which Mary JAMES?

[cledry]

OK, I have one brick wall that is hindering a branch of my tree progressing further back.

That is Mary JAMES which is quite a common name! My particular Mary JAMES married Thomas HOSKING at Lelant on 24 Oct 1830, she was listed as a sojourner. However on the 1841 and 1851 census she lists place of birth as Lelant Parish. I am thinking she was born between 1808 and 1811. She was buried at Lelant 28 Dec 1859. They resided at Trencrom.

My problem is there were loads of Mary JAMES baptised in that narrow time frame. 

Children of this couple in order:
Christiana
Richard
Mary
Richard
Thomas
William James
Martha
Philip
Benjamin
Ann
Samuel
Jacob
Joesphine

[Cornish Terrier]

Looking at the potential candidates and based on the current information it is certainly not easy but there is certainly one candidate who does seem to stand out a little.

One potential clue is the naming of son William James Hosking which in most cases would be an indication that Mary was a daughter of William or, at the very least, had a brother of that name.

Next possible clue is her age at the 1851 Census which was given as 41. If we assume that is accurate then 1809 or 1810 would be the probable birth year but given the chronic misrepresentaton of ages in Cornish records (whether by design or otherwise) it is always safe to expand the search a little.

Being a 'sojourner' Mary could have been from anywhere and the fact she stated Lelant as her birthplace in 1851 can probably be taken with a grain of salt.

Based on what is known there are three candidates in my opinion .... providing Mary was actually baptised and the baptism was recorded.

Mary daughter of William bp. 22nd June 1808 at Penzance
Mary daughter of William and Mary bp. 4th June 1809 at Gwinear
Mary daughter of William and Mary bp. 10th March 1811 at Ludgvan (born 10th February)

My first thought was that the Ludgvan girl might be the most likely but now I am more inclined to suggest Mary from Gwinear. The only reason is that from the list of children for Thomas and Mary only William and Martha are familiar names in any of the possible James families.
William and Mary at Gwinear had a daughter Martha and a son William whereas the family at Ludgvan appears to have had no familiar names apart from William and Mary.

But on rechecking the Madron/Penzance are we have the marriage of William James and MARTHA Scott. The problem with that area is that until 1813 the mother's name was not recorded so the Mary baptised at Penzance in 1808 might be the daughter of William and Martha or she might be the daughter of William James and Mary Bottrell.

Those do appear to be the most likely options but I think it would be best to do some work on each of the three families to see if any of those Mary James can be eliminated.

CT