William Donithorne's wife

[trencrom]

One of the (several) William Ds at Gulval started having children from 1705 onwards until I think it was 1717, but I cannot find a marriage for him at Gulval in the period 1700-1705. Does anyone know of a marriage, perhaps not in Gulval parish itself, that might fit the bill?

[Cornish Terrier]

I believe you will be talking about William who I believe to be s/o Richard Donithorne and Elizabeth (nee Bennetts)

First child George bp. 1704 at Gulval
Last child Joan bp. 1719 Gulval

(Bp. from IGI)

Unfortunately I, like you, have not yet found a possible marriage but, if all attributed children do belong to him, WHY was his first known son named GEORGE.

Back to you for now as I should really be very deeply in dreamland right now. (a few more messages to check first)

[trencrom]

That's the one I am referring to.
There's no gap in the Gulval marriage register around that time, is there?

[Cornish Terrier]

I am not aware of any gaps but that does not mean there were none.

But I do find it interesting now that we are talking about the same William Donithorne.

As mentioned in my last - why name first 'known' son GEORGE

If this William was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Donithorne you might expect the first son to be named either Richard or William.

There is no George that I am aware of in the family of Richard and Elizabeth.

I am beginning to wonder if the right William has been identified here.

Another reason for that thought is that (given my list is correct) William and his as yet unkown wife had three daughters - Maria, Grace and Joan.

My thinking suggests there should probably have been an Elizabeth in there somewhere.

Back to you for now and I will move on to some other queries.

[trencrom]

I could only find two christenings that could be for this William, one in 1661 as the son of William (presumably by Elizabeth Daves) and the other in 1682, which is the one you describe.

George could have been named after someone in William's wife's family, although I think there may be an older George D somewhere.

Onomastically there is little to separate the two candidate families, as three names from each of the preceding generation appear amongst the names of the children of William and "whoever". Six of one, half a dozen of the other, but I am leaning slightly towards RD & EB on chronological grounds.

"Grace" does not seem to have occurred in the Donithorne family hitherto so may also be a name from William's wife's family.

[Cornish Terrier]

Gulval and Madron are probably my two main 'thorns' when it comes to information prior to 1813 given that it is very rare to see the name of a mother recorded in any Baptism.

This makes life extremely difficult, most particularly when dealing with multiple occurrences of the same name.

I think we will need to try and find some Wills that might help solve the problem.

Other than that - more cogitation might be required.

Will keep thinking about this and see if there is anything more I can find.

[trencrom]

Have not found any relevant wills thus far, certainly none in the Donithorne surname.

[Cornish Terrier]

I know the problem - but the clues may not necessarily come from a Donithorne Will.

We need to check any available Will that might mention the name of Donithorne or show any reference to 'known' kin of the family we are looking for.

All is not lost.