WOOTTON

[Grabridge]

I am researching my maternal grandmothers side of the family.  I know her father was called Thomas Wootton and was 'deceased' when she got married in 1897.  They came from Bedford or the surrounding area, and Thomas was a 'bird stuffer'.  This is where my research has come to a halt.  I know that Eliza his wife remarried and became a Dilly.

[bedfordshire boy]

Welcome to Rootschat!

What was your grandmother's name, and who did she marry in 1897,  and when did her mother remarry Mr Dilley?

David

[bedfordshire boy]

OK, from the information on your other post we've worked out that  she was Mary Ann Wootton or Wotton and deduced that the remarriage to Mr Dilley probably took place in 1874

In 1881 census there is
RG11/1631 folio 8A
Clifton Fields, Clifton, Beds
James Dilley head marr 37 ag lab b Clifton
Eliza Dilley wife 36 b Henlow
Charles Dilley son ag lab b Clifton
Fanny Dilley dau 13 straw plait cutter b Clifton
Alfred Dilley son 11 scholar b Clifton
Emma Dilley dau 9 scholar b Clifton
George H Dilley son 5 scholar b Clifton
Walter Dilley son 2 b Clifton
Esther Dilley dau 3mths b Clifton
Mary Ann Wootton step dau 13 Straw plait cutter b Meppershall Beds
Elizabeth Wootton step dau 11 scholar b Meppershall

More to follow

David and JohnP

[bedfordshire boy]

1871
RG10/1552 folio 5A
Hitchin Rd, Meppershall
Sarah Arnold head widow 67 plaiter of straw b Stevenage Herts
Eliza Wootten boarder Unmarried 25 plaiter of straw b Clifton
James Wootten son 5 b Clifton
Mary Ann Wootten dau 3 b Meppershall
Elizabeth Wootten dau 1mth b Meppershall

There's an Eliza Wooton dau of Thomas and Elizabeth baptised in Henlow on 19 Apr 1846

David et JohnP

[Grabridge]

I will start again, I may have been confusing.

Mary Ann Wootton my maternal gt granmother married my Gt Grandfather in 1897, William Mayhew.

It is Mary Anns father I am interested in.  I know his name was James Wootton, that he was dead at the time of my Gt Grandmothers marriage in 1897.  Mary Anns mother was Eliza and she remarried  to James Dilly in October 1874.

[bedfordshire boy]

Looking at the censuses we think Mary Ann was illegitimate and was the daughter of Eliza Wootton. She may have invented her father as being James Wootton - was this name on her marriage cert to William Mayhew?

Where did Thomas the bird stuffer come into the picture?

D & J

[Grabridge]

It was early this morning that I posted my original query - please forgive me.

James (goodness knows where Thomas came from) Wootton was the bird stuffer, and he is listed as deceased on my Gt Grandparents marriage cert, that being 19.6.1897.

[bedfordshire boy]

James was the name of her stepfather - it looks as though she used his first name and her surname to cobble together a fictitious father for her marriage. It was a pretty common ploy to hide illegitimacy.

David

[bedfordshire boy]

In 1861
RG9/996 folio 20A
Hitchin St, Arlesey
John Goodwin head marr 66 ag lab b Meppershall
Sarah Goodwin wife 66 b Maulden
Hannah Goodwin dau unm 32 straw plaiter b Arlesey
George Goodwin son unm 30 invalid b Arlesey
Eliza Wootton grand dau 15 straw plaiter b Clifton

The IGI has a marriage of Thomas Wootton and Elizabeth Goodwye in Arlesey on 22 Dec 1836, which seems to link Eliza with the Goodwins

D & J