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John, if you're right about the Mary who married William Heaps then there's no way he died in 1859, unless it was on their wedding night - look at the date of that marriage.

West Yorkshire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935
Name: William Heaps, bachelor. Cloth Felter of Tunstall Fold.
Birth Year: abt 1837
Age: 22
Marriage or Bann Date: 31 Dec 1859 <<<<<
Parish: Leeds
Father's Name: John Heaps - Ware Grinder
Spouse's Name: Mary Nothers, spinster age 20 living Grey Street.
Spouse's Father's Name: John Nothers - Weaver.

Witnesses David Hutchinson and Mary Harrison.

John, if this is the death that you've assumed for William Heaps then I don't think it's correct:

England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
Name: William Heaps
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1859
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 9b
Page: 52

There's no way it can fit with that marriage.

I'm pretty sure that this is the William who married Mary Nother, back with his parents in 1861:

HEAPS, John Head Married M 59 1802 Logwood Grinder Leeds, Yorkshire
HEAPS, Ann Wife Married F 61 1800 Escrick, Yorkshire
HEAPS, William Son Married M 25 1836 Machinist At A Flax Mill Bradford, Yorkshire

Piece: 3383 Folio: 37 Page: 7
Registration District: Leeds
Civil Parish: Leeds
Municipal Borough: Leeds

Address: 1, Tunstalls Fold, Leeds County: Yorkshire (West riding)

Mary and daughter back with her parents in 1861, saying married not widowed.

NODDER, John Head Married M 50 1811 Woollen Felter Armley, Yorkshire
NODDER, Mary Wife Married F 49 1812 Leeds, Yorkshire
HEAPS, Mary Daughter Married F 20 1841 Woollen Felter Leeds, Yorkshire
NODDER, James Son M 15 1846 Woollen Dyer Leeds, Yorkshire
NODDER, Joseph Son M 13 1848 Woollen Dyer Leeds, Yorkshire
NODDER, Susannah Daughter F 4 1857 Leeds, Yorkshire
HEAPS, Sarah Ann Granddaughter F 0 (4M) 1861 Leeds, Yorkshire

Piece: 3386 Folio: 35 Page: 21
Registration District: Leeds
Civil Parish: Leeds
Municipal Borough: Leeds

Address: 26, Grey Street, Leeds County: Yorkshire (West riding)

By 1871 Mary is living as John Cran's wife (although we know they didn't marry until 1878)

CRAN, John Head M 45 1826 Scotland
CRAN, Mary Wife F 31 1840 Yorkshire
CRAN, Jane Daughter F 0 1871 Yorkshire

Piece: 4557 Folio: 82 Page: 21
Registration District: Leeds
Civil Parish: Leeds
Municipal Borough: Leeds

Address: Pollard Street, Leeds County: Yorkshire

Daughter Sarah Ann Heaps is still with her grandparents the Nodders.

So, there doesn't appear to be a census where Mary is listed as a widow (at least not between her marriages).

The earliest death I can find that fits William Heaps is 1893 (at least in the Yorkshire area).

My theory is that she said she was a spinster when she married John Cran because she wasn't a widow. She fibbed a bit and said her father's surname was Heaps. She was possibly still legally married to William Heaps. Bigamy was not uncommon back then due to their being no divorce easily accessible or affordable to working class people.

marie
there is not a census that states mary is a widow because i think they lived together as man/wife.
Cheack this out william heaps b 1835 living at St peters court,bradford it say he marr a mary nothers 1859, i cant find mary nothers in yorkshire from1837 to 1861.
But mary nodder b1842 at grey St leeds??

going back to william hegot marr OND 1859 to mary nothers[nodder] he d 1859 OND now then mary had a daug sarah ann heaps b 1860
This what i think????????
she shacked up withjohn cran/crann had a girl jane b late 1870 and d mid/late 1871, in 1881they have her daug sarah ann age20ish, and annie b1873 and william b 1880 both out of wedlock they did get marr at bradford[where she lived with 1st husband] YES/NO??????????
in 1891 shes at york rd leeds a grocer with sarah ann annie,william
while in again 1891 husband john is a gardener is at scarcroft [wetherby] WITH SON WILLIAM, HOW??
william is my wifes .g/dadwhen he marries he has a son william b 1910 my father in law
regards john
this and trying to find scotish roots is doing me in
Marie tell me love in 1841 there is thomas crann b1786 yorkshire wife ann born scotland 1791[ann elmslie i think m 1818 old macher, aberdeen]
and i think thomas,s dad was william also b leeds but my wife and sister in law and her dad before he died insisted THE CRAN,CRANN,COME FROM SCOTLAND,ADERDEEN.
john

John you're mainly on the right track but you are wrong about William Heaps dying in 1859 - he did not. That death was for a different person altogether. If you don't believe me then send for that death certificate!

You need to carefully look through the records I have posted - I have added notes along the way.

Mary Nother/Nodder (same person, it's just the way you say it, I think) married William Heaps on the 31 December 1859 - I have posted all of the details from the actual parish record.

In December 1860 Mary gives birth to their daughter Sarah Ann. Now, originally I had thought William couldn't be the father because you had said he died in 1859. It was later that I found out that William had not died then.

By 1861 it appears they have separated - William is back with his parents and Mary also with hers. Again, I have posted the 1861 census records that clearly show this. All the occupations, parents names, addresses, etc match up with that marriage record.

By 1871 Mary is indeed shacked up with John Cran and we know the rest from there. As I implied above their marriage may actually have been bigamous, hence her fibbing on their marriage record about her marital status and father's name.

I have already explained in detail about double counting on census which is what has happened with John and William in 1891.

John Cran is indeed showing as being from Aberdeen on some census records so your wife is certainly right when it comes to him. It doesn't matter where his father was born - people did travel around quite a bit in those days. If people could cross the Atlantic to get to America then a man could get from Leeds/Bradford to Aberdeen! There are loads of Cranns up Aberdeen way and the Yorkshire born Cranns are probably an offshoot of those. Another thing to bear in mind is that both Aberdeen and Leeds/Bradford had large textile industries so it's quite probable that people moved between the two areas for that reason.

The mystery that still needs clearing up is exactly when did William Heaps die, as I've said it was not 1859 because he's alive and kicking in 1861. There are two possible deaths in 1893 but they will need further investigation.

Might as well post William Heaps baptism as I found it by chance:

West Yorkshire, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910
Name: William Heaps
Birth Date: 11 Dec 1836
Parish: Leeds, St Peter
Baptism Date: 30 Jul 1837
Father's Name: John Heaps - Ware Grinder
Mother's Name: Ann Heaps

They lived Bramley.

marie you have won me over i have been thinking along same lines[but not sure] as for william in 1891 census him being a double booker o k, people then were mostly uneducated but it through me off him being a gardener and his family in the textile world i think we can put that to bed EH.
So Mr heaps was still alive in the 1990s,i am not too bothered about him,why they parted i dont know all i know is i have been marr 43yrs and why the hell june [my wife] has not left GOD knows, but i can relate to all that THANKYOU
MARIE CELESTE your gods gift
Right love, thomas b yorkshire 1796 possable brother george b 1792 their dad william?? him too b yorkshire,?? i cant find him i have tried ancestry, find my past and family search.
I have a william crann/cran b aberdeenshire1749ish , marr a catherine jackson
1772 scotland .
i dont want to spend money i just love helping other people find there roots, i live in a small pit village nr leeds i was b leeds been here 44years i still get when i walk into the pub" eh up watch your pockets theres a leeds loiner in the pub" most say i was born here but as you know you can find there births rigth easy
i have shut a few mouths,some come from other places so they know what my hobbie is so now they ask can you do my tree so i do, i used to go back a lot father when it was run by salt lake city mob but now its a lot harder and you cant get the kids now.
regards john
thank you for john cranns record its great he get 6month the others get transportation there only kids, christ if i had been caught for what i have done when i was 16,17,18, i would be hung 6 times
john

John, it's been a pleasure - being a Northern lass (but more north than you) I can relate to what you're saying!!

There are people on here who are much better at me than finding the much older records so we'll see what might turn up.

marie



THANKYOU
john

John - you need to go to your very first post on page one of this thread. On there will be a button that says something like " mark this as unanswered" click on that.

Because you've ticked one of my replies as answered then that marks the whole thread as completed and people will not realise you still want to find further info.

1841 CENSUS
thomas b 1796 leeds marr mary elmslie 1818 in aberdeeshire?[children]
jane b 1821,
william b 1821,
mary ann b 1826,
john b 1823 he is not down as he is in jail at wakefield jan to june 1841.
I would like to find out about Thomas,s father/mother, siblings, g/ mother,g/father
and farther back if possable, my late father in law william crann 1910 -2002 thomas,s 2xg/dad always said we are from the aberdeen area of scotland
john