I would very much appreciate any help or suggestions on how to identify my x4 grandfather Benjamin Butcher (sometimes spelled Bucher). There appear to be two candidates at present.
Benjamin Bucher married Ann Rivers at Bremhill on 25/10/1792.
Ann was a local woman (baptised at Bremhill on 18/4/1762) - there was quite a clan of "Rivers" there.
She had given birth to a "bbs" baptised as Benjamin Rivers on 28/3/1790, and I'm assuming my x4 grandfather was the father.
The couple had two more children after the marriage, being my x3 grandfather William "Bucher", baptised 7/7/93, and Jane Butcher bap 12/7/95.
Sadly, Benjamin's burial (as Benjamin Butcher) is recorded at Bremhill on 23/1/1796, leaving Ann with three young children.
Benjamin's age at the time of his death is not given, and as he wasn't baptised in Bremhill, I'm struggling to identify where he came from.
I'm assuming he came from another Wiltshire parish, and I've checked about 20 so far.
As a result there are two likely candidates.
1. Benjamin Butcher baptised in nearby Bromham (about 9 miles from Bremhill) on 21/1/1770.
2. Benjamin Butcher baptised in Longbridge Deverill (29 miles from Bremhill) on 14/3/1757.
Bromham is separated from Bremhill partly by the Marquis of Lansdowne's estate at Bowood. I know that the Bowood estate employed labourers from Bremhill, and assume that the same applied to men from Bromham, which might be a link of some kind, as my ancestors at this time were all agricultural labourers.
That leans me towards the Bromham Benjamin, but if so he would have been 22 years old at the time of the marriage, and Ann was 32. The Benjamin from Longbridge Dev would have been 35 at the time of the marriage, which seems a better fit in terms of age.
The name "Benjamin" doesn't really help. The Bromham Ben was evidently named after his maternal grandfather Benjamin Knee, and I can't find a Benjamin in close proximity to the Ben from Longbridge Deverill.
"William" doesn't help either, as there are examples in both the Benjamin's close relatives.
Benjamin and Ann both signed the marriage register at Bremhill with an X as their mark, and may have been illiterate. These are labouring families, unlikely to have made wills, or spent scarce money on newspaper death notices, so I'm a bit stuck.
Any ideas on how to move forward would be very much appreciated.
John
