Break Through!!!!
I have a few hobbies, best not to have nothing to do!! One that I pick up and put down quite often is my family history. I really enjoy looking into my history, it somehow helps to ground important historical events when you can relate it to a person in your own history.
Anyway I had reached a real brick wall with one of my oldest couples, Benjamin and Susan Botwright. I had traced them back to 1819 when they arrived in Hertfordshire from Suffolk. I couldn't find a marriage for them and the first time they came to light was when they registered the christening of their son Benjamin Jnr in 1819 in South Mimms. I have been looking for years, checked out all sorts of books and references always coming up with nothing. The only clue I had was that Susan said on the 1851 census that she was born in Walpole in Suffolk. I have even travelled there and to the county record office and failed to find them. Today Genes reunited threw up a 'hot match' so I went and had a look and Eureka, the match was with a lady who I have met who is a distant relative. She had been struggling with the same brickwall, but had made a break through.
This lady, Pat, had discovered my pair through the magic of Family History on line. The reason that they had eluded us was a simple spelling mistake which hadn't been picked up on any of the 'near misses' or 'wild cards' on searching. Benjamin Botwright had been recorded as Batright. Susan was in fact Suzannah. Pat has cracked the mystery. She has located their marriage in 1810 in Saxmundham in Suffolk, They were recorded as widow and widower. Another surprise was that Benjamin Junior was not their eldest child, they had a daughter,Sarah, born in 1815 in Bengeo in Hertford, but she died as a baby.
I now want to try and find out about Benjamin's parents, I will have to see the marriage entry for myself and see where I can go with it. Its so exciting !!
One of the strange things is the places in Suffolk, My friends Fran and Pete have moved there and we have visited them a few times, it now seems that Suzannah's family came from Henstead which is a small village where Fran and Pete moved to first of all!!
I am so happy!!!!
4 comments:
Well done Lyzzy. You must be so pleased that you can move on with the history. My husband and middle son have made a start on my husbands side of the family. My gosh it take a lot of work doesn't it?
Katie
x
Geneology is so interesting. I've been working on the history of our house, which was built in the 1830's (pretty old in the US). IT was built by Dougal McDougal, who was born in Canada in 1797. We think that the house might have been on the Underground Railroad, so I'm trying to find church records to see if Dougal was involved in a church that tended to be abolitionist.
My dad had worked on his family's history with a cousin. They went back as far as the 1600's.
Pretty cool stuff.
Geneology is a favorite hobby as well. I inherited it from my dad and you have reminded me it's time to get back in the swing of it.
Thats awesome Lyzzy, congrats on the breakthrough
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