Just when I thought I'd sorted out my Suffolk Guest family (cf.
this thread), along comes another mystery person to bite me ...
I was feeling quite pleased with myself that I'd finally found Caroline Guest (born Bury St Edmunds 17 Jul 1812), by then Caroline Dodd on the 1871 census (RG10/2544; Folio: 60; Page: 4) (though who this Dodd man was and when they married is still a mystery - can't find it on the IGI or familyhistoryonline.net). She was living in Clifton, Bristol (yes, I know that's not Suffolk, bear with me please ...), which wasn't too much of a surprise, as her brother Charles also ended up there, apparently with some success as a homeopathic chemist.
What was surprising was what Caroline was doing in Bristol: she was a "companion" to one Harriet Guest. "Whaaatt??," I exclaimed, "who the heck is she?!?!".
Harriet Guest is a widow, born c. 1798, Stroud, Glos (yes, I know that's not Suffolk either, bear with me please ...) and following her through previous censuses, I found that she had been married to an Edward Guest.
On the 1861 census, Edward and Harriet are living at 8 Portland Place, Clifton, Bristol. He's an army lieutenant and gives his birth as 1785 in "Bury". (RG9/1727; Folio: 74; Page: 27)
On the 1851 census, Edward and Harriet are living at 8 Weymouth Street, Lambeth. He's an army lieutenant and gives his birth as 1787 in Ipswich, Suffolk (HO107/1568; Folio: 281; Page: 15)
Can't find them for definite on the 1841 census. There's a possible (HO107/688; Book: 10; Folio: 32; Page: 16) living in Chelsea , age 53 (i.e. 1788), not born in Middlesex, but he's merely a Messenger and is married to an Ann. Harriet could have been a second marriage, and this Edward & Ann Guest do have a daughter called Caroline ... <shrug>
The only Edward Guest I can find in the London Gazette as a lieutenant is buying his commissions (in the 1830s, I think - forgot to note the details), and the fellow residents of the 1841 Edward just mentioned are labourers, gardeners and similar - not the sort to be buying commissions.
A birth of mid 1780s in Bury for Edward Guest makes it entirely possible that he's a previously unknown son of Ralph Guest and Sarah Prick, who were living in Bury St Edmunds at the time. That would make him Caroline's uncle, and the position of companion to a widowed aunt would be entirely plausible. Ipswich makes it less likely. But Suffolk isn't exactly over-run with Guests.
I'd appreciate additional pairs of eyes, in case I've missed any possible records:
Can anyone find the birth of this Edward Guest 1785-7? The baptism would probably be at Bury St James'.
Or a possible marriage to a Harriet (not that that will help pin him down much)
Can anyone find Caroline Guest marrying a Mr Dodd? She's married by the 1841 census, so a date between 1828 and 1841, probably between 1828 and 1837, as I can't see her on freebmd. Possibly not Suffolk though, as the family seem to have left for London at or around the time of her father Charles' bankruptcy in 1830. From Jan 1827 to Apr 1830 they were in Ixworth.
As I say, just when I thought I'd got this lot tidied up ...
Thanks for reading, and even more thanks for any pointers!