Genealogy Chat

almost no Bransons in Cambs, and the FHS has only 1 baptism 1801-1837. Not many in Essex either. No sign of any living anywhere close looks like she did come from farther afield then. IGI has a Maria baptised in Leics 1808 and one in Devon 1812. But no obvious siblings for either. This is looking bad. Plus side: with Bransons being so scarce in the area, if you can find any more Bransons near Haverhill in 1841/1851, or any more Branson marriages, there's a good chance they're related to Maria

Hi Sue thank you very much for that death information, I think it might have been the mother of William , William must have given a very false age on his marriage cert. Margaret

Sue's burial is William's wife surely? That places her birth at 1811-13, which agrees with the 1841 census but narrows it down a bit

Hi Robin, Maria is the mother of william Williams father was George , It is getting so confusing I don't know where I am. George Poole and Maria Branson were married in 1830 I think William was born in 1831, and now Maria died in 1849 age 37.I do not know what county Maria Branson came from. Margaret

sorry, I mixed up George and William had a look for Bransons in Suffolk -- desperation setting in. IGI's got quite a few in earlier times but only one family still around in 1800, and they're at the other end of the county. A Nathaniel Branson married in 1805 and 1810 and baptised 3 girls at Stepney from 1819 onwards, first of those born 1814. Tantalising long gap from 1810 to 1814. Real question is how did Maria come to be in Haverhill before she married, and who was she with. The marriage witnesses could give a clue, maybe. Or maybe she was an alien from outer space. I expect most people have one of those in their tree

Hi Robin, I don't know who the wittness's were on the marriage cert. I don't know she came to be in Haverhill prehaps she was in service at the time, but there again if she died at the age of 37 1n 1849 and got married in 1830 surley that would have made her about 18 and would she not have required consent to have got Married I don't know I have ordered her death cert but that wont tell me much could I possibly get some sort of cert. for their marriage. Margaret

yes she'd have needed consent. Girls in service usually went home to marry, since they had to quit their jobs, and if home was Haverhill, that would mean there were relatives in Haverhill The LDS has a film of the BTs, which they say are at the record office at Ipswich. The VRI entry comes from that film. The BTs are better than nothing but might not be as complete as the original parish register. Can't find anything on-line to say where that is, but the answer's probably in the National Index of Parish Registers or Phillimore's Atlas, at libraries

Hi Robin I am sorry I do not know what you mean by Bts please try to tell me what you mean, also i could not find Nathaniel Branson and his 3 daughters Margaret

The BTs are the backup copies of the parish registers. Parsons were supposed to copy out the registers onto loose sheets once a year and send them to the bishop's HQ for safe keeping search IGI for Last name Branson, Region British Isles, Batch C069693. Looks like he might have married 3 times, there's another wedding 1807. Probably a completely unrelated family, but there weren't that many and she must have come from one of them

Just a thought but if your Bransons were in Cambridge then how close to Peterborough/ Northants/Huntingdonshire were they? If there is a chance that they are anywhere in Northants especially Peterborough area then they will most probably not be on the IGI. Your best bet then is to look closely at the parishes around. Phillimores Atlas will help you to find the relevant ones. Hardly any of my Peterborough/Northants/Hunts folk are on the IGI. I have just found a missing link in Huntindonshire, 5 miles from the Northants village of which I am interested in. Look closely at yours to see how close you are to borders of other counties. Janet

Hi Janet, I have not got a clue what county Maria Branson came from all I know is she got married in Haverhill Suffolk did they put the fathers name on in 1830 because someone is going to send me a copy of their cert. Margaret

Is the info you are getting from others just the IGI or the VRI? If it is then you have to start somewhere to eliminate so a visit to the Suffolk County Record Office as soon as you can to check the original Parish record of Haverhill for this marriage entry is going to be your first port of call. So many records are not on the IGI and if others cannot find it on the IGI is no proof that it it is not in the original Parish record at Haverhill. Most brides married in their own home towns. If she is not OTP then it will say in the parish record what parish she comes from. Similarly if the groom is not OTP it will say where he is coming from. You can then check the Christening registers to see if there are any c there. That is where you will get fathers names. The entry will also tell you whether she married by licence or banns and whether or not with parental consent. If with parental consent she will be under 21. If no mention of this she will be over 21 but most women at this time married between 17 and 23/4. There will also be witnesses and these are other clues as they are usually siblings. The father's name is not on there. I note that you say she does not appear on future census and think she may have died. Have you thought of looking for the death cert? Going backwards from yourself and your own birth cert to your parents marriage cert and their bith certs to your Grandparents marriage certs and their birth certs and I am presuming that you have ALL THESE CERTS, how did you actually arrive at the marriage in Haverhill for 1830? Janet

Hi Janet, she did die in 1849 age 37 I have just sent for her death cert. Someone from the Haverhill history society looked at the original marriage cert. and they are going to send me a copy, in the 1841 census it said not of this county alothough her husband George Poole was of Suffolk, so where Maria Branson was born I shall never know, though the person told me it did have of the parish on her marraige cert for both and i worked it out she must have been 18 when she married in 1830. Yes I do have all the other certificates and how I arrived that the one I am talking about is like this on my g/grandfather marraige cert it reads William Poole bride Emma Ransom I know that is a bit like Branson, well his father it says was George poole, it also says William was 24 which would have made him born in 1847 bearing in mind he married in 1871 in Haverhill I can find no birth cert. for William and can only find him on the 1881 census there again it says he was 44 and should have been 34 if marraige cert. is right. The only record they can find in Haverhill parish record is a William Poole born in 1831 with a father named George so he either lied on his marraige lines or there is no record of him whatsoever. I know William Poole was living in Edmonton north london by the 1881 census in 1889 he and his wife had a baby which I have birth cert. for by the 1891 census he had died because she is a widow on the census but still living at the same address as the birth cert showed not only that I can't even find a death cert for him I have searched everything hope this makes sense Margaret

When you get the "marriage cer"t if it says OTP This only means that she was living there when she married. It could still mean that she was born there and many are, but you will need a trip to the Suffolk RO to check this out and this is the ONLY way to be sure. You can sometimes check books rather than fiche although to be absolutely sure you do need to check the fiche. Once you have checked whether or not she was c at Haverhill then you can try other things but this checking is now your priority. If you live nearby then it should not be difficult. If you live a distance away there is a lot of interesting things to do in Suffolk, so take a few days holiday there and promise something special for the teenageres! If you live abroad then I suggest you ask the Suffolk RO to do a search for you which does cost but is obviously cheaper thn an plane ticket. Once you have established she either came from Haverhill or not then move on to the other counties. She will probably have been in service somewhere as most women were at this time. that side and have proved she is there or not so this is where you need to look closely at the map to see where the borders of counties are and look at the parishes just over these borders. I am slightly worried that your material does not quite match up ie Ransom for Branson and 10 years out on the census is rather a lot even for those who wanted to age quickly for whatever reason so I am wondering if that is the point where you have gone wrong. Maybe this is the point where you need to recheck your info and really to check it out with the original registers at the CRO and not the IGI or any other online census. Once you have checked this rather ambiguous info and you are still sure you are correct then I suggest you look at the following. You have Cambidgeshire not far but you also have Hertfordshire close by but my hunch might be to suggest you look closely at Essex. If you look at a map of today and ignore the main roads you will see a minor road from Haverhill B1057 going straight through to Waltham Cross which is Essex/Herts border. These are the sorts of areas our forebears lived in, out in the sticks and all around the borders of counties gives us all great big headaches but this is just the sort of area I am looking at in Northants and this is where you start to use a bit of detective work. If she lived in the Sticks she may have done just as many of us have done, move on to a bigger town where there was a bit more life! Janet

Thanks Janet, but the information on William is correct its just his age that bothers me I dont beleive someone would say they were 24 if they were 40 I know his wife Emma Ransom came from Sudbury and have gone way back on her family but my main interest lies with the Poole's Margaret

Is it possible there were two William Poole's in the same village? I have two of exactly the same name c1803 and 1805 in the smallest of hamlets. Just trying to cover everything to help you keep going! Janet

Hi Janet, I have not come across 2 and when I first found out about William Pooles marriage it was in an old family bible with the name of his wife and the names of his children the date they were married and where so I am quite sure I have the right marriage cert. as I said it is the age all I can think of is he did not tell the truth Margaret

Hi Margaret, As far as William's age on the marriage certificate goes, may I suggest you obtain a photocopy of the marriage entry in the church register. This would be the most accurate information available and the only way to be certain that 24 was the age recorded at the time. Best wishes, Carole

Hi Cass, yes someone looked at the original for me and indeed it does say 24, that was at the parish thank you Margaret