Seddon Family

[puzzlnut]

I've been attempting to find background on my great-grandmother, Fanny Rothwell, who married Henry Jepson in Bombay India.  With a great deal of assistance from a fellow Rootschatter, I'm now thinking that her name wasn't Fanny Rothwell at all, but could have been Fanny/Frances Seddon.  I have a birthdate for her of 10 March 1860 and a Fanny Seddon, 10 months old, appears in the 1861 census living with her grandparents, Thomas and Emma Seddon, Barnsley, Yorkshire.  In the next census, she's living with Edward and Ann Seddon in Silkstone as daughter.  After that, she disappears. 

I've been thinking that perhaps she set sail for India with her aunt, Sarah Rothwell (Edward's sister) and adopted the Rothwell name.  4 of Joseph & Sarah Rothwell's children were married in Bombay and after Joseph died, Sarah remarried in Bombay also.  These 6 Bombay marriages are the only Rothwell ones in Bombay.  Originally I'd thought Fanny was Joseph and Sarah's child as there was a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting it, but no birth registration has been found for a Fanny Rothwell, while all of the other Rothwell children were registered in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

Can anyone find a Fanny/Frances Seddon after the 1871 census?  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might link Fanny Seddon to Fanny Rothwell? 

[CaroleW]

I have a birthdate for her of 10 March 1860 and a Fanny Seddon, 10 months old, appears in the 1861 census living with her grandparents, Thomas and Emma Seddon, Barnsley, Yorkshire

The 1861 census was taken on 7th April so if she was born on 10th March 1860 she would have been 13months old

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might link Fanny Seddon to Fanny Rothwell

Are there any clues as to her parentage on the Bombay marriage cert to Jepson.  I don't know what info is available on that type of marriage cert

What year did she marry Jepson?  Was she old enough at that time to have been married previously

[puzzlnut]

Fanny was 19 when she married in 1879 so I would imagine it was a first marriage.  I e-mailed with a kind gentleman at India Office who peeked at the marriage registration for me (as opposed to me shelling out a huge amount for a parchment certificate!) and said that it only listed their names and the date - no parents given.

I'm not too worried about the age of Fanny Seddon on the census as they are often a bit inaccurate.  10 months was probably a round number.  If she's my Fanny, of course!

Thanks for responding, CaroleW

[CaroleW]

There is a submitted IGI entry for Fanny Seddon showing parents Edward & Ann but I note she is Frances on the 1871 entry with her parents.

There is an 1885 marriage in Huddersfield Frances Seddon to Tom Bellerby

1891 shows Frances b Barnsley 1862
1901 shows her as b 1861 Barnsley

There is also a submitted entry for her marriage

TOM BELLERBY      Spouse:  FRANCES SEDDON    Marriage:  19 OCT 1885   Lindley, Huddersfield, Yorkshire

There is no other 1871 entry for a Frances/Fanny Seddon b Yorkshire

You perhaps need to check out that marriage to see if her father was Edward - if so - she is not your Frances/Fanny

[puzzlnut]

Rats!  I just found an 1881 census Lindley, Huddersfield which shows Fanny Siddon as a 20 year old servant with Barnsley, Yorkshire as her birthplace.  I guess I can close off this avenue!  Fanny Rothwell was a married woman in India with one child and another on the way by the 1881 census.

Perhaps she really is Fanny Rothwell with Joseph and Sarah Rothwell.  She fits into the family although a brother, Joseph, has an 1861 birthdate.  It's very tight, but possible.  The thing that had me believing that she was part of this family is that at least 2 Rothwell possible siblings called daughters Fanny and my Fanny called her daughters names that were part of the Rothwell family names.  I can't find any birth record for her at all, though and all the other Rothwells were recorded as being born in Barnsley with a number narrowing it down to Monk Bretton.

[Holmemoss]

I have some information on the Rothwell family.

Joseph Rothwell married Sarah Seddon in 1851 and their children :

Amelia Rothwell's birth was registered in the September quarter of 1851 in the Barnsley registration area.

Alice Rothwell's birth was registered in the December quarter of 1852 in the Barnsley registration area.

William Henry Rothwell's birth was registered in the December quarter of 1855 in the Barnsley registration area.

Augusta Rothwell's birth was registered in the September quarter of 1866 in the Barnsley registration area.

The birth of Fanny Rothwell in 1860 would be consistent but I have not been able to find her.

I have looked on FreeBMD and the familysearch pilot site; is there anywhere else that could be checked?

[puzzlnut]

Thanks for your input, Holmemoss.  Here are a couple of possibilities as to Fanny's identity:

CaroleW wondered if Fanny could have been married before - hence the Rothwell name.  She was 19 when she married Henry Jepson so it's possible.  Amelia Rothwell was 15 when she married in India.  Perhaps Fanny was Joseph Rothwell's wife, then widow.  If this is the case I'm even more lost than ever!

Another possibility is that she is a child of Joseph Rothwell and Sarah Seddon.  I have no way of knowing when Joseph joined the Royal Artillery.  As we haven't found the family in the 1861 census, it's likely he had enlisted by then and Fanny was born somewhere other than in England.  Henry Jepson joined in 1867 and his first posting kept him in Ireland until 1869 when he was sent to India.  (I have a hand-written record of his service)  I did look for Fanny in Ireland but didn't find her at the time.

[puzzlnut]

Holmemoss, you can add to your list of Rothwell children:

Mary Rothwell's birth was registered in the June quarter of 1857 in the Barnsley registration area
Joseph Rothwell's birth was registered in the June quarter of 1861 in the Barnsley registration area

I've found no record of these 2 in India, so it's possible they weren't the children of Joseph and Sarah Rothwell.  I'll look for them again in censuses, but I didn't find them when I searched for them before. 

And actually (thinking on the run) Joseph may likely be a son of Joseph's (sr) brother Henry.  Joseph appears in the 1861 census as 2 months old living with his grandparents, Michael and Maria Rothwell Duke St, Barnsley, Yorkshire.  Henry is living there as well.  So perhaps I can count Joseph out as a son of Joseph and Sarah...  More searching!

[JeannieR]

Hello......

There is a birth registration for a FRANCES SEDDONS / Barnsley / June qtr 1860 / vol 9c page 152

Not sure if that is any help

JeannieR