Marriage Mystery

[Kennethmar]

Thanks to all of you I will take this to my Doncaster F H S on friday next to see if this is the answer. I am helping a new member to research his family.
Will let ypu know the outcome.
KenM

[Necromancer]

Good stuff !

Wonder why Ancestry isnt picking up 'Holme' within the Southwell Regn District ?

[osprey]

Wish I could identify a candidate for John Sharp in a census before 1871. It has crossed my mind that this is a case of change of name rather than remarriage.
Wonder whether the records of railway company John worked for on 1881 census might be of any use? It appears to say M S L or M & L?

 

[Kennethmar]

[I have looked at the map & Holme is on the river trent opposite North Muskham. Holme may be in the Newark area?
KenMquote author=The Newfster link=topic=271403.msg1555751#msg1555751 date=1196590441]
Good stuff !

Wonder why Ancestry isnt picking up 'Holme' within the Southwell Regn District ?

[D Sharpie]

Hi, it's my dad who goes to the Doncaster family history place, and is trying to solve this mysteryof John Sharp/ George Shepherd.

Some of my aunts and uncles were told that they should have had the surname of "Shepherd" but apart from the odd "old wives tale" as to why the name was changed, nothing has come to light yet.
Also it states Holme as his place of birth  but it was more likely to be North Muskham, although there were lots of Sharps in Holme, including a large farm owned by them. George Shepherd would have probably known this and taken that surname so as not to raise suspicion if he did not want to be found??

There were lots of "Shepherds" around the North Muskham area at that time and we have now got back to the grandfather of George Shepherd, A William Shepherd born in 1768 in North Muskham. His son, Georges father, was called Thomas and was born 16th April 1800 in the same area. He married a Charlotte Ellis, and they had 8 children, George being the 4th child.

What we are now working on is that something happened between 1867 when George and Jane had had their 3rd child, Mary Charlotte Shepherd, and 1871, when they appear on the cencus in Brigg and as John and Jane Sharp. Subsequent children are named Sharp, including my great grandad, Frederick Foulston Sharp.

Does anyone have any Ideas as to where we go next?.....or indeed where we could look?

We have read through some of the old newspapers from newark library, up to october 1867, but we know this would be a mamouth job as we dont even know what we are looking for!!!!

Would just like to say a big thanks to those who have helped so far...

Any ideas?

[Kennethmar]

I will keep looking and let you or your father know if I find any more.
KenM

[osprey]

Well, that is a bit of a mystery. If you have birth certificates for at least one of the Shepherds and at least one of the Sharps to show that this is the same family, then why the change of name is another matter.
As there is a move involved as well, did George/John get into trouble?
Was there the possibility of a legacy which would only come to a Sharp? Have you looked for wills?
The newspapers and the County Record Office are probably your best bet, but if there's no intention to deceive, there's nothing to stop you changing your name.

 

[D Sharpie]

Hi Osprey,

We have the marrage cert for Jane Foulston and George Shepherd, and the death cert for John Sharp and Jane Sharp and awaite the birth cert for Mary Charlotte Shepherd. It's the same family alright, but why the name change?

According to other family it could be something to do with a gamekeeper and poachers, someone being shot etc, but we cannot find any evidence of this. George was a labourer when he lived in North Muskham, and his father Thomas was a gardener accourding to census, so where the gamekeeper stuff comes in I dont know.

And if a family member did something bad why did they not all change their surname?

Also notice his eldest son is called George Thomas. Although Thomas is not his first name, it's still there, so did George fall out with the rest of the family? I'm not sure.

[osprey]

Could the poaching have been on a large local estate? There might be records of the estate, or there might have been a court case which would produce records and would have been reported in the local papers.
But, it might be one of those things that you will never know for sure.