Genealogy Chat

Think i may have solved this :-)
I think Bessie might be Leah Belcher.
There is a death certificate on ancestry for a Leah Belcher which gives an incorrect birth year, it says year of death 1903, year of birth 1872, however i was just looking through a CD of Berkshire burials when i came across the record for Leah Belcher buried 1903 AND her age is given as 81! This would be Leah's grandmother :-D
Checked on Find My Past and they have the correct age on their 1903 record for Leah.
Maybe Bessie was Leah's 'nickname' :-)

You are right about Leah's death. I have looked at the image on freeBMD and it is definitely 81 but has been transcribed as 31. I can see why as the type is not perfect. I have sent a correction to freeBMD.

Thanks for that KenSE. This had seriously misled me :-(

Lizzie was bapt in 1868 Wantage --IGI -- familysearch.org--- has the transcript..

also a bapt for Elizabeth Butler farther Caleb Butler and mother Amy Frouds,,,,Wantage.!

Thanks Kay, but i think that Leah is Bessie. Having found a marriage record for Bessie McKay in 1894 i looked for her on later census returns. In 1911 she is in Swindon with her husband Robert William, and her place of birth is West Hanney. I have now found a burial record for her in Swindon 1953, the name on the grave is Bessie Leah Menham, seems too much of a coincidence for it not to be her. I have ordered the marriage cert for Bessie McKay, if she names her Father as Caleb Belcher then i think i will accept that Leah = Bessie.
By the way Kay, that baptismal record for Elizabeth is of interest to me, i have both Butlers and Frouds in my family tree, so that may be my next investigation :-)

That does seem to be the solution. It was a very interesting puzzle.

Leah must have told a porky about her age at her marriage. I wonder what happened to her first husband.

Irene, please let us know what the 1894 marriage cert shows - it does look as if the mystery has been solved.

I wonder if she lied about her age when she married Alexander McKay because she was underage and didn't have her father's permission?

I have looked for a death for him but with no luck.

Hi, i will certainly come back with the info from the marriage cert. I cant find Alexander McKay after 1891 and i cant find a death cert either, so still a bit of a puzzle there :-S
One point of interest for me, if Bessie did marry Robert Menham, well Robert was goalkeeper and Captain of Swindon football club, as a big football supporter i rather like the idea of that :-D All i have to do now is wait for that marriage cert to arrive :-)
Once again, thanks to everyone that has helped me.

Noticed on the census that Robert Menham was a professional footballer and did a bit of digging.

Did you know he had played for Everton in a Cup Final? This site has details:
http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/footprint/TownThroughTime.asp

Thanks Potty, if Bessie does turn out to be Leah my equally football mad brother will be fascinated by that :-)
Cheers :-D

Marriage cert finally arrived today, previous one having gone astray, and i believe Bessie is Leah, Bessie names her Father as Caleb Belcher a sawyer. So problem finally solved :-D Interestingly Bessie says she was a widow.... so must now find the death cert for Alexander McKay.... Thanks everyone for your help :-)

At the time of the censuses East Hanney was in Berkshire whereas it is now Oxfordshire.

Before you visit, check with Berkshire Records Office and Oxfordshire Records Office to find out who holds which records.