Genealogy Chat

My great grandfather's first wife seems to be really a mystery. She s so elusive. I cannot find a marriage for them, baptisms for their children or anything about her using her maiden name. It's one of those 'I don't need to know to get further, but it's such a mystery I have to know the answer' problems! I have loads of information so will give you it all just in case it is helpful. George Fogg b. 12/12/1855 in Ashbourne Derbyshire, 25/12/1855 St Oswald's Ashbourne (son of John and Ann Fogg, siblings Srah Ann, Harriet, Harry & Eleanor) Married Annie Fetherbarrow at some point in time, no evidence of this anywhere. Died 14/11/1884 age 26 in Long Eaton after giving birth to second child. This makes her born around 1858 (I have the death certificate). Children were Laura Anne Fogg born 15/01/1883 Lowes Hill Ripley Derbyshire (I have the birth certificate proving parentage and mother's maiden name) and George Edward Fogg Birth registered oct/nov/dec 1884 volume 7b, page 511, died 29/03/1885 in Long Eaton (I have the death certificate) I also have copies of the burials of Annie and George Edward from St Laurence's Church in Long Eaton. George was a Railway Foreman and later maried Elizabeth Clarke in the Oct/Nov/Dec quarter of 1887 in Basford district of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire Volume: 7b I have all the details of his children thereafter too. I have sent off for the birth certificate of George Edward Fogg now that I know he definitely belongs to my family. I am hoping there will be extra evidence of his mother's maiden name Fetherbarrow. I have searched Ancestry.co.uk and can't find ANY people called Fetherbarrow on there, so can't find Annie's birth, baptism, marriage or where she may have come from. There is one person called Featherbarrow (notice the difference in spelling) but she didn't mary George Fogg! So, in conclusion, I'd like any information on Annie Fetherbarrow for the time prior to her daughter's birth in 1883. In particular, a marriage to George Fogg! Thanks for you help! Mandy

Is this the family in 1881 Name: George Fogg Age: 26 Estimated birth year: abt 1855 Relation: Head Gender: Male Where Born: Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England Civil parish: Ashborne County/Island: Derbyshire Street address: Hoods Yard Condition as to marriage: Married Occupation: Tailor Journeyman Source information: RG11/3423 Registration district: Ashborne Sub registration district: Ashborne ED, institution, or vessel: 2 Folio: 32 Page: 8 GSU Number: 1341819 Mary E. Fogg abt 1856 Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England Wife Harriet L. Fogg Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England Daughter Probably not as wrong occupation for George Maureen Update rule this one out as found this marriage Name: George Fogg Year of Registration: 1879 Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun District: Ashbourne County: Derbyshire, Staffordshire Volume: 7b Page: 873 Mary Ellen Jones

Second George Fogg with right place of birth 1881 Name: George Fogg Age: 25 Estimated birth year: abt 1856 Relation: Visitor Gender: Male Where Born: Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England Civil parish: Burslem County/Island: Staffordshire Street address: 60 Reid St Occupation: Horse Dealer Source information: RG11/2714 Registration district: Wolstanton Sub registration district: Burslem ED, institution, or vessel: 10 Folio: 17 Page: 27 GSU Number: 1341650

Glitter Baby, thank you. The first one is definitely wrong, I've been down that road before! The second one I have already found previously, and suspect it is the same George Fogg, as he had a relative who was also a horse dealer! However, it still doesn't tell us what happened to Annie.....was he married to Annie at that time? If so where was she? If not where was she? What a tangled web! There seems to be no way of tracing a surname that doesn't seem to exist!

How about a wild guess for the surname of Annie HANNAH LETHERBARROW Christening: 15 NOV 1857 Cathedral, Manchester, Lancashire, England Father: JAMES LETHERBARROW Mother: ELIZABETH Off to watch the snooker and will check back later to see if anyone can come up with anything else Maureen

Are you sure the surname couldn't be Letherbarrow? There is a William Letherbarrow from Derbyshire, living in Birmingham on the 1891 census. It's the nearest I can find to the surname. It could have been mis-heard and written as Fetherbarrow. Kath. x

Have often thought about a possibility of Letherbarrow being an alternative to Fetherbarrow. I was always convinced of it because of the 'F' for Fogg on the certificate too. Now I look closely, I'm still not so sure. It could even be a 'J'. How can we ever be sure?

I noticed that you only had the birth certificate for one of the children - why don't you order the other one and see what the maiden name looks like on that?

I like Glitter's idea of Hannah Letherbarrow....I'm sure that Hannah could easily have been changed to Annie. I have a birth certificate for the second child on order. I hope when I receive that, it will shed some light on the matter and sort out the Fetherbarrow/Letherbarrow argument once and for all. Mandy

Mandy, Having done a search for all records of FETHERBARROW - it comes up with no results, and FEATHERBARROW only brings up two results. I think that it probably is LE(A)THERBARROW. Do you have a scanner? You could send me a scan of it if you like and you could get a second opinion. PM me if you want to. :-)))

I already have it scanned in....not sure how to PM on here! Can you give me a clue?

Thank you Ann. I thought it was a bit more technical than that!

I think the family that Ann found is a good possibility. The Mary, born 1857 could be your Annie as a lot of girls at that time were called Mary Ann. Kath. x

Hi Kath, Thanks for that information. Does anyone know how I would be able to check for definite if it was the right person?

My grandmothers birth cert (1900) gives the impression that her parents were married but they did not marry until 1914 - got all the certs - so Annie and George may not have married at all. Maureen

I have thought about that too, but it does say 'Formerly Fetherbarrow' on the birth certificate, unless they were covering up the illegitimacy?