RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Berkshire => Topic started by: LizzieL on Monday 12 June 17 14:42 BST (UK)
-
John Eltham married Mary Hemmington in Brightwell on 11 Oct 1771. The transcript of the licence on FindMyPast says she was a widow. However there is a baptism of a Richard Witherell Hemmington on 4 Apr 1771, only mother's name recorded - Mary Hemmington.
If Mary was a widow and this child was born / baptised after her first husband's death, would the record just give the mother's name or is this child illegitimate and Mary was not being truthful when she said she was a widow? There is a John Hemmington buried in Brightwell on 10 Feb 1770, but no age given on transcript, so don't know whether he's a possibility for first husband if there actually was one.
Any ideas anyone, please.
-
From FamilySearch - but unfortunately no image. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J7DT-3R7
Name Richard Witherell Hemington
Gender Male
Christening Date 04 Apr 1771
Christening Place Brightwell, Berkshire, England
Name Note Illegitimate
Mother's Name Mary Hemington
You really would need to look at the Parish Register to see what it says on that
-
Looks as if Richard died soon after birth
Richard Wetherell Hemington
Burial Date: 26 Apr 1771
Burial Place: Brightwell, Berkshire, England
Mother: MA: Hemington
Unless Wetherell was a name on his mother's side of the family, it may be a clue to his father.
-
Thank you, I got the baptism from Ancestry transcription, it didn't have the note about illegitimate. But Mary could still be a widow and had a relationship with another man after her first husband's death. The resulting child would still be illegitimate.
-
The transcription on the Oxon FHS CD has
1771 4 Apr HEMINGTON Richard Witherel Mary widow, illegit.
-
Thank you. It looks like there was no error on the marriage licence when Mary married John Eltham, and she actually was a widow, who previously had a relationship with someone (possibly called Witherill) after her first husband's death.
-
Looks like it doesn't it, and long enough after her husband's death for there to be no doubt the baby wasn't his.
-
If Richard was baptised soon after birth, he would have been conceived June or July 1770, four or five months after John Hemmington's death, so unless he turns out to be entirely the wrong age, he is still a possibility for first husband.
-
If that was the case though, why would the vicar have recorded him as illegitimate as he wouldn't have been? If he wasn't her first husband's child, she didn't wait before seeking comfort elsewhere did she? I think the fact he has Witherel as a second name points to his father's surname being Witherel.
-
Wonder if this could be a possible father? The two places are only about 7 miles apart.
Richard Witherel
Baptism : 22 Jan 1749
Baptism : Blewbury,Berkshire,England
Father: David Witherel
Mother: Alice