The backgroundMy 3 x great-grandfather, William Barrell, was baptised in West Bergholt on 3rd June 1804, the son of William & Mary Barrell. This is William & Mary's second appearance in the registers, the first being the burial of a son called William on 30 January 1804. I can't find their marriage. They both appear in the 1851 census, with William's place of birth being Ashfield, Suffolk (I've tracked him down to Great Ashfield, which is another story). Mary's place of birth is West Bergholt, and working on the age given at her burial in 1858 (she was 81), I've got a list of all the Mary's baptised in West Bergholt around 1777 - but without William & Mary's marriage, I've hit a dead end.
A possible leadThe other day I was going back over some notes regarding the
1834 murder of John Spooner by George Risby - William Barrell, either my 3 x or 4 x g-grandfather, was the main witness at the inquest and the assizes. I was having a look as this case has come up a couple of times in recent issues of the ESFH newsletter.
In going back over the newspaper archives, I found a reference I had missed - it's an inquest in March 1858 of Mary Barrell, the widow of William Barrell. This is my 4 x great-grandmother. As tragic as the story of her last years is (it's in the Chelmsford Chronicle, Friday 12th March 1858), it gave me a useful genealogical clue.
By 1858, Mary was bedridden, a pauper, and was being cared for by Cornelius Alston, and his wife, Maria. Maria says that Mary Barrell is Cornelius' "grandmother by marriage". I had another look through my notes, as Cornelius' name was familiar, and indeed, I had seen it before, in the 1851 census:
William Barrel, 82, pauper formerly ag lab, b Ashfield, Suffolk.
Mary, 74, wife, b. West Bergholt.
Lodgers: Mary Webber, 79, unmarried, pauper. b Bures, Suffolk.
Thos Fairclough, 53, widower, brewer's labourer, b Hedingham.
Cornelius Alston, 19, unmarried, ag lab, b West Bergholt.
In 1851, both of Cornelius' parents (John & Lydia Alston) were alive and not living too far away - the Barrells are number 104, and the Alstons are number 111.
The problemsAs well as not being able to find William & Mary's marriage, I'm struggling to find that of John & Lydia Alston. I had supposed that Lydia could have been a Barrell, and thus a daughter of William's first marriage (he may have had one - we don't know if he was a widower when he married Mary). That to me would answer what "grandmother by marriage" means. The only marriage that pops up for the Alstons (and it's one that I think people with them in their trees on Ancestry have plumped for) is an 1826 marriage in St Anne's, Soho, which is on Family Search. It's of John Alston, widower, of Stanstead, Suffolk, and Lydia Algor. I find this unlikely given that there are baptisms in West Bergholt for John & Lydia Alston's children in 1819 (John) and 1821 (Lawson). There is, however, a gap, until another baptism in 1829 (Lydia) - so it's possible that it *could* be their marriage, if John temporarily moved to Stanstead. It was by licence, so I suppose if I tracked that down, I could rule whether or not it was their marriage.
Lydia, Cornelius' mother (he born about 1831), gives her place of birth as Wigborough on the 1851 census. I've checked the Great and Little Wigborough baptisms and can't find any Lydias for the period around her birth (abt 1798). One of the Ancestry trees gives Wormingford as her place of birth, and I can't find any Lydia baptisms around that period either!
What now?!So... I've got this tantalising clue linking the Alstons to the Barrells, which I'm trying to follow up. I've checked the marriages and burials on Findmypast, I've checked Freereg - I know these are incomplete so it's probably why these chaps are missing (I'm transcribing for Freereg, I may have to put West Bergholt down as the next place I do!).
Does anyone have any suggestions as to the relationships covered by "grandmother by marriage"? I assume this could be quite broad - I've seen someone described as a brother-in-law and it's a relationship which in modern parlance would be described as a half-brother. So I realise this could be vague!
Could it even be to do with Maria, Cornelius' wife? I've started fiddling about doing the Alston tree, so hopefully the link will come up, but without those Barrell and Alston marriages, I fear I may be stuck! (again!!!).
And for interest... this is the grandson of William & Mary Barrell, born in Myland in 1840, with his Mrs, Caroline (née Barr).
