“Illegitimate”

[chris_49]

Well the granddad in 1911 in Newton is a George Hughes but he's only 56! The (other) grandchildren listed as born Newton-le-Willows are not registered in the area and I wonder if their surname is a mistake.

On Mary's supposed MMN, there are other Hughes births with MMN Durkin that don't tally, but no more Heywoods and I wonder if this was a registrar's mistranscription of Howard?

[polarbear]

Well now, it looks like the widowed Sarah may have married a second time prior to her marriage to William Hughes.

At this website (Warrington regs are here) http://www.cheshirebmd.org.uk there is a 1901 marriage of a Sarah Bartley or Howard to William Hughes. Added: FreeBMD has a Sarah Bartley and William Hughes on the same page of a Mar qtr Registration in Warrington RD so this marriage, if correct, would have taken place prior to the birth of Mary ( assuming her birthdate is correct in the Baptism record).

At the same website there is the marriage of a Sarah Thomson or Howard to a James Bartley. At this website the marriage falls within a range of years but on FreeBMd there is  an 1898 entry with a
James Bartley and Sarah Thomson on the same page in Warrington RD so I assume this would be the matching record,

There is a death (FreeBMD) for a James Bartley age 51 reg'd in Warrington in 1900....possibly husband of Sarah.

And if I remember correctly, there is a widowed James Bartley living in Newton in Makerfield in the 1891 census.

Anyway, food for thought. You will need certificates to corroborate the above, of course.

PB

[Katesmallwood1]

I really am overwhelmed with the response I have had to This post! Thank you all that’s have generously had a crack at helping! Fingers crossed with all of your theories and research I can solve what I need to......

[polarbear]

You are very welcome  .

It is a lot to take in, for sure, especially when you are relatively new to family searching.

PB

[chris_49]

That's brilliant, Polarbear.

Both these marriages are civil (or possibly Registrar Attended) so there's going to be no parish record to search for. However, either of them might give some clue as to father's name, though you should be ready for there being just a blank space, if Sarah is illegitimate as you suspect.   

On George Hughes, is it possible that he's William's brother? He's about the right age.