any help with these ladies who all married a "merrick" from norton canon??

[JO07]

Our local library has St Chad's (Over) Parish Records on microfilm.
I was thinking of accessing it in the near future.
You mention Cheshire Parish records; would it all be on there anyway and free?

[garstonite]

www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~cprdb
go to database
babtism /marriage /burial  ....then put in surname...click search....you then get something like  7720523  ...put an imaginary 1 in front and you get
(1)772   =  1772
05 =  the month   = may
23 becomes the date /day .....so 7720523 becomes 23rd may 1772 ...it`s a little tricky at first but you will get into it....loads and loads of Oakes data.......if you get a little lost, let me know
allan
ADDED...www.familysearch.org  then click search ....then Family Search Record Pilot ...they have St Chads records

[JO07]

That's a useful database.

I notice in some burials, the age at death is given, on others, you see a code, eg something like 0600.
How do you decipher it?
And any other tips?

Hope to get searching and active again once my PC room has been revamped and once I've got up to speed with your information.

[JO07]

Following on from your suggestion that my 4x great grandfather, Thomas’s (1756) parents were Samuel and Ellin, do you have details that Thomas (1761), Mary Trelfa’s son, moved to Backford, via his children’s marriages/ offspring etc.
If I remember correctly, you had some evidence that most, if not all, of her 9 children baptised in Middlewich moved to Backford, including Thomas.
It’s still a bit surprising that Hannah (born and died 1790) was the last of her 4 children born in Backford as she would have been aged 54! That’s assuming she was born in 1936, 9 years after husband, Ralph Oakes (b. 17/7/1727)-  (and I seem to remember Mary’s baptism given as around 1730, St Chad’s, if I remember correctly).
In the 1881 census, the largest concentration of the Oakes name in the UK was centred in Winsford, though this dispersed somewhat by 1981 (I seemed to have lost the link – or it has changed- to the website mapping it out). So, it wouldn’t be surprising if Ralph senior was the one baptised at St Chads (father, John) in 1702.- as suggested by Kiterunner.
So, where does Mary Holland fit in.   Sorry, I don’t have any facts, but it’s not unreasonable she came from Backford and married Ralph senior there but lived in Winsford. Why did Mary Trelfa’s family move to Backford in 1776; was it because Ralph senior had passed away and Mary Holland wanted to return to Backford, or was it simply that Ralph junior get a job as church warden, or both (or something else)?

[garstonite]

Hiya John...I totally understand your sceptisism...I have had Mary Trelfa in and out of my tree twice now...the earlier childrens names all appear getting married in the St Oswalds ,Backford , Chester parish records...In my line of thinking , I am at a loss of how to progress....all the christenings of Ralph and Mary`s children in Middlewich are on record....the Backford christenings are on record ...I don`t have the babtism of Mary Trelfa.....I have the death of Mary Oakes (the wife of Ralph )...she died in 1808....aged 72....this makes her born 1735/6 ....I am not 100% convinced of Ralph Oakes b  c1700 and Mary Holland b c1704 as being Ralphs parents...I have put a comment in my notes box
ONLY A POSSIBLE - and Only a likely match  for Ralph and Mary Holland ...
I think that IF Ralph and Mary Holland are Ralphs parents...they married in ST Oswalds ,Backford ,Chester,,,,
they were both babtised in Over - moved to Chester /Backford - got married ....moved back to Over ...their son Ralph went back to St Oswalds half way through his marriage.....


if the truth be known...I am still a little sceptical about Mary Trelfa being Ralphs wife...as I have no positive proof except that the childrens christian names born in Middlewich -appear getting married in Backford. ??

other people seem to think this as well...BUT NO PROOF....so again , I have a note saying "not convinced"

what I can say DEFINITELY is that the 4 children of Ralph Oakes babtised in Backford from 1776 and all the rest of the tree are as far as I know my ancestors....the first 8 children and Mary Trelfa...although I am sure are family...I still have no written proof .....
what are your honest thoughts ??
allan

[JO07]

In 1790, the year Hannah was born, Ralph would have been 63 and Mary Trelfa 54. So, my thought was that she was born to one of their children; I notice Hannah would have been 18 at the time, but wouldn't like to speculate.

Thomas would have been 29, so to return to my original question, do you know whom Thomas married and are there any baptisms for the children.

Your synthesis is not unreasonable given that children baptised in Middlewich crop up in Backford, but I agree getting hold of Mary Trelfa's baptism would help enormously.

How many of the 9 children can you identify in Backford via marriages/baptisms/deaths?

This bit of the tree is new to me and I really wanted to establish unambiguously this Thomas is not in my line- but I will keep a look out for Trelfas and Hollands (Mary).

[jm12]

Dear John and Allan

sorry I haven't contributed to the discussion to date as I am not so well up on the Oakes' as you both are. John, just to fill you in my grandmother is Harriet Oakes from Garston (g.g.grandaughter of Ralf and Mary) Could Mary Trelsa's baptism be the one on IGI from 1740. It is a bit late but might help with the late childbirth issue. And it is just close enough to Middlewich it seems looking at google maps?:

Name: Mary Trelsa Or Tralsa
Gender: Female
Event Type: Christening
Birth Date:
Christening Date: 07 Jan 1740
Christening Place: Church Minshull, Cheshire, England
Event Place:
Father's Name: William Trelsa Or Tralsa
Mother's Name:
Principal's Marital Status:
Principal's Residence: , Minshull, Cheshire, England
Number: 490
Digital Folder Number: 4018874
Film Number: 2093666
Collection: England, Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000


Just to be clear how do we know that Ralf and Mary's children are the one and the same that are both in Middlewich and Backford? I don't quite get it.

best wishes

John Martin

[JO07]

Well I still live in Winsford near to St Chads and Church Minshull is just down the road from St Chad's and close to Middlewich.

So, I would hazard a guess that this is Mary Trelfa. This would make her 50 in 1990, but why name her last child Hannah, unless Hannah born in Middlewich died.

Yes, and John's last point echos my point, too.

[garstonite]

John...if you look at the notes on my tree re Mary Trelfa....I have made a note saying although I have her in my tree and think she is the Mary that married Ralph re the Backford babtisms...I have no proof...I don`t have any proof of the mother of the mother of the 4 Backford babtisms as being Mary TRELFA...just Mary.....but the children born in Middlewich to Ralph and Mary TRELFA (stated on babtism records) all seem to appear in Backford and marry in Backford after the birth of Elizabeth 1776 ...the first babtism of a child of Ralph and Mary in Backford....
as I stated earlier...I have had Mary Trelfs in and out of my tree TWICE...and I am still not convinced of her being absolutely the Mary in Backford....
allan