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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Suffolk => Topic started by: Debe on Thursday 18 December 14 03:26 GMT (UK)
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Hi,
I have hit the inevitable 'brickwall' regarding the FISH family and would be grateful for some advise as to what and where I should next look.
This is what I have so far-
Sarah FOSDIKE married Alexander FISH 1797 at St Mary's Woodbridge.
Sarah was the 4th child of Robert FOSDIKE and Catherine BERRY.
Alexander and Sarah FISH had one known child Arabella born c 1798- baptism 10 January 1798 St Mary's Woodbridge- no further evidence of Arabella or any other children.
Other than the fact that Alexander FISH was in the Royal Horse Artillery I have no further knowledge of him of his parentage.
I have searched census records, bmd records, parish records to no avail so need help as to where this family could have disappeared to. Where was the R.H.A. based and did they serve in the Napoleonic War? Any help would be greatly appreciated in this quest :(
Many thanks
Deb
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Hi Debe,
I'm not wishing to upset the cart so to speak but using Anc...y I found evidence of Sarah Fosdike marrying a Jeremiah Pike 6-12-1801 in Suffolk.
They are listing her parents as Robert Fosdick 1750-1832 and Catherine Berry 1745-1811 which ties in with your listing. (They married 13-9-1770 St.Mary's, Woodbridge but I haven't checked it out)
Could Alexander have died and Sarah then remarried?
I have'nt found a burial for him nor have I found one for Arabella
I think your best bet is to try and find his Army Records at the National Archives especially as you have his regiment.
Alan
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Hi Alan,
Don't worry you are not upsetting the cart:-) It is often said that 2 heads are better than one so I am grateful to you for that info. I shall certainly follow up on that entry and see where it leads.
Yes Robert & Catherine did marry as you suggest, I found that several years ago on a LDS film of St Mary's PR.
Many thanks
Deb
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Hi Alan,
Could you please let me know under what record on Anc...y you found a marriage for Sarah as I subscribe to Anc...y and can only find Pallots marriages which unfortunately doesn't give the parents names.
Many thanks,
Deb
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Hi Debe,
I found the public tree on Ann...y by just putting in Sarah Fosdike and a guess of 1775 for date of birth and up came several trees.
The first one I saw was called "Studd Family Tree" (Tree owner is "newfieldhouse") and lists a Pallotts marriage entry to Jeremy Pike 6-12-1801 (year assumed as not seen)
I have a copy (by download) of Phillimore's marriages for Woodbridge and her marriage to Alexander Fish 21-3-1797 is listed on page 108 so I don't think there is any dispute there.
Its also listed in the Suffolk Marriage Index.
In case you need it, here's her parents marriage & burials;
Woodbridge;
13-9-1770 Robert Fosdike - m - Catherine Berry
Woodbridge St.Mary;
5-4-1811 Catherine Fosdike (62) "w/o Robt. S"
31-1-1832 Robert " (81)
Hope this helps.
Alan
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Many thanks Alan, shall check that tree out.
Festive greetings to you and yours,
Deb
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hi deb
guessing at a birth year approx. 20 to 25yrs before the marriage year
found these bpt records for an alexander fish .
1/ alexander fish bpt 27 april 1777coldingham Berwick fathers name Patrick mothers name Margaret [ spiers]
2/ alexander fish bpt 16 feb 1765 duns Berwick fathers name adam mothers name Elizabeth [broun ] .
also checked pension /service records for an alexander fish but nothing shows for that period of time ie 1814/5
couldn,t see any alexander fish in waterloo medal roll in royal horse artillery either , also without knowing which troop number he was in it,s nigh on impossible to say where he may have been billeted around the 1814/5 era could have been Colchester approx. 30 miles south of woodbridge woodbridge its self or even Norwich in Norfolk approx. 70 miles north of woodbridge .
all 3 above had army connections around that time and Colchester still is a main army barracks now .
for what it,s worth be careful of trees posted on ancestry some are not very accurate as I,ve found from my own family history searches .
all the best to you and yours
trevor.
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Thanks Trevor for that info re the RHA. I will need to do lots more work on this.
I have the Suffolk marriage CD and on that he is recorded as being from the Royal Horse Artillery so I guess I have to accept that. I don't accept trees on Ancestry as gospel, I always try to prove for myself the given info but it is a good starting point if one is struggling to find any info.
Many thanks and festive greetings to you.
Deb
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Hi Trevor,
I found on T.N.A some R.H.A. records and it appears Alexander FISH enlisted early in 1793 when he was 16, having been born Northumberland but the interesting piece of information in the records was he deserted in 1799 so maybe I will be hard pushed to find any more info.!
Deb
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hi deb
that is an excellent find in tna I wouldn,t have thought to check in there for him so well done you .
yes your likelihood finding anything else on alexander and family are slim at best ,presumably a change of name and location was in order after his going over the wall so to speak and back in those days losing your self was easy with no official documentation compared with today .
yours
trevor
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Hi Debe,
I wonder if you got any further with your research on Alexander Fish. I might be clutching at straws here, but my Fish's come from Woodbridge and those for whom I have found baptisms were all baptised in St Mary's Woodbridge.
I have come up against a 'brick wall' with my 3rd great grndfather, Thomas Fish who was born c1800. I have not been able to find a baptism for him anywhere and wondered whether he might possibly be the son of Alexander Fish and Sarah Fosdike as they would be about the right age. As Alexander was in the RHA it might explain why Thomas wasn't baptised locally if Alexander was billetted elsewhere.
Regards,
Robert
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Hello Robert,
I am afraid I haven't got very far with the FISH family. I did find the following which may explain the difficulty -
"Alexander FISH of Soldiers Unit 4 Battalion. Born Ford, Northumberland. Enlisted 1793 aged 16 years. Note: Deserted 12 March 1799. Source :-.WO 69/1/1320 1793 (Description of soldiers on joining Royal Horse Artillery)."
I also found a daughter born to the pair who was Arabella FISH baptised at St Mary's Woodbridge 10 Jan 1798.
Maybe if he was a deserter he 'disappeared', changed his name, or emigrated. :)
I certainly would like to find out what happened to the family - Sarah was my 4x great aunt, her older brother, Andrew was my g.g.g.grandfather and Sarah is the only sibling of his I haven't been able to uncover more info for.
If you can find anymore info please do let me know as we may be related!!
Good luck
Deb
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Hi Robert,
Have been doing a bit more research since you wrote and I have found a Sarah PALMER, late widow FISH, late FOSDICK, having a child -Susan- being baptised in Earsham, Norfolk in 1807.
She was the wife of a William PALMER. It looks a bit like that could be my Sarah. Sarah had a younger sister Susanna.
Deb