Richard Harry birth/family 1750's?

[pattyt]

 Hi  I am searching for the following person  my  3rd g Grandfather
Richard Harry married  Mary Trevarthen (nee Paynter)(1755-1793) in 1787  St Ives.
 I am seeking to find his birth record and  Parents /family (around 1750?) most probably St Ives 
 Richard and Mary had two children at least
Richard Harry  1789 -1868  (St Ives)
Margaret Paynter Harry 1791-1851  (St Ives) marries Thomas Thomas (1815)

 Thanks for any help.

[Cornish Terrier]

As Richard Harry does not appear to have left a Will it will be a bit of a challenge to identify him correctly. I have just updated my database to include the two marriages of Mary Paynter along with her children which appear to be three in total - Edward Trevarthen, Richard Harry and Margaret Paynter Harry.

Our first hurdle is the fact that Richard Harry, like Edward Trevarthen before him, was a 'mariner'. I can find no burial for Edward Trevarthen which suggests he probably died at sea in which case there would be no body to bury and, therefore, no record of a burial. It is possible this may also have applied to Richard Harry but fortunately I don't think it did.

Richard Harry was unable to sign his own name so when he married Mary Trevarthen he used his 'mark'. On the other hand his son Richard signed his own name when he married Margery Sleeman at St Ives in 1833. And that then suggests that it was Richard Harry senior who witnessed the marriage of daughter Margaret Paynter Harry when she married Thomas Thomas in 1815.

So, based on that, we can say that Richard Harry was still alive at the end of October 1815 which would rule out any prior burials.

Now there is one more complication to take into account and that is that Richard Harry may not have been of a similar age to his wife. He could have been much older and he could have been several years younger.
Let's say he could have been age 20 at marriage which would put his birth/baptism no later than about 1767. And then let's work on the possibility he could have been around 60 when he married which would give us a birth/baptism around 1727. Then we will make a final assumption that he was probably born and baptised at St Ives. That would give us 7 possibilities to work with.

Using the dates from 1727 to 1767 as a guide and knowing that Richard must still have been alive in October 1815 now makes it a little easier to check for possible burials. If he lived to 100 and he was about 20 at marriage then Richard could not have lived beyond 1867 so we only need to check burials at St Ives, presumably he remained in that Parish, from 1815 to 1867. And having checked those burials there are just two possibilities:-

20th February 1815 Richard Harry age 64 - but I think this one can be ruled out already if it was the father of the bride who witnessed the marriage of Margaret Paynter Harry on 29th October 1815!

That means that Richard Harry must have been buried at St Ives 21st February 1835 at the age of 82. Of the remaining 4 possibilities one would have been born about 1807, 2 were born in 1844 and the last would have been born about 1771.

If Richard's age at burial (82) was accurate then he was born about 1752. Assuming he was born and baptised at St Ives and allowing a couple of years either side for his age the candidates are:-

26th December 1749 Richard son of William and Frances Harry
3rd March 1749 Richard son of John and Margery Harry
28th November 1750 Richard son of Mr William and Grace Harry - Richard son of Mr William Harry was buried at St Ives 17th April 1752
27th October 1754 Richard son of Richard and Ann Harry (Richard Harry and Ann Cock were married at St Ives 4th November 1753)
3rd October 1755 Richard son of Thomas and Christian Harry - Richard son of Thomas Harry was buried at St Ives 6th October 1755

The three entries in bold print appear to be the only possibilities for your Richard.

I would probably be inclined towards the 1754 baptism purely because Richard's first child was named Richard. But without spending time to try and identify marriages and burials for the two from 1749 it is not really possible to eliminate any of them.

CT

[pattyt]

Thanks so much