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Having trouble figuring out exactly who one of my GG Grandmothers was. I will give you what I can:

Alfred Stitson (mis-transcribed variously as Stetson and Hitson in census) was my GG Grandfather and born in 1857 in Newton Abbott, Devon.

In census records (I have 1881 and 1901) his wife is named Sarah.

I have searched for a marriage for him (soundex on) to a Sarah but I can't find one.

I tried searching for just his name and found this entry at an appropriate time (his first child was born in 1880, I have looked up beyond that, though)

Marriages Jun 1878 (>99%)
BOND Ellen Newton A. 5b 260
MATTHEWS Thomas Newton A. 5b 260
NOSWORTHY Mary Frances Newton A. 5b 260
Stitson Alfred Newton A. 5b 260


No Sarah! I looked on the next page, though, and found this:


Marriages Jun 1878 (>99%)
BUTLER Edward Newton A. 5b 261
Butter Edward Newton A. 5b 261
Jennings Eliza Newton A. 5b 261
JURY Edward Newton A. 5b 261
Savage Edward Newton A. 5b 261
WOODS Sarah Jane Newton A. 5b 261



Is it plausible that Alfred's spouse could appear here?

I looked up births for Sarah Jane Woods and found this:

Births Dec 1856 (>99%)
Woods Sarah Jane Plympton 5b 198


The date also roughly matches the Sarah in census (1881 as her as b. 1856, 1901 implies 1854, 1911 as 1856)

I have considered ordering Alfred's marriage cert and seeing the wife (maybe doing a name check, just in case), but I wasn't sure how likely it was that these two people were married.

My other option is to order a certificate from Sarah's second marriage - Alfred died in 1901 and in the 1911 census she is married to William Caddy, her former lodger some 20 years her junior!

1911 census:



Caddy, William 37, Bricklayer, Paddington London
Caddy, Sarah, 56, Devon Newton Abbott
(notes they have been married 8 years)

Witt, Arthur, Adopted Son, 7, Devon Newton Abbott
Stitson, Maud, Step Daughter, 27, Gen. Domestic, Devon Newton Abbott
Stitson, Sophia, "Step Daughter's only child", 1, Devon Exeter



Now, I am 100% positive that this is the right family, so I looked for the marriage record 8 years back thinking to order the cdertificate and hope is gave Sarah Stitson as "Formerly Woods" or some other surnmae at least. However, nothing is ever easy, is it? This is certainly the marriage judging by date, location, husbands's name etc. but:

Marriages Sep 1903 (>99%)
CADDY William Thomas J Newton A. 5b 316
Shobbrook William Henry Newton A. 5b 316
Stitson Sally Frances Newton A. 5b 316
TOLLY Sarah Louisa Newton A. 5b 316

What the heck????

I have nearly completed my Dad's side of the family tree to 5 generations, this lady is my sole stumbling block. If anyone could offer any explanations or suggestions I would be most grateful.

Sarah

There is a site called Genogold which has a lot of parish records online, including Devon.
Liz

Thanks Liz, not seeing anything there, though.

Name: Sidney Alfred J Stitson
Year of Registration: 1880
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Newton Abbot
County: Devon
Volume: 5b
Page: 139


childs birth cert will give you her name


June x

D'oh, that's a good point! Their daughter Keturah was my G Grandmother, don't know why I didn't just think of ordering her birth cert. Stupid! I think I got fixated on marriage certs as I found them more useful a lot of the time due to giving info on two people for the price of £7!


I'll order that now, but if anyone has any thoughts on the various oddities here, feel free :)

Name: Keturah Anna Stitson
Year of Registration: 1882
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: Newton Abbot
County: Devon
Volume: 5b
Page: 188 (click to see others on page)



Junex

Thanks, cert ordered. Always thought what a fab name Keturah was, although she went by Kate! Such a waste!

here is 1891 now he is Arthur

Name: Sarah Stilson
Age: 36
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1855
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: Arthur
Gender: Female
Where born: Wolborough, Devon, England

Civil Parish: Wolborough
Ecclesiastical parish: Wolborough
Town: Newton Abbot
County/Island: Devon
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View Image

Registration district: Newton Abbot
Sub registration district: Newton Abbot
ED, institution, or vessel: 18
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Arthur Stilson 34
Sarah Stilson 36
Sidney Stilson 11
Maud Stilson 8
Reginald Stilson 4



June x

Goodness sakes, this family were so hard to track!! He was certainly Alfred not Arthur and they are now Stilson!! Doesn't help that their children all used different names. Keturah went by Kate, Carrie went by her middle name of Maud and Stanley went by his middle name of Reginald! My Great Gran isn't with them here for some reason, though. She should have been at age 9, will have a look around.

Thanks June

Hi Sarah, they will have been mistranscribed sorry cant look at image for 1891 on daughters laptop, but it needs checking to see if they hve missed Kate.


June x

Had a look at the image and it definitely says Arthur! How odd. It's definitely them, though. Surname I can see is Stitson although I can also see why someone may have thought it Stilson when typing it up. No sign of Kate/Keturah on the image, she would only have been 9 so I wouldn't have thought she was in service. Hmmm, maybe hiding somehwere with a relative.

Update:

I got my Great Gran's birth cert, her mother was Sarah NOSWORTHY.

Now, further oddness. There's no marriage for Sarah Nosworthy to Alfred Stitson BUT, the marriage record I was looking at for Alfred:

Marriages Jun 1878 (>99%)
BOND Ellen Newton A. 5b 260
MATTHEWS Thomas Newton A. 5b 260
NOSWORTHY Mary Frances Newton A. 5b 260
Stitson Alfred Newton A. 5b 260

Says Mary Frances Nosworthy??

Might this be here, but using a different name for some reason? On Keturah's birth cert, all later census she is SARAH. Then, her second marriage has her as SALLY FRANCES.

For goodness sake, what was thing woman's name???!!

All I could say that Sally was a nickname for Sarah as my ancestor, Sally was born Sarah and I've a cousin who're called Sally but she was born Sarah Jane.

Thought I'd mention that..

Well, that's a thought. The Sally Frances ma be because she was Sarah Frances - but why use Sally there and not on any census? And why Mary Frances? Argh!

Trying to find a possible birth for her under these various names, I got these:

Births Sep 1850 (>99%)
Nosworthy Sarah Newton Abbot 10 133

Births Dec 1851 (>99%)
Nosworthy Frances Mary Newton A 10 124

Births Mar 1856 (>99%)
NOSWORTHY Mary Jane Plymouth 5b 263

Births Sep 1857 (96%)
Nosworthy Mary Newton Abbott 5b 112


All the records I have put her birth at 1855-1857, so best match would be this last Mary, location is a good match too, but I really don't know :/

1861 maybe

Name: Solly R Nosworthy
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1853
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: Samuel D
Mother's Name: Mary Ann
Gender: Female
Where born: Wolborough, Devon, England

Civil Parish: Torbryan
County/Island: Devon
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage: View Image

Registration district: Newton Abbot
Sub registration district: Newton Abbot
ED, institution, or vessel: 14
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 26
Household Members: Name Age
Samuel D Nosworthy 33
Mary Ann Nosworthy 32
Solly R Nosworthy 8
Tom Z Nosworthy 6
John H Nosworthy 4
Kittord A Nosworthy 9 Mo
Sally Nosworthy 70


Births Jun 1853 (99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Norsworthy Mary Frances Newton A. 5b 133



Births Sep 1854 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Norsworthy Thomas Zorobabel Newton A. 5b 133



Births Mar 1857 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NORSWORTHY John Newton Abbot 5b 128



births Sep 1860 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NORSWORTHY Keturah Newton Abbot 5b 135




June x

Hmmm, maybe, just don't really know where to look to confirm any of this :/

Can you order a marriage cert with just one person's name? Was thinking I might order the record for Alfred Stitson as that's the only entry for a marriage in his name and see if Nosworthy is on it. That'd give me her father's name too.

1871 same family

Name: Samuel Norsworthy
Age: 44
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Mary Ann
Gender: Male
Where born: Newton Abbot, Devon, England
Civil Parish: Wolborough
Town: Newton Abbot
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View Image
Registration district: Newton Abbot
Sub registration district: Newton Abbot
ED, institution, or vessel: 16
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 100
Household Members: Name Age
Samuel Norsworthy 44
Mary Ann Norsworthy 40
Tom Z Norsworthy 10
John H Norsworthy 13
Carry K Norsworthy 7
Keturah Norsworthy 10



June x

Oh, now that's interesting June, Keturah isn't a common name and to see it crop up there tells me that you might be on the right track!

yes i think its your family, if you look on the 1861 grandmother with them called Sally.

I would get that marriage cert,
For fathers name and maybe her sister was a witness


June x

Worth a try, I guess she was born Mary Frances but for whatever reason was nicknames Sarah/Sally. The Keturah thing seals it for me but would be good to have proof. My husband hates the name but I really want to give a future daughter of ours the middle name Keturah (I don't think I can convince him on first name). It's nice to know it has a history in the family, my Aunt has it as a middle name too.