Hi everyone
I'm researching ancestors in Essex (I'm from Australia), and I've hit a really frustrating brick wall.
Despite searching through the databases for both free and paid records, I've reached a point where I think I need some other clever minds to help me (hopefully) solve this! I'm hoping that maybe some other non-digitised records are available in person (e.g. microfiche) in Essex that might be the missing link(s) in my research. Or other databases and resources I don't know about yet!
Summary: I want to find out the maiden name of, and any other birth/family info possible, about Jane (late PORTER, nee ??) who married John BEDELL in 1797 in Chelmsford.
I would love info about John's background as well if at all possible, but Jane is my priority.
If anybody is able help solve this mystery (either because you already know something about these people, or are willing to do a lookup) I'd be so grateful!
More detail below for context:1) Nellie CLEMENTS (b. 9 Sept 1885, Croydon, Surrey) was the daughter of Walter Frederick CLEMENTS (b. Jan 1859, St Pancras, London) and Alice Mary THURSTON (b. 1857, Stratford, Essex).
2) Alice Mary THURSTON (also referred to as 'Mary' in the 1841 census) was the daughter of Mary SMITH (b. 25 Feb 1829, Chelmsford, buried 28 Apr 1861 in Forest Gate) and John THURSTON (b. 1830 in Castle Hedingham). (John remarried in 1862 to Ann (aka Annie) GREENHALGH).
3) Mary SMITH was the daughter of Samuel SMITH (b. abt. 1798/1799 in Essex - maybe Chelmsford or nearby) and Sarah BEDELL (b. 30 Dec 1800 in Chelmsford, First Meeting House Independent Baddow Lane). Note that Sarah was born BEDELL, and her father is referred to as BEDELL, but I've occasionally seen references to BEDEL.
4) Sarah BEDELL the daughter of John BEDELL (b. unknown, maybe abt. 1760-1770) and Jane (late PORTER, nee ??, b. unknown, maybe abt. 1770).
This is where I'm stuck. Here's why:
1) John BEDELL and Jane were married in Chelmsford in 1797. At the time of marriage, both were widowed, which leads me to understand that PORTER would have been Jane's late husband's surname - leaving her maiden surname unknown. No other useful info is available on their marriage register (e.g. parent names, ages, etc). As a note, some records are indexed with a marriage year of 1794, but it can be seen through the records that it's actually 1797. Their marriage banns appear to have commenced in 1796.
2) I've lost track of how many parish register search combinations I've done to figure out who Jane's late husband might have been (so that I have a better chance of determining her maiden name). I've excluded numerous PORTERS (e.g. those whose Jane-wives have died before them, or where he has clearly lived past 1796/1797).
3) The most "compelling" (but still problematic) Porter-husband for Jane is Joseph PORTER. He and his Jane-wife (Jane BUTLER, b. 1763 in Hatfield Peverel to William BUTLER and Elizabeth, possibly LUCKIN/LUCKING) were married in Hatfield Peverel in 1786. But there is no information to establish a firm connection between that marriage and anything else.
4) There is another Joseph PORTER who died in 1789 and was buried in Hockley. This seemed the most likely candidate (if my theory about Joseph being Jane's Porter-husband was correct). However, I don't know how old he was at the time of his death, and (for the reasons detailed below) it seems unlikely it's the correct Joseph (let alone correct Porter-husband).
5) There is another Joseph PORTER who was buried in June 1797 in Hatfield Peverel - but I don't know how old he was (not to mention that, unless there were anomalies where people were buried six months or more after their death, that it almost certainly can't be him!)
6) There is another Joseph PORTER who died in 1795/1796, but he was an infant.
7) In the Hatfield Peverel registers, there is a record of an Elizabeth PORTER born to a Jane & Joseph PORTER in abt. Dec 1795 (but I haven't yet seen any other birth records indicating other child(ren) for Jane & Joseph).
--> Other exhaustive record searches across different databases (both free and paid) haven't shown any marriage results indicating another Jane & Joseph Porter union in Essex in that timeframe, and certainly not in Hatfield Peverel!
--> I can't find any other death/burial records for a Joseph Porter between Elizabeth's death and the following year, when Jane and John's marriage banns commenced.
--> This leads me to believe I'm probably looking at the wrong Porter-husband marriage for my Jane - or that the correct Joseph was buried elsewhere - but I can't find any other compelling candidates!
Not only am I stuck on Jane herself (her family history), but also on John BEDELL. There is a record for a John BEDELL b.1761 in Essex, d. 1836 in Essex. This is the only John BEDELL who seems to make any sense (there's another who was born in 1737 - the age seems unlikely for parenting daughters in 1799 and 1800!) But I can't find any further information about him. He was a widower at the time of marriage to Jane, but I'm no clearer on his late wife's name either.
9) Jane may have died in 1841 (as Jane BEDELL, a widow) according to census records.
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