Greetings to all,
I am trying to find out where my 3xGt-grandmother, Clara Frances Langford, was born and just exactly who her parents were. The earliest actual record that I have found is her marriage to George Quarry on 4 Mar 1848 at St Andrew, Holborn, Middlesex (England Marriages 1538 - 1973, and London Marriage Banns). This lists her father as Henry Langford.
Between 1849 and 1867, through the various parish and census records on familysearch.org and ancestry.com I have found the births of seven children. In the 1851 and 1861 census Clara is listed as born in St. James, Middlesex. In 1870 -71 with all living children they emigrated to Melbourne, Australia - all neatly captured in available shipping records. Clara Frances died in Melbourne in 1915. From all records that I have sighted she was born about 1828. On the index for her death her parents are listed as Joseph Langford and Mary Carlyle. This is where it gets quite messy and confusing!
I recently found that Clara was executrix of her mother's will in 1875. Her mother died in Melbourne as Mary Seales on 20 Jan 1875. Mary's death certificate was very hard to read, but she married Joseph Seall in Tasmania (no record of the event found as yet) around 1853. Prior to that she married a Thomas Carlisle in London (17 Dec 1835, St James, Westminster, Middlesex). For both these marriages there was "no issue". Mary's father was listed as Robert Langphere and mother unknown and she was born in Cork, Ireland, around 1810 (this is a best guess, with the place name unreadable).
Back to Clara Francis - I can see that her father as listed on her death was an amalgam of her step-father Joseph and what appears to be her birth surname of Langford, and her mother's name as listed being her surname from her first marriage.
I have had no luck trying to find a birth or baptism for Clara Frances, nor any Langford family with a Clara and Henry. I suspect that Mary was unmarried when Clara was born and the Henry mentioned in the marriage certificate may have been an uncle or grandfather.
I have also had no luck in finding when Mary came out to Australia but Joseph Seall was sent out for life in 1834 - that is another story
Hoping that someone can point me in the right direction or to other records not available on the major websites.
Looking forward to any responses,
Mark
Canberra, Australia