William and Betty Pope from Langport area

[overlandermatt]

I am tracing the origins of my GGG grandparents William and Betty Pope. Their son, another William, was born in Langport in 1811 and baptised at the parish church there. In 1812, another son, John was baptised.

There seem to be a few William Popes from the area and also Elizabeths who might be confused with the William and Betty I am looking for. Two William Popes are also sawyers...

In 1809, William and Betty Rogers married in Combe St Nicholas, a little way from the Langport area. Also of interest is the fact that a John Pope was present.

I have the death certificates for William and Betty. William died in March 1870 at the age of 87. His occupation was a sawyer. He lived in Huish Episcopi near Langport at the time of his death and is buried in the local church yard in Huish. Betty Pope died in June 1858 at the age of 86. She lived in Curry Rivell near Langport at the time of her death and is buried at the Curry Rivell churchyard.

From the death certificates, this makes William born in 1783 and Betty in 1772...
 
Census information is a bit sketchy. I can see a William and Elizabeth in 1841 living in Curry Rivell. He is a sawyer and they have a 15 year old son, Thomas. Both William and Elizabeth are 60 years old. I suspect that this is not the William and Betty I am looking for.

In 1851 I can see a William and Betty living in Curry Rivell with William listed as a former sawyer. He is 70 from Bickenhall and Betty is 76 from Huish. In 1861, Betty is dead but there is a William Pope, former sawyer, aged 78 from Combe St Nicholas (near Bickenhall) living as a lodger in Curry Rivell. I suspect the 1851 and 1861 William is the right one... He was previously married in Combe St Nicholas...

I'm struggling with the birth and baptism records for Betty and William. In 1785, in the parish of Long Sutton - near Langport, there is a baptism recorded for William and John Pope. There was a John Pope present at William and Betty's marriage. I have no record for Betty - probably Betty Rogers when she was born.

Any ideas for the above search would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.

Matt

[maddys52]

Doesn't help with their births, but I'm not sure ... I think the couple you found in the 1841 with son Thomas may be yours? With the age rounding in the 1841 census, and the residence "Langport Westover", it looks a good match to me - and I can't see another suitable household in 1841. 

Modified to add: Thomas was baptised at Curry Rivel on 14 Feb 1825 to William (sawyer) and Elizabeth of Langport Westover.

[maddys52]

Do you think the Samuel POPE baptised 31 Dec 1809 at Coombe St Nicholas to William and Betty might also be part of the family?

[overlandermatt]

Thanks for your help with this Maddy.

William and Betty married in January 1809 in Combe St Nicholas so the Samuel Pope baptised at the same church in December is indeed most likely to be their first son. I was unaware of him!

Their marriage had a John Pope present whom I suspect is William's brother and the records suggest that both William and John could write their names. I'm not sure how common that was in 1809 but interestingly William's son, William could only write his mark when signing up for the Royal Marines in 1830. I guess the question I am looking to answer is whether this William and Betty are the parents of William as I am fairly sure they are...

If this is the right William, and there is a brother John, this ties in nicely with the baptism record from 1785 from Long Sutton, not too far from Langport but census records suggest William might actually be a couple of years older.

I'm a newcomer to this type of record searching but it does seem to me that Betty went through life recorded as Betty rather than Elizabeth, which is why the 1841 census has some uncertainty for me. Additionally, William and Betty are both aged 60 at this time when in other records it seems Betty is a few years older...

My search for Betty's death certificate indicated she was the wife of William (a sawyer) and she was 86 when she died in 1858. If this is indeed the right Betty then that would have made her older than 50 when she gave birth to Thomas in 1825 as the 1841 census suggests.

In summary, I am not at all certain where to look next for William and Betty's parents. If he is the William Pope who was baptised in Long Sutton then I do at least have his parents listed as Robert and Ann...

Thanks again for any input.

Matt