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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: farmeroman on Monday 26 February 24 11:35 GMT (UK)
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I have an 1848 Madras, India baptism record for Ellen Amelia Etridge. She was described as the illegitimate daughter of Charles William Etridge, but no mother's name was given. However, the leftmost column (Said to be Born) contains the information "Born on the 15 April 1848 which I certify Charlotte Capell". Charlotte Capell also appears as a sponsor in the rightmost column. Both other baptism entries on the page are certified by the father (as appears to be the case for those on other pages).
Would Charlotte Capell definitely be the mother or could she be a midwife or some other random person who was present at the birth and was therefore qualified to certify it?
I have only attached scans of the left and right columns, but the original is available on FindMyPast.
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I'm a little dubious about the sponsor being the mother. I see that Charles married on 17th December 1856 to a Susannah Gnanpra - gasam?? who was aged 24. They were both residing at Trichinopoly.
Charles was 31 and manager of pension office Trichinopoly.
Have you tried to trace Charlotte Capell at all?
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I'm a little dubious about the sponsor being the mother. I see that Charles married on 17th December 1856 to a Susannah Gnanpra - gasam?? who was aged 24. They were both residing at Trichinopoly.
Charles was 31 and manager of pension office Trichinopoly.
Have you tried to trace Charlotte Capell at all?
Yes he married Susannah Gnanapragasam in 1856. I'm not sure if her father was Gnanapragasam Mariasarum or if the second part was her mother's name. I find that Indian names can sometimes be a bit confusing in the records.
I have looked at occurrences of Charlotte Capell but nothing really stands out.
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Interestingly when Ellen Amelia Etridge married Anthony Tucker Gaudoin in 1875 she claimned to be 19, which was 8 years younger than her actual age, but would allow her to be legitimate and Susannah Gnanapragasam to be her mother.
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There was a lot of age massaging done in connection with marriages. I had an ancestor who claimed to be younger than she was, in fact she was ten years older than her husband.
It's probably still done today, unless production of a birth certificate before marriage is a requirement now.
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1845 birth for a Charlotte Agnes Capell in Trichinopoly. Parents are Pvt William & Charlotte Capell. Three sponsors named, for which Charlotte Capell acts as proxy for one of them.
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There was a lot of age massaging done in connection with marriages. I had an ancestor who claimed to be younger than she was, in fact she was ten years older than her husband.
It's probably still done today, unless production of a birth certificate before marriage is a requirement now.
Yes I've seen a lot too, usually to make the wife's age seem closer to the husbands. It seems to me that this one may have been to legitimise her birth.
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I'm a bit confused... Are there two men named Charles William Etridge? ???
According to her 1848 baptism record, Ellen Amelia's father is a "cabinet maker".
The CWE who marries in 1856 is "Manager of the Pension Office, Trichinopoly".
Perhaps he had a change of career by 1856.
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I'm a bit confused... Are there two men named Charles William Etridge? ???
According to her 1848 baptism record, Ellen Amelia's father is a "cabinet maker".
The CWE who marries in 1856 is "Manager of the Pension Office, Trichinopoly".
Perhaps he had a change of career by 1856.
Yes I know. I’m confused too. It’s all a bit weird with his occupation switching a couple of times with the baptism and burials of his children too. He’s even a photographer at one point ???. I haven’t found another CW though so I think it’s the same one*.
*Edit: although his wife’s name changes from Susannah to Joanna at some stage. Needs more work.
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For anyone who is interested in helpingto untangle a bit of a mess, here's a chronology of Charles William Etridge:
1826 Charles William baptised: parents Henry & Anna
1847 Birth of Ellen Amelia
1848 Baptism of Ellen Amelia: Charles William was a cabinet maker
1856 Charles William & Susannah Gnanapragasam married. Charles was 31 (born c1825) and manager of pension office Trichinopoly. Susannah was 24 (born c1832). His parents were Henry & Anna
1856 Henry born (apparently not baptised)
1857 Edwin Augustus born (apparently not baptised)
1858 Henry buried (born 1856): parents Charles William (a clerk) & Susanna
1858 Edward Adolphus born
1859 Samuel born (apparently not baptised)
1860 Samuel Buried (born 1859): father Charles W (a cabinet maker)
1862 Edward Adolphus baptised (born 1858): parents Charles William (a photographer) & Joanna
1875 Edwin Augustus buried (born c1857): parents Charles William (no occupation given) & Susanah
1875 Joannah buried, age 40 (born c1835): she was the wife of CW Etridge (a clerk)
1875 Ellen Amelia married: Charles William appears to have still been alive
1877 Charles William buried, age 45 (born c1832): Occupation assistant superintendent relief works, Poodoopet depot
Observations:
1) Anomolous occupations are cabinet maker (1848 and 1860) and photographer (1862), the others are probably all compatible clerical jobs. The wife of the "cabinet maker" was not mentioned in either record.
2) Edward Adolphus and Edwin Augustus could be the same person, although the mother's name is different.
3) There is no burial for Susannah, but there is one for Joannah
4) Unfortunately none of the other 3 or 4 children of CW married.
5) If the cabinet maker CW is not the same person as the clerical worker, then Henry & Anna Etridge are not Ellen Amelia's grandparents and are no so (or at all) relevant for my research.
Questions:
1) Is there only one Charles William with very different occupations? Or two?
2) Are Susanna and Joanna the same woman?
3) Are Edward Adolphus and Edwin Augustus the same person (in which case the answer to Q2 is yes)
For background Ellen Amelia Etridge married Anthony Tucker Gaudoin, my daughter-in-law's gt-gt grandparents. Anthony Tucker's brother Robert Daniel Gaudoin & Jane Bell were also her gt-gt grandparents.
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This doesn't answer any of your questions, and you might already have it, but I've come across this tidbit, so I'll share it.
The Internet Archive has a book, "Marriages at Fort St. George, Madras [India, 1680-1815]," which contains a marriage on 22 Jan. 1814 between Henry Etridge, widower, and Anna Hall, spinster.
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This doesn't answer any of your questions, and you might already have it, but I've come across this tidbit, so I'll share it.
The Internet Archive has a book, "Marriages at Fort St. George, Madras [India, 1680-1815]," which contains a marriage on 22 Jan. 1814 between Henry Etridge, widower, and Anna Hall, spinster.
I do have that marriage record from FindMyPast, but wasn't aware of that book on the Internet Archive. Thanks for that - I'll download it.
Henry married (at least) three times: to Clarinda in Trichinopoly in 1793 (she presumably died between 1805 and 1808), to Mary in c1806-08 (she died in 1813) and to Anna in Fort St. George in 1814 (she died in 1862). Henry had at least 21 children (6/4/11) and claimed to be a merchant, but TBH I'm surprised he had the time. Or the energy.
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Henry married (at least) three times: to Clarinda in Trichinopoly in 1793 (she presumably died between 1805 and 1808), to Mary in c1806-08 (she died in 1813) and to Anna in Fort St. George in 1814 (she died in 1862). Henry had at least 21 children (6/4/11) and claimed to be a merchant, but TBH I'm surprised he had the time. Or the energy.
Wow!
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If your daughter-in-law was a famous person and this was an episode of one of those genealogy shows, this would be the point when they'd say, "It's time for a trip to India!"
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If your daughter-in-law was a famous person and this was an episode of one of those genealogy shows, this would be the point when they'd say, "It's time for a trip to India!"
Definitely. It would make a very interesting episode. Her family were originally French merchants from Calais who migrated to India via Ile Bourbon (now Reunion) where they stopped off and married into the native population. She’s related to just about everyone on the island including Anne Mousse, the first female born there.
She hasn’t been yet, but I’ve done trips to both Reunion and Madras.
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Definitely. It would make a very interesting episode. Her family were originally French merchants from Calais who migrated to India via Ile Bourbon (now Reunion) where they stopped off and married into the native population. She’s related to just about everyone on the island including Anne Mousse, the first female born there.
She hasn’t been yet, but I’ve done trips to both Reunion and Madras.
Awesome!