Mary Aitken of Kendal

[Neko]

on her tombstone Mary Aitken's birth date is given as 10 Nov 1779, and family notes say she was born in Kendal. we have no record of this and I cannot find her in the IGI. I did note in my researching that when the church records were supposed to be sent to the record's office, quite a number of church clerks refused. I don't know if later church clerks handed these records over or not. I do find her married to Robert Atkinson in the Church of England in Kirkby Thore in 1800, and all her children are baptised there.
where would I find Mary's baptism?
there is a very early Kendal census with a Mary Atkin, widow with several children, one whose name is Mary who is about the right age, but I can find nothing else regarding this family or my Mary prior to her marriage.
Mary and Robert are my 3x great grandparents. his ancestry eludes me, though I do know his parents were Robert and Ann Airey Atkinson. I assume they were born in Scotland, though I have no idea where. 
here is the census I believe Mary is on;

from the 1787 Westmoreland Constable's census,
Kendel, Stricklandgate district 2

John AITKEN  Child    M
 
James AITKEN  Child    M
 
Widow AITKEN  Head    F
 
Janat AITKEN  Child    F
 
Ann AITKEN  Child    F
 
Mary AITKEN  Child    F
 
Hanna AITKEN  Child    F
 
is there any contemporary record that might add to that? I can't find them in the IGI, not in Westmoreland. they may be in Lincolnshire, but I have nothing to go on there and can't find Janet in the IGI at all. the other names are just too common. and all the names but Janet do show up in Mary's children's names.

[sillgen]

This is a long time after your post so you may be further on now.   The IGI is not full coverage by any means.  You need to look at the original parish register and widen your search to cover the surrounding villages.    They will all be at Kendal Record Office - unless the parish is so small that they are still using the original register - unlikely by now.   You can order the films from your local LDS centre.
Andrea

[Neko]

thank you, Andrea,
no, I have got no further on this line, though I recently attempted to through PCC wills. not knowing her parentage (I believe she is in the 1787 Westmoreland Constable's census, Kendel, Stricklandgate district 2, but her mother is listed as "widow Aitken" and her father, of course, is not there. there are no wills for anyone with the surname Aitken from Kendal, and only one will for a Richard Atkinson of Long Martons, and not one of the two in my tree...but possibly related somehow.
many, many years ago in desperation I did go through all the available Kendal parish church 'films available through the Mormon library and was unhappy with how many churches refused to obey the order to send their records to the record office. there is a high level of refusal for Kendal, about 30%-40% if I recall correctly. and if those records are yet in the parish chest, then I am not likely to get a chance to examine them. I am a 5th generation American on this line, and have never had the where-with-all to go to England. or to hire a professional researcher.

[sillgen]

I think it might be worth looking again.   Originally a lot of parishes refused to allow the Mormons in to film the records but as far as I know most original registers are now in the Record Office and have been filmed - as a method of keeping them apart from anything else as to look at the originals all the time damages them.    I doubt if they would have left wills.    It was usually only people with property who did in those days.
When did she die?     Where?   I suppose it is too much to hope that it was after 1841 so you could find her on that census?
Andrea

[Neko]

hi, Andrea,
then I would assume, if she is CofE, that she would be in the IGI? if the Mormon church is still gathering those records...
worse than that. not only did she die in 1847, she removed with her family to America in 1822....and ported in Baltimore, Maryland. the ships records for that period for the port of Baltimore were lost in a fire, so that record is lost to me forever. she and her family settled in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. many died young, but there are several surviving branches, mine being one of them.
Mary m. to Robert Atkinson, son of Richard Atkinson and Ann Airey...I believe...if so he was well on the way when they married.
they had 10 children before leaving for America, and there are stories and rumors of broken families, some that stayed behind or their spouse stayed behind. no details are given, but I can't find some of the lines in America and suspect they may have remained in England. I am descended from Mary and Robert's daughter Elizabeth, who met and married a Colchester, Essex expat, William Cross, in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. William's father Joseph had a Quaker birthright, and the Cross' lineage has been extremely easy to trace because of that.

[Neko]

I went and checked the IGI. the only hit for Mary Aitken b. abt 1779 in Westmorland is one I've seen before and have never been able to trace as to family, etc....she is in Kirkby Stephen, and area I'm unfamiliar with (not that I'm familiar with any area in England).

[sillgen]

I know Kirkby Stephen well as we have relatives there - even had a holiday house near there for many years when our children were small.    It is not that close to Kendal - about 45 minutes by car nowadays.     My husband's great grandfather was the vicar there in the 1800s.    Airey is a fairly common name in that area too and Atkinson is impossible as there are so many!
I am sure it would be worth looking at the originasl parish registers again if you can.  The IGI is only a transcript after all and they may well have missed something - it is only names too whereas the originals have extra bits.
 You may just be stuck though!
Andrea

[tmcfarland]

Not sure if you have found what you were looking for or if you still use this site.  I am in Kendal England for a week while my spouse works here.  I would be happy to look up whatever I can while I am here. 

Not sure how to reach you other than to post here.  I realize this is an old post. 

[Neko]

hi, tmcfarland,
yes, I'm still here, and no, I haven't found Mary yet.
thanks for your offer. I'm still looking for two things, and I don't know if they can be found, but I'd appreciate you're trying. being able to look at the records on site is so much better than browsing partial records online.
Mary Aitken's baptism. I have never found it. I have a birth date of 10 Nov 1779 Kendal but cannot find her.
Where did Richard Atkinson and Ann Airey come from? Lincolnshire? Yorkshire? Scotland? somewhere else? if in Scotland, which shire?
thank you.