Genealogy Chat

I thought my mums family would be soooo easy to trace... I couldn't have been more wrong. I found my mums' mums' dads' mum, sent off for the marriage certificate and found her fathers name. Found the family on the census - mother father and daughter... almost 100% sure its them. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy! So now I have both parents names, and approximate age... and started looking for their marriage. On ancestry, there is only ONE possibility, but when I get the marriage certificate through the post, I realise that the chances of it being my rellies is pretty close to ZERO - the birth ages are way off - so much so that the wife would have been only 11 years old when the eldset son was born - the husband only 10! Where do I go from here? FreeBMD brings back a big fat zilch, LDS are much the same, and ancestry gives one answer only, and thats proved to be a dead end. Is there any way I can cross reference on 1837, knowing his full name and her first name? This is like a steering wheel down the trousers (if I were a man)... any ideas on what I can do with only 14 1837 credits and an ancestry subscription would be helpful.

Hi Sarah... Loads of people on here have helped me trace them on census (misspelt names...lol)... I just would be grateful for any ideas how I could try to find a marriage reference, with any luck. I've tried all the free sites - and ancestry, with no luck. I've tried contacting people on here with the same name and year of birth (approx)... and they are still looking as much as I am. Okay... Samuel Burridge born approx 1831 (probably crediton in devon - but thats not 100%... definately devon though). His wife was Mary A - approx 3 years younger than her husband. The ages of their children in 1881 are as follows: 23, 17, 14, 12, 10, 8, 5, 3. I noticed the age gap between John (eldest) and Ellen(next child)... and wondered if there was perhaps a different mother - but cannot find any evidence of that at all. The ONLY marriage I can find is 1867 - but the samuel and Mary A on that cert are 22 and 23 respectively. So... where do I look now? I can only do online research... ANY ideas will be gratefully recieved - and a hair transplant if this carries on...lol.

FreeBMD has most index images from 1837 - 1910 so you could start by searching there images as it is free. Start from the quarter the eldest child was born in and work back, quarter by quarter. You'll probally have to search under the husbands name unless you have the wifes maiden name and it's more uncommon. Ancestry uses the same information as freeBMD, but thay are slightly behind in uploading it and their search picks up more records. Save your remaining 1837 credits for veiwing pages not available on freeBMD. Depening on what the names are you could try first name only or surname only searches for a large date range. Condider that they could have married very young as years ago children could marry at about 7 yrs old with parental consent but it was unusual for a girl to be under 12 and a boy under 14, the age of marriage was later moved up to 12 and 14 , but with out consent it was 21, this stayed in place until after WW1.

Thanks for brill info Lunar... fancy coughing up a furball to replace my hair I've torn out?? lol Will try that in a mo... have babysitting duty now - kids and paddling pools !

Didn't we suggest the same thing to you a few weeks or so ago? That you look on 1837 because FreeBMD etc are not complete? And I gave you a POSSIBLE person from the 1861.... you need to look on 1837online.

For info + names 1881 Samuel Burridge abt 1831 Sandford, Devon, England Head Ermington, Devon, England Mary A. Burridge abt 1834 Crediton, Devon, England Wife , Ermington, Devon, England Ellen Burridge abt 1864 Crediton, Devon, England Daughter, Ermington, Devon, England Walter G. Burridge abt 1867 Crediton, Devon, England Son , Ermington, Devon, England Alfred Burridge abt 1869 Ivybridge, Devon, England Son, Ermington, Devon, England Emma Burridge abt 1871 Ivybridge, Devon, England Daughter, Ermington, Devon, England Mary J. Burridge abt 1873 Ivybridge, Devon, England Daughter, Ermington, Devon, England Samuel Burridge abt 1876 Ivybridge, Devon, England Son, Ermington, Devon, England Lydia Burridge abt 1878 Ivybridge, Devon, England Daughter, Ermington, Devon, England Where is John, the 23yr old? Sam

Found this marriage in 1859 not sure if he could be yours Samuel Burridge Oct-Nov-Dec 1859 Okehampton (Devon) 5b page 732 Yvonne

No idea if this is her - but this Mary matches up with the details that Yvonne found (this is from Ancestry's index) Name: Plummer, Mary Record Type: Marriages Quarter: December Year: 1859 District: Okehampton County: Devon Volume: 5b Page: 732 PS - Have you thought about buying one of the children's birth certificates? If not, why not?

John is in the 1871 census aged 13, but the name is spelt Berridge - may be worth looking for the marriage under that spelling Peter

John is on the 1871 (and 1861) 1871 - Name Estimated Birth Year Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish or Township County/Island View Image Alfred Berridge abt 1868 Ugborough Son Ermington Devon Ellen Berridge abt 1863 Crediton Daughter Ermington Devon Emma Berridge abt 1871 Ermington Daughter Ermington Devon John Berridge abt 1858 Crediton Son Ermington Devon Mary A Berridge abt 1839 Sandford Wife Ermington Devon Samuel Berridge abt 1833 Sandford Head Ermington Devon Walter J Berridge abt 1867 Crediton Son Ermington Devon 1861 - Name Estimated Birth Year Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish County/Island View Image Emily Barridge abt 1860 Crediton, Devon, England Daughter Crediton Devon John Barridge abt 1858 Crediton, Devon, England Son Crediton Devon Mary A Barridge abt 1835 Crediton, Devon, England Wife Crediton Devon Saml Barridge abt 1832 Crediton, Devon, England Head Crediton Devon

Marriages Dec 1867 BURRIDGE Samuel St. Thomas 5b 115 CASLEY Mary Ann St. Thomas 5b 115 Bit late but still possable (they could have pretended to be married but weren't or never married - regardles of what certificates say later on)

Chloe.. Yes, this is the same family I did saythat I had been offered help with before... All I wanted to know was if there were any avenues I could try that I haven't already. Mary Casley cannot be the mary I am looking for, because she was born in 1865. Mary A Burridge's eldest son was born in 1857-58. Lunar... thanks for that... but this was the one I thought it might be...until I got the certificate through. I don't expect people to put themselves out here, and do lookupps for me...honest! (though very thankful for all that everybody has done here...) All I need is a kick up the jacksey in the right direction to look somewhere I haven't. Just a few ideas... Yvonne & Chloe... Thank you both very much for the marriage reference. If I can do anything in return for you, please just ask.

Just a thought - although I see there is an 1859 marriage here that could be the one. If you get the children's birth certs, that will give you the mother's maiden name, then you could try looking for her marriage rather than Samuels... Peter

Peter... I have tried in vain to look for the children - but couldn't find a single one that was 100% definately one of Mary's kids... even Lydia couldn't be traced. This is why I posted here... as a last resort really. However... I thought about what you posted - and Chloe too (as she said much the same thing)... and decided to try again at ancestry and then 1837... something may have changed since I last looked...lol Not a single name could be found... until the last name I tried... Emma. I found Emma's birth registry!!! I am so pleased. Because her age on the 1871 census was so precise (3 months) I am 99.9% sure that I have the right person. I have sent off for the certificate... and when it gets here, I'll be sure to let you know what the mothers maiden name is. This has happened a couple of times to me... missing people suddenly turning up at Ancestry...lol. Maybe I should be grateful, huh?! Thanks to all for your help.

I am wondering about the actual name you are tracing and what it actually started out as- we often say mistranscibed, but all that often means really is slightly different to the name you thought, Your surname seems to have started out as one thing and changed: Sorry waffling - have you considered this one : Berridge, Lydia Record Type: Births Quarter: June Year: 1878 District: Plympton St Mary County: Cornwall Devon Volume: 5b Page: 235 ----------------------------- Name: BURRIDGE, Samuel Record Type: Births Quarter: September Year: 1875 District: Plympton St Mary County: Cornwall Devon Volume: 5b Page: 221 --------------------------------------------

Well, I have just this moment got Emma's birth certificate through the post... tore open the envelope to discover that Mary Ann's maiden name is... UNDERHILL I wanted to thank everyone again for all their help... and a special 'Thanks' to Chloe... for kicking me up the backside with her 'and if not, why not' comment that made me go look through ancestry again (and Peter too, of course). I shall now take a huge sigh... and start with another mystery... a Pink one this time ;) lol Thank you... you're ALL brilliant!