ARMSTRONGS of Ravensden

[wdurham]

No, David - trying to do the day job! (Without much success...)   

There is a baptism in 1807 on the IGI for an Ann, but not for a Sarah. But at Ann's baptism, big sister Ann was still alive. Is it just plain wrong and she was Sarah, not Ann, or perhaps even Sarah Ann?

[johnP-bedford]

Wendy

I found this as part of reply 14 on the 'Trying to find a missing Pfau...'  (*)
Is there a connection to your family tree ?
 
In 1901 Annie Pfau age 38 was living in Russell St, Bedford. In 1871 also living in Russell St Bedford was George and Elizabeth Chandler along with daughter Anne age 8. No christening on the IGI though. 2 births on FreeBMD in Bedford in 1863 - March Anne Chandler, and Dec Ann Elizabeth Denton Chandler.  Elizabeth Chandler appears to have been Elizabeth Armstrong, so I think I fancy the March 1863 entry.

John

(*) Moderator Comment:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,224892.0.html

[wdurham]

Looks like it, John.

Elizabeth Armstrong - daughter of John 1860 and Eleanor Green - married George Chandler on 28 Dec 1857 in Bedford St Paul.

They had umpteen children - Annie b 1863 was child No 3, and my g-grandmother Sophia was child No 11 b 1878. Like the Ravensden Armstrongs, the Chandlers were addicts of the job-lot baptism and Annie was baptised in Dec 1867 along with 4 or 5 siblings.

I know nothing of Annie, although I do remember many of her sisters - Aunt Lou (Louisa 1869) Aunt Harriet (1874) and Aunt Lot (Charlotte, one of the twins b 1876). They used to send me postal orders and improving books for Christmas.

A quick check shows that Annie Chandler married Charles Bernhard Pfau in Shoreditch, qe Sep 1884.  1901 census shows her birthplace as Bedford.

But which Annie is she? In 1881 one of the 1863 Annie's is a visitor to a George Denton in Bedford - implication being that she is more likely to be the Ann Elizabeth Denton Chandler, although no relationship is given to George. The other Annie (listed as Annie Elizabeth) is a servant at a school in Bushey, Hertfordshire. This one seems most likely to have been the Annie that married Charles Pfau in London, as she was already over halfway there, and if the other Ann is the one with the Denton connection, then this Annie must be the daughter of George and Elizabeth...all a bit convoluted but I am sure you see what I mean!

I can't find entries for either of the Annies in 1891. Nor for Ann E D Chandler in 1871.

I have put a question on the Pfau thread - if the marriage certificate of Annie Chandler and Charles Pfau has arrived, then a partial solution is at hand...  I say partial, because you can't be sure that both Annie's weren't fathered by a George. The only way to be certain is to get birth certs for both of the Annies.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention! Another mystery to solve....

[wdurham]

If you are watching the Pfau thread, John, you will see that Mickledore and I have a 99% probable conection via our great grannies, Annie and Sophia Chandler.

The likelihood of both Annie Chandlers having aunties and sisters with identical names is very slim.....

 

[johnP-bedford]

Yes Wendy, I've been reading the dialogue -  it's great stuff

Who needs Genes Reunited 'Hot Matches' when you've got me !

 

[wdurham]

LOL!

Seriously, thanks a bunch! I must put the respective mothers of Mickledore and me in touch - they will gossip for hours.

I have dropped a couple of message to G-R people re: our mysterious William Armstrong allegedly born in Ravensden. One kind soul did reply, but also had William as the son of Thomas and Phoebe of UG, so no further forward on that front.

[bedfordshire boy]

I've seen the online tree that has that parent link on it, and it looks to me as though it could have been put in on the basis that it was the only entry on the IGI that fits. The same tree has one of my names on it where the couple lived in Henlow Beds but the marriage wasn't there, and  it has a marriage in Northants, on the basis, as the tree owner told me, it was the only one that fitted. The fact is that a little bit of research would have found the Northants' happy couple producing children in the husband's home parish, and then both of them dying, and would have ruled out that particular marriage

Quantity, not quality, seems to be the order of the day with that tree. Some of it is good though. The bit that was lifted from my online tree!

That was good recollection linking the two threads John. The writer of that bit you quoted from the Pfau thread couldn't remember writing it, let alone recall the names in it!

Regards

David

[johnP-bedford]

LOL!

I have dropped a couple of message to G-R people re: our mysterious William Armstrong allegedly born in Ravensden.

Wendy, I did the same to additional 5 people on Monday - but had no reply; I already have 3 contacts' trees with the Upper Gravenhurst parents.

I'm really pleased my hunch has produced lots of memories.

David,   There are certain people who only gather information while I do data mining.
 
Yes sharing online trees will have a failing if the information is wrong. If more than one tree has the same error, then anyone new viewing all these trees will assume (like sadly I did) that the information is correct.  BUT it still might be !

 

[wdurham]

I didn't even bother with those who had the UG birthplace, John - only those that listed William as born in Ravensden. I thought they might have something I didn't - but no luck thus far.

The other consideration, of course, is that a lot of G-R trees have come from Ancestral files on the IGI or trees on Ancestry which are also based on the IGI Ancestral files. Error compounds error.  As John says, if more than two people have the same info, you tend to assume it's likely to be correct. But if those two people got their info from the same source, and that source was an error to start with.....