Post by Cornish Terrier on Aug 12, 2011 7:24:14 GMT -5
Hands up all of you out there who have a John MAJOR with a wife named Grace but you just cannot find the marriage! 
Try this on for size:-
John MASON, tinner, of St Ives married Grace RODDA 23rd November 1795 at Towednack
If you are not convinced then I suggest a little homework is in order.
Go away and search IGI, FamilySearch, OPC, original PRs and whatever else you can find and then come back with a list of all the children of this couple.
My own searching suggests that you will find absolutely Zip, Zilch, Zero, Bugger All!
But if you then have a search around for children of John and Grace MAJOR you should find several.
This is now the second time that I have encountered a similar problem with MAJOR/MASON and on both occasions it has involved Towednack.
Thomas CURNOW, tinner, married Mary MASON of St Erth, widow, 29th January 1756 at Towednack
In this case Phillimore shows [Major] entered immediately after the bride's surname - an indication that the BTs showed her name as MAJOR.
It ultimately proved that she was Mary KESKEYS who had married John MAJOR at St Hilary 28th October 1740.
John Major was buried at St Erth 16th April 1754 and Mary then married Thomas CURNOW with whom she had a further two children to add to the five from her first marriage.
In the latter case there appear to have been no BTs available for comparison so the name is recorded as MASON in both Phillimore and the CFHS Marriage Index for Towednack.
This 1795 marriage is, in my opinion, for John MAJOR rather than John Mason and that is how it will appear in my database.
Provided John could read and write then a check of the entry in the Towednack Parish Register would almost certainly show that he signed as John MAJOR. Unfortunately I don't have access to that register so I am currently unable to prove this inconclusively.
CT
Try this on for size:-
John MASON, tinner, of St Ives married Grace RODDA 23rd November 1795 at Towednack
If you are not convinced then I suggest a little homework is in order.
Go away and search IGI, FamilySearch, OPC, original PRs and whatever else you can find and then come back with a list of all the children of this couple.
My own searching suggests that you will find absolutely Zip, Zilch, Zero, Bugger All!
But if you then have a search around for children of John and Grace MAJOR you should find several.
This is now the second time that I have encountered a similar problem with MAJOR/MASON and on both occasions it has involved Towednack.
Thomas CURNOW, tinner, married Mary MASON of St Erth, widow, 29th January 1756 at Towednack
In this case Phillimore shows [Major] entered immediately after the bride's surname - an indication that the BTs showed her name as MAJOR.
It ultimately proved that she was Mary KESKEYS who had married John MAJOR at St Hilary 28th October 1740.
John Major was buried at St Erth 16th April 1754 and Mary then married Thomas CURNOW with whom she had a further two children to add to the five from her first marriage.
In the latter case there appear to have been no BTs available for comparison so the name is recorded as MASON in both Phillimore and the CFHS Marriage Index for Towednack.
This 1795 marriage is, in my opinion, for John MAJOR rather than John Mason and that is how it will appear in my database.
Provided John could read and write then a check of the entry in the Towednack Parish Register would almost certainly show that he signed as John MAJOR. Unfortunately I don't have access to that register so I am currently unable to prove this inconclusively.
CT