Bonnington - Bovingdon ???

[Roy G]

The 1851 census shows John Firris/Farris/Ferris (born Aldington 1842) had a younger sister Jane born in Bonnington Kent c1845.  When John married Phillis Message in Salehurst, Sussex, on 22 Aug 1874, a duplicate of the same marriage was registered in another parish.  Ancestry records it as being in BOVINGDON, but the two names are so similar that I am wondering if there has been an error in transcription.   Is anyone in a position to check this out with a copy of Bonnington marriage records?
Roy G

[Hackstaple]

Surely Bovingdon is in Hertfordshire, far from Kent. Bonnington is indeed in Kent.

[CaroleW]

Bovingdon entry is as follows - no actual church shown:

22.8.1874 Bovingdon Herts
John Farris - father William
Phillis Message  - father George

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N64J-ZPW

Freebmd entry is September qtr 1874 Ticehurst 2B 148 John Farris/Phillis Message

[Hackstaple]

So far I have not found either the father George Message in a census nor the daughter Phillis. If on could find them 1851 to 1871 it might throw some light on the subject.

[CaroleW]

May be of interest

Phyllis Annie Farris Message Christening 8.11.1903 Hope, Staffordshire
Father Edwin Message
Mother Alice

[CaroleW]

There is an 1881 entry for an Edward Message aged 7 b Hawkhurst Kent - living with grandparents George & Harriet in Staffordshire

[Roy G]

Hi everybody, thanks for your input which proved my supposition that Bovingdon may have been Bonnington was incorrect.  It was just a coincidence that John Ferris senior seemed to have been in two places on either side of the country with very similar sounding names.  Ironically his son did it later in life too, for whilst the father appears to have been born and lived in Aldington Kent, by 1901 the son was in Aldrington (Portslade) Sussex. 

I am now trying to find out if the Ferris males migrated towards a life of travellers or itinerant musicians because they are proving so difficult to trace.  Some names certainly seem to be either unrecorded or inventions (John married Phillis Message 1874 but the mother of his 2 children baptised in Salehurst 1875 & 1876 was called Rossana) and on the few occasions they do reappear in the censuses, the males are without partners, lodging a significant distance from the place they were last located. 

So far I have:
John born Ashford East 1842, and thought to be an orphan cared for by his elder sister Harriot on 1851 Aldington, Kent census.  That census shows his younger sister Jane was born in Bonnington.  John has yet to be traced on the 1861 & 1871 censuses and although a blacksmith in Petersfield 1871 may be him, given a later talent for music, I deem it unlikely.
John is known to have married Phillis Message in Salehurst, Sussex 1874 and for some reason also registered that same marriage in Bovingdon, Herts also in 1874.  He must have then remained in Salehurst Sussex until 1876 for baptisms of his children George 1875 and John 1876.  (The two baptisms list John as a musician and the children's mother as Rosanna and Rosetta).
Father John and surviving son John Amos Ferris have yet to be traced 1881, but do reappear in a lodging house as musicians in Wareham Dorset in 1891.   

I would love to find them in order to fill in the gaps were they are missing from the censuses, but who ever said an ancestry hunt is easy?
Roy G

[Hackstaple]

It would appear that this family may have been itinerants and that some statements as to place of birth etc may not have been accurate. This is not unusual - I had a couple back in my collateral  line who called themselves tin printers but more likely were tinkers. It is hard to track them as they had different spellings both of surname and christian names and they also appear on censuses as born in places with similar names but counties apart. In fact I am never sure that they were a solitary couple.

[casalguidi]

John FERRIS baptised Aldington 8 Aug 1841 son of William and Elizabeth http://www.familysearch.org

1841 Hurst, Kent

William FARRIS 35 ag lab b.Kent
George 11 b.Kent
Elizabeth 30 b.Kent
Harriot 7 b.Kent
Elizabeth 5 b.Kent
Sarah 3 b.Kent
HO107/478 book 4 page 7
..................

1851 Burmarsh, Kent

Elizabeth FERRIS nurse wid 40 b.Aldington in the household of William and Sarah CHAMBERS at the Shepherd Hook inn at Burmarsh
HO107/1634 folio 15 page 5
.................

1861 New Rents, Ashford, Kent

Elizabeth FARRIS head wid 50 shoebinder b.Aldington
John son unm 19 ag lab b.Hurst
Ann BROOKS lodger wid 55 monthly nurse b.Mersham
RG9/512 folio 123 page 20
...................

From the above and information you already have I would suggest that it quite likely that John was in the following census:

1851 (born Hurst) in Bonnington
1861 (born Hurst) in Ashford
1871 (born Ashford) in Petersfied, Hampshire
1881 possibly in Cheriton Kent (born Cheriton?)
1891 (born Ashford) in Wareham Dorset
1901 (born Kent) in Brentford Middlesex
1911 (born Ashford) in Isleworth Middlesex

At least there appears to be only the one John FARRIS/FERRIS born in Kent around that time and there is only the one appearing in each of the different census years.

So now to try and identify the children and their mother/respective mothers

Casalguidi