Author Topic: Eltham family in Brightwell  (Read 1310 times)

Offline LizzieL

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Eltham family in Brightwell
« on: Monday 12 June 17 14:42 BST (UK) »
John Eltham married Mary Hemmington in Brightwell on 11 Oct 1771. The transcript of the licence on FindMyPast says she was a widow. However there is a baptism of a Richard Witherell Hemmington on 4 Apr 1771, only mother's name recorded - Mary Hemmington.
If Mary was a widow and this child was born / baptised after her first husband's death, would the record just give the mother's name or is this child illegitimate and Mary was not being truthful when she said she was a widow? There is a John Hemmington buried in Brightwell on 10 Feb 1770, but no age given on transcript, so don't know whether he's a possibility for first husband if there actually was one.
Any ideas anyone, please.
Berks / Oxon: Eltham, Annetts, Wiltshire (surname not county), Hawkins, Pembroke, Partridge
Dorset / Hants: Derham, Stride, Purkiss, Sibley
Yorkshire: Pottage, Carr, Blackburn, Depledge
Sussex: Goodyer, Christopher, Trevatt
Lanark: Scott (soldier went to Jersey CI)
Jersey: Fowler, Huelin, Scott

Offline groom

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #1 on: Monday 12 June 17 15:27 BST (UK) »
From FamilySearch - but unfortunately no image.  https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7DT-3R7

Name   Richard Witherell Hemington
Gender   Male
Christening Date   04 Apr 1771
Christening Place   Brightwell, Berkshire, England
Name Note   Illegitimate
Mother's Name   Mary Hemington

You really would need to look at the Parish Register to see what it says on that
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline groom

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #2 on: Monday 12 June 17 15:32 BST (UK) »
Looks as if Richard died soon after birth

Richard Wetherell Hemington
Burial Date:   26 Apr 1771
Burial Place:   Brightwell, Berkshire, England
Mother:   MA: Hemington

Unless Wetherell was a name on his mother's side of the  family, it may be a clue to his father.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline LizzieL

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #3 on: Monday 12 June 17 16:21 BST (UK) »
Thank you, I got the baptism from Ancestry transcription, it didn't have the note about illegitimate. But Mary could still be a widow and had a relationship with another man after her first husband's death. The resulting child would still be illegitimate.
Berks / Oxon: Eltham, Annetts, Wiltshire (surname not county), Hawkins, Pembroke, Partridge
Dorset / Hants: Derham, Stride, Purkiss, Sibley
Yorkshire: Pottage, Carr, Blackburn, Depledge
Sussex: Goodyer, Christopher, Trevatt
Lanark: Scott (soldier went to Jersey CI)
Jersey: Fowler, Huelin, Scott


Offline Sloe Gin

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 13 June 17 01:16 BST (UK) »
The transcription on the Oxon FHS CD has

1771  4 Apr  HEMINGTON  Richard Witherel      Mary   widow, illegit.
UK census content is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk  Transcriptions are my own.

Offline LizzieL

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 13 June 17 11:42 BST (UK) »
Thank  you. It looks like there was no error on the marriage licence when Mary married John Eltham, and she actually was a widow, who previously had a relationship with someone (possibly called Witherill) after her first husband's death.

Berks / Oxon: Eltham, Annetts, Wiltshire (surname not county), Hawkins, Pembroke, Partridge
Dorset / Hants: Derham, Stride, Purkiss, Sibley
Yorkshire: Pottage, Carr, Blackburn, Depledge
Sussex: Goodyer, Christopher, Trevatt
Lanark: Scott (soldier went to Jersey CI)
Jersey: Fowler, Huelin, Scott

Offline groom

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 13 June 17 11:45 BST (UK) »
Looks like it doesn't it, and long enough after her husband's death for there to be no doubt the baby wasn't his.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline LizzieL

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 13 June 17 11:54 BST (UK) »
If Richard was baptised soon after birth, he would have been conceived June or July 1770, four or five months after John Hemmington's death, so unless he turns out to be entirely the wrong age, he is still a possibility for first husband.
Berks / Oxon: Eltham, Annetts, Wiltshire (surname not county), Hawkins, Pembroke, Partridge
Dorset / Hants: Derham, Stride, Purkiss, Sibley
Yorkshire: Pottage, Carr, Blackburn, Depledge
Sussex: Goodyer, Christopher, Trevatt
Lanark: Scott (soldier went to Jersey CI)
Jersey: Fowler, Huelin, Scott

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Re: Eltham family in Brightwell
« Reply #8 on: Tuesday 13 June 17 12:29 BST (UK) »
If that was the case though, why would the vicar have recorded him as illegitimate as he wouldn't have been? If he wasn't her first husband's child, she didn't wait before seeking comfort elsewhere did she? I think the fact he has Witherel as a second name points to his father's surname being Witherel.
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk