Looking for marriage of Fanny SHOPLAND's parents

[Silvercup]

Fanny SHOPLAND, b 1830 Crediton. Her parents on the baptism were James SHOPLAND and Mary.

I'm struggling to find a likely marriage between James and Mary. There were 13 Shopland babies baptised between 1807 and 1833 in Crediton to a James and Mary but obviously don't know if all the same couple. I wish they'd recorded the mother's maiden name back then!

On the 1841 census James listed as being born 1781 and Mary 1786.

[avm228]

On the 1841 census James listed as being born 1781 and Mary 1786.

Where have you found this couple? There may be more than one couple with these names.

I can see a James & Mary Shopland in Coleford, Colebrooke, Crediton in 1841 but they are 64 (c1777) and 60 (c1781). Both born in county.

This is likely to be the James Shopland (abode: Coleford) buried at Colebrooke in January 1843 aged 68.

Separately there is a James Shopland buried at Crediton on 23 July 1848 aged 65.

[avm228]

I see from Fanny's baptism and marriage records that her father James was a carpenter.  Her marriage witnesses were William Shopland and Emma Shopland.

These details may be useful if there is more than one James & Mary Shopland family.

[Silvercup]

I am looking at a return for East St in Crediton

They are recorded as Shapland but I believe it is them - Fanny b 1830 is down as Fancy!
James is a carpenter
There is an Emma a couple of years younger.

[Deirdre784]

There's a James Shopland burial in Crediton, 23 July 1848, aged 65 (born around 1783).

There is a marriage at Clannaborough (about 5.5 miles from Crediton) on 24 Nov 1799 of a James Shopland and Mary Moore. Bit long before the first child you mention in 1807 but worth a look?

Edited to add: there are 2 baptisms at Colebrooke in 1802 and 1805 to a James and Mary Shopland, before a series in Crediton. Clannaborough is only 2.5 miles from Colebrooke so maybe this is the right family after the 1799 marriage before ending up in Crediton.

Edited: BUT there is a baptism of a James in Crediton in 1811 and I can't see a burial for the James in Colebrooke (1805)

[Silvercup]

Re the 1799 marriage though, assuming I'm looking at the right census in Crediton and Mary's age is correct on there, she would have only been 13 when she got married?

[Deirdre784]

Re the 1799 marriage though, assuming I'm looking at the right census in Crediton and Mary's age is correct on there, she would have only been 13 when she got married?

Adults ages on the 1841 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years so she could have been a few years older. And she presumably was quite young when she married if she had children until 1833.
 

[Silvercup]

I didn't know that, thank you. Was that just on the 1841 census?

I've found a marriage between a James SHAPLAND and Mary SHAPLAND 1806 in Shobrooke, a couple of miles from Crediton. The first Shopland baby was baptised 11 months later.

If this is them, was Mary's maiden name also Shapland? Getting a bit confused!

[Deirdre784]

Yes re 1841, changed in 1851 to exact (or at least as exact as was known!).

That marriage looks interesting, and closer to the first baptism. Maybe they were distantly related (2nd cousins?) or she had been previously married (and widowed) to a Shapland. Of course, they could be Shapland and not your Shopland 🙄. Lots to puzzle over.

Edited (sorry). Just found the image and Mary was a spinster. Trouble is, as neither signed their name, it could be a mistake and Mary's name was similar but ended up recorded the same 😫 It doesn't sound like a very common name to have them marrying but unrelated  🤔 Witnesses don't help as they were Thomas James and Thomas Chilcot (who appears to have witnessed most of the marriages there around that time).

No baptisms to a James and Mary Shapland/Shopland in Shobrooke.