Some Genealogy Mysteries

Contents

• Introduction
• Link between London and Wanborough, Wiltshire
• The Barnes Mystery
• The Fisher Search
• From Where to Wanborough?
• Browser compatibility statement
• Main links to other pages on this site

Introduction

Link between London and Wanborough, Wiltshire

I have found the following links between London and Wanborough within my own ancestry and suspected relatives:

May 1850, Richard FOX of Wanborough married Harriett Attwood of St. Mary Newington;
June 1872 John BARNES of Clerkenwell married Maria FISHER of Wanborough;
April 1871 (census) Joseph BARNES (born Wanborough) was living in Walworth with his wife (born Bexleyheath, Kent);
June 1906 Joseph FISHER, born Wanborough and living in nearby Coate married Martha Jane BARNES of Walworth.

In the last case quoted the connection is obvious - they were cousins.

The Barnes Mystery

The relevant records are:
Birth certificate for Martha Jane BARNES (my grandmother), which gives her father as John BARNES, a carpenter; her date of birth as 14th May 1880, and the place of birth as 61 Kinglake Street, Walworth.

Marriage certificate of John BARNES and Maria FISHER at the Parish Church, St. Mark, Clerkenwell, Middlesex (now in London) on 10th June 1872. John BARNES is stated to be a joiner of Warner Street, and his father is stated to be Edward Thomas BARNES, also a joiner.

The only census record on which I have been able to find him is that for 1881, where the address is stated to be 61 Kingslake Street, Walworth, in the civil parish of St. Mary Newington. According to this record he was born in Wanborough, Wilts and his wife in Newington, but this was certainly an error of transposition. His age is given as 31. Others at the house on census day were his wife Maria, daughters Emma (age 7, born in Islington) and Martha J. (age 10 months, born in Newington) and son John (age 4, born in Islington). Also present was a visitor, Martha FISHER, a 60 year-old widow, born in Wanborough (this was his wife's mother).

Birth certificate for John BARNES, giving date of birth as 19th July 1848, place of birth as 3 Frederic Place, Newington, father as Edward BARNES, a carpenter and mother as Ann Susannah BUGLE (or BUGLES - the writing is not clear). Is this the right person? How can I find out anything about his parents? How did the link with Wanborough arise? Is he related to the BARNES family of Wanborough?

Is it just coincidence that in a street adjacent to Kinglake Street (Carter Street), the 1871 census shows a Joseph BARNES, age 32, who was born in Wanborough, Wilts? The Wanborough parish register shows that his father was an Edward BARNES, described as a bailiff, and that his mother was Mary Ann (née DABNEY). It could be (the dates are reasonable) that it is the same Edward BARNES, having married again and moved from Wanborough to London, but this is guesswork.

The Fisher Search

In the former case, it could be that no baptism is recorded because they didn't bother or because they were nonconformists. I do not know yet what nonconformist churches there may have been in Broad Blunsdon at that time, if any, nor what records from such may have survived. However, I think this is the less likely explanation, because Richard and Elizabeth did have a son (another Richard) baptised in 1763.

In the latter case, it seems the most likely explanation for the lack of the baptismal record is that he was born somewhere else, probably the same parish as his parents' marriage (also not recorded in Broad Blunsdon). Searching the registers of all the neighbouring parishes could be a very long job, and the IGI offers no help.

From Where to Wanborough?

Edward BARNES, bailiff, 3rd marriage banns (to Mary Ann DABNEY), 14th October 1832
Joan EDES, marriage, 21st October 1719
Robert FOX, marriage, 21st October 1719
John FOX, baptism of daughter Elizabeth, 30th? June 1716
John JEFFERIES, baptism of son John, 14th May 1789
Thomas WARREN, baptism of son Thomas, 28th April 1744

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