Jesse Watts 1790c - 1825 My Great x3 Grandfather

[mjwatts1960]

I searched for all Watts´buried in Petworth between 1790 and 1835 and found Ann buried 29 Nov 1809 born 1730, Sarah (wife of Jesse) buried 23 Dec 1832 born 1786, Elizabeth buried 16 Jun 1833 born 1749, Robert 24 Dec 1819 born 1749 and William 16 Mar 1818 born 1739 ( which you already found) so there has to be connection between these people.
There were also Elizabeth 1822 -1825 and Sarah 1820-1822 who were the daughters of Jesse and Sarah Ludby. The children of Jesse and Sarah were Henry (my great x2 grandfather who was a teacher and lived in West Hoathly) Eleanor and Sophia who emigrated in the 1830s with Catherine, William and James as part of the Petworth Project to Upper Canada settling in the USA. Unfortunately I never found any male Watts´in the USA. My tree is available on GenesReunited and Ancestry.com and Familysearch

[mjwatts1960]

If you extend the search for Watts¨buried in Petworth from 1750 to 1835 you find even more Watts´!!

[mjwatts1960]

There is a Charles buried 1780, Ann in 1780, Ann in 1756 and Robert in 1768 all in Petworth. This has to a family. I need help connecting the dots together!

[mjwatts1960]

Did local newspapers in Petworth record any information on births, baptisms, marriages, deaths or burials? Does anyone out there have access to tax or land records, permits to own land, build houses, etc? Apart from the obvious records of births marriages and deaths on the IGI what are the "un-obvious" documents or records below the surface that experts and professionals use to find people?

[mjwatts1960]

Can someone explain to me generally speaking what might be the possible reasons why one couldn´t find a record of baptism?

[maddys52]

There might be lots of reasons a record of baptism can't be found, but probably the most likely is not looking in the right place, or having the wrong spelling. Sometimes, especially if living close to two (or more) different parishes, families could have children baptised at different churches. Even though many families stayed in the general area, some did move around.

In the case of Jesse Watts it's hard because whilst you have his place of abode as Grafham when he was married, this doesn't mean he was necessarily baptised there, or even close by! And Watts is a fairly common name.

Looking on the familysearch page about Petworth https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Petworth,_Sussex_Genealogy it looks like the coverage for baptisms is pretty good (1559-1876), but someone with access to the parish records would probably be of more help.

It might be a good idea to ask a moderator to move this thread to the Sussex board? Click on the "report to moderator" button and leave a message there. 

[mjwatts1960]

Its the name Jesse which seems so unusual which frustrates me. What could the variations of Jesse be? I went to family search and put in J* for name watts for last name 1789 1790  for birth year range, birth place empty, and 1825 for death year range and I only get Jesse Watts. I have been going around and around with this since I first became interested in family history in the early 80s which about 36 years now. It drives me crazy I need someone to think outside the box for me.

[jann]

Jesse might be the actual name.  It is a biblical name - Old Testament.

[jonw65]

Petworth baptism of James in 1817 and double baptism of Sarah and Sophia in 1820 gives Jesse's occupation as Victualler.

West Sussex RO catalogue
Charities
Somerset Hospital, Petworth
Lists of applicants for pensions in the Somerset Hospital, with notes on their situations, history, health, etc., and some notes on their fate, 1802-1828
1819. Elizabeth Watts. In Hosp. Widow of Robert Watts (mother of Jesse Watts, at Red Lion).

John