1871 Wiltshire / Staffordshire / Bristol / IOW : WILTSHIRE / ALLEN / STOOKE

[ozcanucka]

Greetings all. Your aid in untangling genealogical knots would be hugely appreciated. 

in the 1871 census, it appears that my ggggrandfather [b 1813] George Wiltshire remarried after the death of his wife Martha in 1866.

He appears in Haylands, Isle of Wight, as George Wiltshire, carpenter, 58. So far so good. Village, occupation, age, all correct. But the two remaining people in his household are new on the scene.
There's a wife, Mary Ann, age 30, born in Dudley Stafford; and a nephew, Charles A Stooke, age 5 born Bristol.

What I'd love is for someone to help me prove or disprove my theory about who this wife is, so that I can track down a marriage certificate.

Checking likely marriages between 1866-1871 (on FreeBMD and familysearch.org), I've come up with two:

Marriages Jun 1867 
Wiltshire George to Richardson Mary Chippenham 5a 100 (which I've discounted because of subsequent censuses)
OR
one on 14 Jul 1868 in Bristol, St James, where the groom, George Wilshire, is listed as widowed.
The bride is one Mary Ann Allen, residing Bristol, St James, Gloucestershire, father William Allen.

I then looked for the nephew Charles A Stooke in 1881, and found him with his family in Bristol.

Now, at this point, some of you are saying, hang on a minute, Charles A Stooke would be the nephew of the head of the family

However, George Wiltshire ran off from the county of Wiltshire (likely from somewhere near Preshute) to the Isle of Wight with another man's wife in the 1840s, and changed his name from to Wiltshire / Wishere / Wilshire, so would likely not have any visiting family. He is also unlikely to have a brother or sister young enough to have a 5 year old son. So I'm guessing that Charles is new wife Mary Ann's nephew. Therefore, young Charles' mother is likely to be Mary Ann's sister. So to get back to the Stookes of Bristol in 1881, the wife is named Hannah, age 46, born Evesham, Worcestershire, England.

A quick search on FreeBMD gave me Hannah Ames Allen, bap 7 Oct 1835, Evesham, with father William, which matches with Mary Ann Allen's father's name on the marriage record.

So at last to my query: Would anyone be willing to look for the Allen family in 1841 / 1851  /1861 -- either near Evesham Worcestershire, or near Dudley, Worcestershire / Staffordshire, which is where Hannah's sister, Mary Ann, my theoretical gggg-step-grandmother was born circa 1841.

I am going to such great lengths to track her down because if I can get the correct marriage for this late-life wedding of my mysterious gggggrandfather, I might at least have a first name for his father. And inch closer to figuring out who he was before he changed his name to Wiltshire.

And feel free, if you're so inclined, to jump in to disprove the whole precarious house of cards.

Thanks very much!
Wendy

[rosie99]

However, George Wiltshire ran off from the county of Wiltshire (likely from somewhere near Preshute) to the Isle of Wight with another man's wife in the 1840s, and changed his name from to Wiltshire / Wishere / Wilshire,

What evidence do you have that he changed his name 

[ozcanucka]

However, George Wiltshire ran off from the county of Wiltshire (likely from somewhere near Preshute) to the Isle of Wight with another man's wife in the 1840s, and changed his name from to Wiltshire / Wishere / Wilshire,

What evidence do you have that he changed his name 

Aside from family lore, which has it that Martha ran off from her husband with a man working the Savernake forest, there's no sign of him in any of the three places he gives as birthplace. 
In the 1851 census, he gives his place if birth as Preshute Wiltshear, his last name as Wishere, age 38, occupation carpenter. Preshute is his wife Martha's birthplace, and the birthplace of her two children by William Wait.
In 1861, he's 48 and a carpenter, but now he's born in Swindon (as is his wife Martha). In 1871, age = 58 birthplace = Stroud, Gloucester. No one searching in the family has been able to find him in any of these locations.

The one thing that's consistent is his year of birth and his occupation as carpenter. Of course, the census records could just be unreliable, as census records are.

If you were to find a likely George Wiltshire born in 1813, believe me, I'd be all ears.   

[[Ray]]

Hi

FreeBMD 1835? Really?


Marriage Mar 1861 Bristol 6a 63 Hannah Ames (or Amos) Allen / George Stooke
[ Note Marriage before census ]

Birth Mar 1866 Bristol 6a 53 Charles A Stooke



Ray

[[Ray]]

Hi

Marriages Sep 1868 Bristol 6a 16
Mary Ann Allen / George Wilshire

There is a Hampstead marriage, as you have discounted because of geography then so will I.

Get the certificates?
I don't think that there is much wrong with the research, just the unwillingness to buy the certification, and quote the specific references so that we can check them as we go along?

Ray

[[Ray]]

Hi

Savernake / Preshute area?

Birth Dec 1850  Pewsey 8 413 Jane Wilshire

[ozcanucka]

Hi Ray,

thanks very much for chiming in. And sorry -- of course the 1835 baptism was on familysearch.org, not on FreeBMD.

I'm not reluctant to purchase certificates, I'm just trying to eliminate bad guesses before I puts my money down.

Which is why I was hoping someone would be willing to search for the Allen family in 1841/ 51 /61 to see if Hannah is there with her sister Mary Ann, father William, mother Hannah, in / near Evesham and later Dudley. If I can't put them all together, then the trail leads back to nephew Charles at gggggrandad's home in 1871.

In my search for likely marriages, I discounted London / Middlesex ones and the one in Wiltshire (Chippenham) as those families stay put and appear with their own children in later censuses.


The Jane Wilshire birth in Pewsey doesn't really fit this puzzle.

I didn't see a Hampshire marriage between 1866-1871. Could you share that with me?

Thanks again,
Wendy

[ozcanucka]

Sorry!

Which is why I was hoping someone would be willing to search for the Allen family in 1841/ 51 /61 to see if Hannah is there with her sister Mary Ann, father William, mother Hannah, in / near Evesham and later Dudley. If I can't put them all together, then the trail leads back to nephew Charles at gggggrandad's home in 1871.

That should be: If I CAN put them all together....

And by the way, I'm happy to share my research and references, but I didn't want to overburden the initial post.

[[Ray]]

Hi

The Jane Wilshire birth in Pewsey doesn't really fit this puzzle.
Why not? Accepted

Odds . . . . .

Jane Clemen(s/t/ts) Wiltshire 1848 Q2 IoW  8 264
Martha Wiltshire 1851 Q3 IoW 8 245
Mother Martha Tucker?

As he appears to change his name, and the IoW is involved, could he have
+ been imprisoned on the IoW?
+ run to Iow to escape?
+ changed his name to escape?
+ stayed on IoW after being released?
+ permutate any from 4 above?

William Wait(e) was a Policeman?
Could he have died early 1840's (there are a few), Martha met George after, then decided to move with him.
(Slight variation on the "running off")
Could William have arrested George? . . . . . . too far-fetched.

Interesting aside? . . . . .
1838 Q2 Pewsey 8 639 Martha TUCKER / George ALLEN


There is a public tree on An...try . . . . . .


R