It has been a few years since I looked at this problem and at that time it was largely an insurmountable brick wall with no options remaining to bring it down. But having finally managed to start work on my Glasson connections I have found myself confronted by that same brick wall again!
This time however there is a tool available that was not accessible back then! The GRO Indexes!
In the quoted post above there is mention of a baptism at Paul which I think I also considered back then - I believe that I also finally dismissed it as irrelevant .......... at the time!
BUT NOW ............. I am just about convinced that it is that particular baptism that is a large part of the solution to the dilemma.
The naming of the first daughter of William James and Susanna Dobb as Grace Runnalls Dobb was initially considered a clue several years ago but we couldn't find a recognizable link. I believe that link has now been established.
Whilst updating the details of the Dobb children I found that there are baptisms for only two of the children available in readily accessible records - William John Dobb at Germoe in 1847 and Mary Dobb at Godolphin in 1850. (I suspect the rest may be in non-conformist records that have either been lost or are currently only available by viewing at the Cornwall Record Office.)
The names and approximate birth years along with places of birth can be found in the Census records .... but that only accounts for children who were still living at the time of each Census. It does not account for any children who were born and died between census years. The alternative method of finding all children is in the GRO Index - providing of course that the birth was registered!! With that in mind I performed a methodical search of the GRO Birth Index by four-yearly increments using the surname DOBB and mother's maiden name GLASSON. This was all working fine until I got down to Thomas Henry Dobb who was born in 1860.
The name Thomas Henry Dobb with mother's name Glasson did not show up in the list of male children born in the four years 1856-1860 or 1860-1864 so my first thought was that perhaps the birth had not been registered - or, perhaps, that it may have been transcribed incorrectly for the index. I searched again using phonetic variations with no success.
Finally I decided to try a search just on the surname Dobb looking for males only and came up with - Thomas Henry DOBB mother's maiden name ........................
REYNOLDS!!! At the end of the search I had found THREE references to the name Reynolds/Runnalls:-
1848 Birth - Grace RUNNALLS Dobb - mother's maiden name Glasson
1860 Birth - Thomas Henry Dobb - mother's maiden name REYNOLDS
1862 Birth - Susanna Jane Dobb - mother's maiden name REYNOLDS
Several years ago when this topic was first being discussed we came up with a few scenarios that all seemed to 'wash out'. We could find no birth/baptism for Susanna, Susan, Susannah either as Glasson or as Reynolds and nothing in particular to link any George Glasson to the scenario. I think that all we found was the 1841 Census entry for Susan Glasson at Madron. All in all we were left right where we started .............. lost!
Everything now points to the fact that we were actually very close way back then and, as the quote above shows, possibly even closer in 2018 even though it seems that the possible solution was dismissed.
My conclusions now are based partly on our old discussions but more so now on the results of my search of the GRO Indexes which clearly show the name REYNOLDS is of importance. In fact I now believe the information shows that Susanna Glasson was actually born 'Reynolds'! And I do now believe that this is she:-
Paul Baptisms 1827-1844
5th August 1827 Johanna base child of Grace Reynolds of MadronThat she was recorded as Johanna instead of Susanna may simply have been an error on the part of the Clerk - especially if, as was often the case, events were written on random pages and then later transferred to the Baptism Register. Nevertheless, Johanna Reynolds does seem to disappear without trace and then Susan Glasson of about the same age suddenly appears 'out of nowhere' in the 1841 Census!
Points in favour of this conclusion:-
1. the multiple appearance of the name Reynolds/Runnalls
2. Susanna Glasson stating in one Census that she was born at Paul but later saying she was born at Madron (baptised at Paul but mother resident of Madron at the time)
3. Age of Susanna Glasson indicates she was born about 1825
4. Johanna Reynolds baptised 1827 but not necessarily born immediately beforehand. (She could have been aged several months or even several years at the time)
5. Johanna Reynolds cannot be found after her baptism but then Susan Glasson suddenly appears in 1841 with her age and location matching the known details of Johanna.
Identifying which George Glasson may have been involved may still not be easy but I am most comfortable now with the identity of Susanna Glasson and will be including the above baptism details into my database for her.
CT