TWINN Henry, which Margaret Surrah did he marry?

[findem]

The IGI has the marriage of a Margaret Surrah to Edward Cornhill 5 Oct 1730 at Felsted, during my recent trip to the UK and the ERO I verified the marriage in the Felsted PR fiche.

My ancestors Henry Twinn and Margaret Surrah married 29 Oct 1733 at Felsted, (double checked).

There were two Margaret Surrahs baptised at Felsted:
Margaret (1) the daughter of John & Margaret 1 Feb 1706.
Margaret (2) the daughter of Samuel & Mary 24 Aug 1709.

5 children of Ed Cornhill & Margaret Surrah were baptised at Felsted between 1731 & 1737, Edward, Joseph, Mary, Daniel and another Edward.

5 children of Henry Twinn & Margaret Surrah were baptised at Felsted between 1734 & 1746, Johnathon, Edward, Daniel, Margaret and Fanny.

I checked out Felsted burials 1745 to 1789 looking for a Margaret Twinn or Cornhill, to see if an age was given to solve the problem.  All I found was a Margaret Cornel buried 13 July 1747, unfortunately no other info was given.

I suppose logic would have Margaret (1), being the older of the two married first and therefore to Edward Cornhill, that theory would mean both Margarets were about 24 when married.

If Margaret (2) married Edward Cornhill she would have been about 21 when married and Margaret (1) aged about 27 if she married Henry Twinn.

Bearing in mind that logic often plays no part in marriages and that Henry and Margaret named a son Jonathon, both options are possible.

Does anyone have any ideas how to identify which Margaret Surrah married Twinn?

Would like also to know the thoughts on this matter of others who are researching the same Twinn/Fewell line as myself, sorry to throw a spanner in the works!

   
   

[Susie1]

Hi Findem
I don't know if this is any help, and don't shout at me if it just confuses matters.

My IGI Essex fiche says:

Margaret of John & Margaret c 1706 Felsted
Margaret spouse Edward Cornhill b 1709 Felsted
Margaret of Samuel & Mary c 1709 Felsted
Margaret m Edward Cornhill 5 Oct 1730 Felsted

Sue

[MiddleEnglander]

Hi Sue and Findem .......

Am I being stupid or doesn't the second entry you gave, Sue, answer the question Findem raised ?

The entry states that  "Margaret spouse Edward Cornhill b 1709 Felsted" thus Edward's wife must have been Margaret (2) i.e. the daughter of Samuel and Mary. 

Ergo the Margaret who married Henry Twinn must have been the daughter of John and Margaret.

Or am I missing something ?? !

Aye

ME

[Susie1]

Hi ME
Well that's what I thought.  But, as it was a IGI fiche, and Findem had already looked at the IGI, I thought maybe I was readying it wrong.
Sue

[findem]

Hi All, No I won't shout at you Sue, not my style, not that you would hear it from here in Australia anyway 

The IGI entries I have seen all state "Birth: About 1709"

I have a problem with the “About 1709” in the IGI listing of the marriage, I feel that "About 1709" suggests the actual date of birth/baptism could be a couple of years, or more, either side of 1709.  If so that could encompass a Margaret baptised in 1706 as well as the Margaret baptised in 1709.

Also, my experience with the IGI is that when someone's year of birth is prefixed by "about", it usually signifies that the author has calculated a spouse's year of birth from the marriage date and hasn't found the baptism entry.  If the author had sighted the baptism entries I would have expected he/she to enter the full date and place in the Christening field on the IGI.  I believe some researchers use, as a rule of thumb, the age at marriage of 21 for a female and 25 for a male.  That could explain why Margaret's dob was given as 1709, subtracting 21 from the year of marriage to Ed Cornhill in 1730, gives the year 1709.   

My main concern is that if as I suspect the author hadn’t sighted either of the baptism entries, how can we decide which Margaret married Ed Cornhill and more importantly for us, which Margaret married Henry Twinn?  All the author may intend to imply is simply that Edward’s wife was named Margaret Surrah and she was probably born about 1709, somewhere.

I am very disappointed that I missed the 18 Jan 1779 burial entry in the Felsted PRs for Margaret Cornhill nee Surrah, it may have given a clue. 

I have looked at my notes of the Felsted marriages of Ed Cornhill 5th or 8th Oct 1733 and Henry Twinn 26 June 1733 to see if any witnesses were named but I have none recorded, has anyone else checked either of the two marriages and have witness names?  I am wondering if whether I missed recording the witness names or if they simply were not given in the PRs.

If anyone is going to the ERO before 2008 would they consider checking the burial and marriages out for any useful info attached to the PR entries?

[sillgen]

Hi
I have just had a quick look at the IGI entries and all seem to be Member submitted so they must be treated with extreme caution.   It is never sensible to rely on someone else's research.   Checking them with the original Felsted register, as you have done, is the only sensible option.  That parish is covered by Boyds Marriage Index which I think the SOG have online so it might be worth looking at that too.  Or is it on British origins??
Another option might be to try and contact the LDS member who put all this on and ask them to verify what they looked at.
I assume you have looked for wills?
Good luck!
Andrea

[Susie1]

Findem
I've had another look at the fiche and further info:
Margaret of John & Margaret c 1 Feb 1706 Felsted
Margaret spouse Edward Cornhill b abt 1709 Felsted
Margaret of Samuel & Mary c 24 Aug 1709 Felsted
Margaret m Edward Cornhill 5 Oct 1730 Felsted

Sue

[sillgen]

I am not sure of the provenance of your fiche.  You say IGI fiche - if that is the case they are simply repeating what the LDS member put on rather than what is written in the actual register.   Or are they transcribed by another source such as a Family History Society?   I would be much happier to trust them if they were.
Andrea

[Susie1]

Andrea
No, they are the LDS fiche.
Sue