Thanks very much. I will only get the wall down with your help, so I am 'chuffed' as they say.
Here goes then.
I want to buy a marriage certificate for William Nichols bc 1808 Hammersmith. I have him 41, 51, living with his brother Peter, both are basket makers.
61 William is seemingly married. I have discounted several marriages, but I am at a dead end. There is one marr for William Nicholls to a Maria Sherwin, that I can't discount nor prove, unless I buy the cert. I was going to buy another cert for a marr which luckily I discounted before I paid out. So I am being cautious on this one.
I have his brother Peter's marr cert, stating father Peter, blacksmith. Trouble is Peter married 1840 and there are three Peter's (father) on the 41 that may be Peter snr.
I also have a few bapt's for Peter, with father Peter, different mother's, but can't find a bapt for William with the same parents as Peter. Assuming of course, that they are full brothers. I hope you can understand all this. A bapt for Peter, Holborn lying in hospital does not give father's occupation, so I am stuck.
1861 census shows him married to Maria, born c1813 Middlesex, occupation Nurse, but 1871 census shows him married to Elizabeth, born c1810 Southall, Middlesex, occupation Nurse.
Are you aware of a second marriage or do you think they are one and the same?
I'm not subscribed on ancestry at the moment,but will make a note of the census. It does seem that as she is a nurse still that maybe it's the same person? But if not, then either marriage would do, as hopefully he still put father's name on. I can't see anything for 81, but there is a death for a Maria, Hackney 1865.
At the risk of appearing crass could I suggest that you order the most likely marriage certificate for William? Unless you hit a very unlucky coincidence you will know for sure whether he is Peter's brother or not. Censuses are very informative but they cannot always give you certainty in ordering certificates. Sometimes you end up with a wrong certificate but unless you order certificates you won't have any certainty.
I have only one marr not discounted for William and Maria, but that is not to say there aren't any other possibilities, as I can't access the quarterly registrations and go through each one for the period 1851-1861 for William marr to Maria. Just got some possibilities off ancestry, the uncompleted marr registrations. There are 4 people on the page so William may not have even married a Maria. But nothing ventured......... As you say only one way to find out. Added to that he may have married again!
..... as I can't access the quarterly registrations and go through each one for the period 1851-1861 for William marr to Maria.
Treesa - unfortunately you would not gain anything by searching through the complete images, quarter by quarter, as the husband and wife are not cross referenced for that period. All you would see are possible marriages for William Nichols, but no indication at all as to whom the wife was.
Of course the other alternative is to get the birth certificate of one of the children, which would then give you the mother's maiden name - which in turn would help you find the correct marriage certificate.
Yes, that's right no children, so all the more difficult to trace, unfortunately.
As for going through the quarterly returns, I know I would have to look for the wife, by using the reference no. supplied, for any William marr, if I remember right. It's been a while since I have done this on the q's.
Hi Treesa, You mentioned that Peter, William's brother, married in 1840. I see that on the 1841 and 1851 census his eldest child was born a few years before the marriage, or in a previous marriage.
Thanks Elaine. Can't wait to see the result of this particular cert order!
And thank you for asking if I have any other problems. I was going to ask about a bapt for Ann Allen , marriage 1802 in Exeter. The one on IGI is not my Ann.
But Merry has asked about Peter Nichols. Indeed the eldest son was born before the marriage. On the cert it states Peter was a bachelor, occ basket maker, father Peter, a blacksmith. And none of the 41 census for a Peter Nichols senior, states occ of a blacksmith.
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