anthony Sawrey 1786 age 89 and Elizabeth 1785 age 82.
This Elizabeth could not have been the mother of all the children I found for Anthony as she'd have been 58 when last child was born. Now my lot have babies up to nearly 54, but 58 seems a bit over the top.

[KiteRunner]

There was that 1747 marriage between an Anthony and an Elizabeth that I mentioned before, though. I know that on some of these old PR's it is really difficult to make out the years, and it could be that the year on either Agatha's baptism or that marriage is wrong.

[Harrys mum]

Thanks KiteRunner............... The 1747 is possible for the later births (and Agatha's) but I think I'm missing a burial for Agatha's parents.
The one I have makes the mother too old.
Also I know Agatha had a brother, Myles, but that 13 year difference is still too long.

Now maybe the 1747 marriage is the parents of some of the later kids and a different Anthony, but still leaves a question.
OR
There a birth of another Myles not found yet.

[KiteRunner]

Okay, I'm starting to get a bit of a headache with all these Sawreys. They remind me of a few branches of my tree which I've got back to the 18th and 17th centuries and then find that everybody in their home village had the same name!

But to bolster my theory that your Anthony might be the son of William and explaining why the name Myles could be carried down even if your Anthony wasn't Myles's son. Remember the Anthony I'm rooting for to be Agatha's father was baptised in 1722? Other children whose father was William Sawrey in the same batch include:
William 1708
Myles 1710
Mary 1712
Ellen 1720
(then Anthony 1722)
Margaret 1728
Eleanor 1730.

So if that Anthony is yours, then it does look as if there was a Myles in the family for his children to be named after. And no doubt William's father, uncle or grandfather was a Myles too!

[Harrys mum]

I'd throw you some asprin, but I've used it LOL.

I do appreciate the help.

I agree with what you've got, but still can't work out the children of Anthony(or more than one Anthony).


Do you know where I can search for wills apart from TNA? These people had land so they should have wills, but I can't find any.

[KiteRunner]

Well, there is A2A, of course, if you don't count that as TNA. But I think this is going to be the best:

Lancashire Will Search

Just put the surname Sawrey in and see how many look like yours! If you email Lancashire Archives and ask for a quote for a copy of each one you want, they will get back to you in maybe a couple of weeks to tell you how to order them. I'll post up the Lancashire Archives contact details in a minute if I can find them...

[KiteRunner]

Ooh, actually, I see that on that page it tells you that you can order the microfilms in to your local LDS Family History Centre. Maybe that will be possible for you?

This is the email address for Lancashire Record Office, anyway.

record.office@ed.lancscc.gov.uk

[Olde Crone Holden]

In fact, Myles was an extremely popular name in Lancashire from the 1500s and I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from the presence or absence of the name Myles.

The RC branch of my Holdens always had a Myles. Those who dropped Catholicism also dropped the name Myles.

(Several blessed martyrs called Myles, all originating in Lancashire).

OC

[Harrys mum]

Thanks KiteRunner.............no luck for Anthony's will there either.

OC.....this lot ALL had at least one Myles in every family and still do.

They were on the board of the Sandys School which I presume was C of E. Mr Sandys sure didn't like Catholics, although of course they were Catholic earlier.

Even when they migrated to Bristol and were paid up Baptists they kept Myles.

If only there was a will........................

[KiteRunner]

If you can order the microfilms of those wills to your LDS family history centre, then you could try looking at some of the Sawrey wills which date from after Agatha's birth, though, to see if any of them mentions her and / or Anthony? I suppose it would work out too expensive to order copies of a few from Lancashire Record Office on the offchance!

[Harrys mum]

Thanks KiteRunner. I'll look into that. Maybe a brother or such. I'm waiting on a book with some info on Agatha but don't think there'll be much for earlier.