Post by Cornish Terrier on Mar 19, 2024 17:35:39 GMT -5
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
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