Author Topic: The mysterious marriage of William PONTIFEX and Sarah STILES 1773  (Read 2132 times)

Offline clontarf

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The mysterious marriage of William PONTIFEX and Sarah STILES 1773
« on: Monday 28 April 14 06:55 BST (UK) »
Several published pedigrees of the PONTIFEX family of West Wycombe, Iver and Burnham have William PONTIFEX (1722-1773) yeoman of Iver marrying Sarah dau of .... STILES or STYLES.

William and Sarah had eleven children, most born in Beaconsfield or Iver, several of the males being in business as copper or silver merchants.

William made his will on 10 May 1773 and was buried on 23 May 1773 at Iver.  The will leaves legacies to his wife Sarah and nine of his children - Daniel, Russell, William, John, Ann, Sarah, Martha, Milley (Amelia) and Elizabeth.  Of the other two children Ned had died as an infant and his eldest daughter Mary who had married Edward GOLDWIN is not mentioned.

The will contains a most unusual feature in that ALL nine children are individually called "my wife's son/daughter ....".  However, there are baptism records for all of them naming them as son/daughter of William and Sarah Pontifex.  I have read a lot of wills and every one that has a reference to "my wife's son/daughter" or "my late husband's son/daughter" have been referring to children of a previous marriage of the spouse.  Has anyone else seen this phraseology to refer to one's own children?

The only marriage record I have been able to find for a William PONTIFEX and Sarah STILES is that on 27 Jan 1773 at St Leonards Shoreditch between a bachelor William of Iver and spinster Sarah (who signs with her mark). The marriage is by licence (which I have not yet obtained).   If this is the marriage of William born 1722, then he and Sarah have been living together unmarried for 28 years and had 11 children - a most unlikely situation in the 18th century.  However the signature on the marriage record is very like that of two known examples I have of William b.1722 - the marriage licence allegation of his underage son William in 1765 and as witness at that marriage.  All three documents can be viewed on Ancestry.  If the 1773 marriage had been of a widower then the explanation could be quite simple - he married twice to women named Sarah and subsequent generations have attached the wrong surname to the mother of his children.

If the 1773 marriage is the correct one then is it possible the strange wording of the will is a reflection that the children were born put of wedlock (although the marriage 5 months earlier should have legitimised them - or did it under 18th century law?).

If the 1773 marriage is wrong then I am still looking for a William PONTIFEX/Sarah (STYLES or some other surname) marriage about 1743/44 probably in Buckinghamshire (Sarah's family is said to have a long history in Burnham).  I also need to try and identify where the 1773 William (presumably born early 1750s) fits into the Pontifex family.  Any help on either question would be much appreciated.