Elizabeth Harvey COTTON nee WRIGHT and Other Anomalies

[Cornish Terrier]

This may be of interest to those researching the Cotton, Harvey and Wright families in particular but it should also be of interest to researchers in general is it highlights the difficulties dealing with Parish Registers!

As many will be aware I have been working on the Harvey families since early last year. At the moment I am processing the burials of Harvey family members at Paul and it was during this process that I came across the problem that has prompted this post.

What I am about to explain highlights the need for precaution when searching vital records!

The record of interest is the following burial at Paul:-

14th March 1877 Elizth. Harvey of Mousehole age 66 years

When I began looking at this one I first checked my database for Elizabeth Harveys with a birth year in the vicinity of 1810 (i.e. 1810 +/- a couple of years or so). I then went to the 1871 Census in search of a match for the details in the burial record.
Although not quite an exact match it seemed the most likely candidate was Elizabeth nee Pentreath who married Henry Harvey at Paul in 1836. She was baptised at Paul 30th August 1812 so I was fairly comfortable that she might be the person in this burial record given the possibility her baptism might have taken place when she was 1 or 2 years old. Besides that I did not seem to have another likely candidate!
I had also checked the 1881 Census and found that Henry Harvey was a widower by that time so I checked my possibilities again and then entered the information into my database.

A little further down the list of burials I came to this next one:-

16th March 1878 Elizabeth Harvey of Mousehole age 65

It became an 'Oooooops!' moment immediately I discovered that the ONLY Elizabeth Harvey this could be would be ................... Elizabeth Harvey nee Pentreath the wife of Henry Harvey!!

Again I made all the checks and in both cases I kept coming back to the same answer.

My next step was to elect to spend money and get the records of both burials from the GRO. (You can download images of these from the GRO site in a matter of moments for a fee of 2.50GBP)

I logged into the GRO Portal and proceeded to look up the the first burial so that I could begin the process of ordering the image. THERE WAS NO SUCH ENTRY IN THE GRO INDEX for Elizabeth Harvey age 66 who died in the March Qtr of 1877!!!

I then decided I had better take another look at the 1871 Census to see if I could find something I may have missed earlier. In doing that I came across the household of William and Elizabeth Cotton and a memory was triggered so I looked at my database and the problem was almost immediately solved!

William Cotton (born 1813 but baptised at age 22 in 1836 at Paul) married ELIZABETH HARVEY Wright at Paul 28th December 1836.

ELIZABETH HARVEY Wright was baptised at Paul 17th March 1811 so would have been age 66 in 1877 and her husband William was a widower by the 1881 Census.

AND - there is no other possible burial for Elizabeth or Elizabeth Harvey Cotton in the Paul records!

It is not the first time I have encountered this problem but it is now obvious that when the Vicar filled out the burial register he entered the name as 'Elizabeth Harvey' instead of 'Elizabeth Harvey Cotton'!

Problem solved AND I saved myself the cost of purchasing the records from the GRO!

So if anyone is looking for a burial for Elizabeth Harvey Cotton you will find her buried as 'Elizabeth Harvey' of Mousehole age 66 14th March 1877 at Paul.

CT

[Cornish Terrier]

Hot on the heels my recent post regarding the apparent error in recording the name of Elizabeth Harvey Cotton in the burial register I now have another interesting tale to tell!

Still working through the Paul Burials and next on the list was this one:-

Paul 27th August 1880 James Richard Brokenshire Harvey of Newlyn age 17 months

I never had a baptism record for young James and he died before the 1881 Census so the first step was to check the birth registrations to try and identify some parents. Amazing just how quickly a brick wall can spring up!!!

As a second step, because the name was so unusual, was to use FreeBMD to see if I could find a similar name with, perhaps, either another surname or a very poorly spelt variation of Harvey. The fact the child was only 17 months old at death and he died in August 1880 indicated the birth registration should be in the March or, perhaps, June Qtr of 1879 so I only had a small time-period to navigate. The ONLY record of any interest at all that I could find was:-

June Qtr 1879 RICHARDS James Richard B 5c 267

Placing that information into the search form on the GRO Index:-

JAMES RICHARD BROKENSHAW RICHARDS - mother's maiden name ROWE

This time I was left with little option but to choose between the Death record and the Birth Record and spend a few dollars. I reasoned that it was probably best to order the Death record given that was the one using the surname HARVEY.

Death Record
22nd August 1880 Newlyn Paul James Richard Brokenshire HARVEY male age 17 months son of JOHN HARVEY tin smelter (journeyman) Informant: ELIZA J HARVEY mother present at the death

Using that information I discovered that I already had the family in the database .... albeit without young James. The parents were JOHN HARVEY and ELIZA JANE ROWE who married at Penzznce (probably the Register Office) in 1876.

The other children of John and Eliza Jane for whom I already had baptisms were Anne Mary Doddridge (1877), Elizabeth Brokenshire (1883) and Lucretia Nicholas (1887)

All of this was well and good because I now had a place to call home for young James. The problem was that I had was a death and burial record for him. I elected spend another five bucks to see what was in birth record for James Richard Brokenshaw Richards.

Birth Record
Date and place of birth - 11th March 1879 Newlyn Paul
Name - James Richard Brokenshaw
Father's name - JAMES RICHARDS
Mother's name - ELIZA JANE RICHARDS formerly ROWE
Occupation of father - tin smelter (journeyman)
Informant - The mark of JAMES RICHARDS father Newlyn Paul

So ............ with a gap of six years between the births of the first two daughters was it possible that John Harvey was away for extended periods during which time Eliza Jane lapsed into a period of unfaithfulness?

That really did not quite 'feel' right especially as the death record suggested John Harvey was the father of James. It was when I glanced at the records again that someting significant caught my eye:-

Death record - occupaton of father TIN SMELTER (journeyman)
Birth record - occupation of father TIN SMELTER (journeyman)

That told me immediately there was something amiss with the fish in Denmark!!! and on another look at both records the answer became glaringly obvious! There was nothing nefarious going on in the family - it was merely yet another case of incorrect recording of information!

I cannot explain how it came about but it seems obvious that the name of 'James Richards' for the father was somehow transposed from the first forenames of the child and thus, as the father could not write, to the same name being used for the informant.

Once again we have an example of errors in official documents.

CT

[Cornish Terrier]

And yet another anomaly at Paul!!

Paul Burials
2nd June 1882 GEORGINA Harvey of Newlyn age 9

1. When I checked my database I had no record of 'Georgina'.
2. When I checked FreeBMD there was NO DEATH recorded for 'Georgina' Harvey in 1882.
3. When I checked FreeBMD there was NO BIRTH recorded for a 'Georgina' Harvey in Cornwall between 1870 and 1874 when she would have been born.
4. When I checked the 1881 Census there was NO Georgina Harvey recorded in Cornwall with a birth anywhere near the early 1870s.

It struck me that it might be a little difficult determining where 'Georgina' Harvey belonged given there appeared to be no records available for her.

The magic thinking cap suddenly appeared on my head and began to stimulate the 'little grey cells'.

A. A check of FreeBMD for anyone named Georgina born in the Penzance Registration District between 1870 and 1874 brought up 7 results but no surname that might have been a Harvey bastardization.
B. A like check of FreeBMD for anyone named Georgina having died in the Penzance Registration District in 1882 also proved fruitless - there were NONE!

As a last resort and with the batteries in the magic thinking cap beginning to wane I decided to see just what HARVEY deaths there were for the June Qtr of 1882 which is when Georgina's death would have been registered.

Deaths - Jun - 1882
Harvey Edith Georgina 9 Penzance 5c 197

1. Birth registered June Qtr 1873 - EDITH HARVEY mother's maiden name Chirgwin
2. 1881 Census - recorded with parents and siblings as EDITH age 7 scholar born Newlyn
3. Death registered June Qtr 1882 - GEORGINA HARVEY age 9

Go figure!!!!!

She was the eldest child of William Thomas Harvey and Emma Chirgwin who married at St Peter's Newlyn 19th January 1873.

CT

[Cornish Terrier]

The Vicar at Paul really does seem to have had some problems - here is yet another one!!

From the Paul Parish Register - Burials 1877-1899

Entry 1824
4th August 1885 Annie HARVEY of Mousehole age 15 mths

There is NO RECORD of the death of an Annie HARVEY in the Penzance Registration district for the September Qtr of 1885. But there is this:-

Name: Age at Death (in years):
HARRY, ANNIE 1
GRO Reference: 1885 S Quarter in PENZANCE Volume 05C Page 155

The handwriting in the Parish Register is quite clear and the surname does actually read HARVEY but I have found no birth or baptism to account for such entry and, as just displayed, both the FreeBMD transcribed index and the GRO Index show the names as HARRY.

A further search of the GRO Index shows a birth registration in the June Qtr of 1884 for an ANNIE HARRY whose mother's maiden name was JACKA. Annie 'Harvey' was age 15 months when buried on August 4th 1885 which would indicate she was born about April or May of 1884.

So Annie 'Harvey' was actually the daughter of Samuel HARRY and Elizabeth JACKA who were married at Paul 5th June 1871 and who were entered into my database just 12 days ago!!!

And I do actually have Annie as one of the children of Samuel and Elizabeth with only the 1884 Birth and 1885 Death Registration information for her. As a result of this little bit of sleuthing I can now add that she was buried as Anne 'Harvey'!

CT

[Cornish Terrier]

The Vicar strikes again!! - and ALL of these errors have something to do with the Harvey family in one way or another!!

Paul Burials 1877-1899

17th February 1895 William Harvey of Penzance age 68

Struggling to find a William Harvey born about 1827 to fill this 'hole' so once again turned to the GRO Index and, following a search to confirm there were no other options, I had no option but to conclude the Vicar was 'guilty as charged'!

The GRO Ref

Name: Age at Death (in years):
HARVEY, WILLIAM 82
GRO Reference: 1895 M Quarter in PENZANCE Volume 05C Page 224

William Harvey was age 82 and not 68 as entered in the register! And I was thus able to identify him as the son of John Harvey and Juliana (nee Badcock) baptized at Paul 10th April 1813 who married Jane Thomas at Paul 1st February 1848.

This error appears to be an obvious one and is also a common type of error through the Parish Registers. Two successive burials as they appear in the register:-

1895
1646 Lavinia Morley of Newlyn February 17th age 68
1647 William Harvey of Penzance February 17th age 68

A direct copy of the age as written in the line above! ............ more common than you might think!

CT