Please, please help - a Suffolk brickwall - a prize for whoever does!

[Lee_T]

Hi everyone, this is a conundrum i've been struggling with for months and months. Please, coudl anyone help me?!

I am trying to find my gt gt gt grandfather, JOHN THURSTON. I know his name because I have his Son's birth certificate (another John) and on it, it states Father John Thurston, mother Susan nee Hunt.

There are 3 possible candidates:
   John born 07 MAR 1802  South Elmham All Saints to Stephen and Anne Flatman
   John born 09 JUL 1804 to Robert and Hannah Buckingham in Ufford, and
   John born 25 JAN 1805 Stradbroke to John and Harriet Woods

It has to be one of these because by the 1841 census, Susan is living wth her children and it is presumed John must have died before then. Indeed, I have a death certificate which states

John THURSTON died 8 Sep 1838, aged 35, of Consumption and was buried 4 days later at St Margaret's, Linstead Parva. The certificate shows he was an agricultural labourer, witness to his death was Jospeh Brown.

To confuse matters even further, the NBI has:
Name John THURSTON Date 12 Sep 1838 Aged 33 Place of death, Linstead Parva

and his gravestone has:
John THURSTON died September 8th, 1838 aged 34 years!

So 3 different birth dates!!!

The gravestone in Linstead is laid next to his [presumed] wife, Susan Hunt. It is assumed the same John who is buried must be the same John on his son's birth certificate.  Of course, the gravestones could have been erected when Susan died about 50 years after John and it is entirely concievable that the dates were mixed up or forgotten. It is believed that this was very common, with people not knowing how to read or write or calculate simple maths?

One little hint that may prove very useful is at the very bottom of John's Gravestone, it states,
   "Buried on the right lies Mary his sister, died Jan 27 1840, aged 44 years"

From the PR's (which I own for all the 'South Elmham's) there is a John b. 1802 who has a sister called Martha (not Mary) b1797 but again, the dates are wrong.

I have long assumed the 'correct' John to be the one born in 1802 in All Saints - mainly because there are many Thurston's who live in this area, but after havinf printed off ALL the PR entries, I have realised this just isnt water-tight.

If anyone can shed any light on this it would so appreciated, such is my desperation there's a nice prize if anyone can crack this. I don't mind doing the leg work at all, so any help, however small/ ultimately useless is so welcome!

Cheers

Lee

P.s. Please just holler if you need any more info, photos of graves etc.

[glenclare]

Hi,

Marriage

John Thurston
Sarah Hunt
7 April 1828
$ Suffolk

Not as helpful as it could be !!
But it obviously took place.

[Lee_T]

Hi,
On Ancestry there is a marriage as follows

John Thurston
Sarah Hunt
7 April 1828
$ Suffolk

Not as helpful as it could be !!
But it obviously took place.

Is that a typo, or is there a Sarah that married a John too?! 

[glenclare]

Whoops typo. Not properly awake. sorry. I meant Susan.

Should have checked back on familysearch before posting, as it is submitted, and says St james' south Elmham.

There is also a John Grimsey Thurston getting married in 1817.

[Lee_T]

No problems.

There are literally dozens of thurston's around the 'All Saints' areas - this is why I am having so much trouble! I have tried printing off ALL the Thurston's from the PR's and grouping them together but this proving very difficult indeed!!!

Why couldn't I have an unusual surname like Battermonkey or Fearthechimp or something?!

[glenclare]

Even an unusual name isn't a help!
My husbands rellie didn't like her name so got rid of it totally called her self something else and married in that name. It took me ages to work out what had happened and only did then because another distant rellie remembered her granny being very rude about "that silly woman"

[Lee_T]

Anyone else fancy a stab at this??

Go on, you know you want to.

[avm228]

   John born 25 JAN 1805 Stradbroke to John and Harriet Woods

A John Thurston, 66 b "Stradbrook", Suffolk, was alive and well and farming in Walsham le Willows in the 1871 census: RG10/1731/148/13.

Modified: NBI shows he was buried in Walsham le Willows on 24 May 1877 aged "74".

Anna

[Just Kia]

OK, so John THURSTON married Susan HUNT 7th April 1828 (Suffolk Bishop's Transcripts) IGI Ref: M131732

So are we looking for the birth of their son John or are we looking for the birth of John who married Susan?
Sorry, after re-reading it's John, who married Susan that you're trying to find the birth of.
Is it possible for you to view the Parish Registers or maybe post a look up request on the Suffolk board, that would hopefully give his father's name and lead you to the next step?

Further digging on IGI and there is a submitted record for the same marriage but it states the marriage was in St James, South Elmham (rather than just saying BT's) and it gives John's baptism as 7 Mar 1802¹ - All Saint's, South Elmham.
And, then from the Pedigree Resource File it states that John bp 7 Mar 1802* - Died 12 September 1838
*Sometimes as 17th Feb 1802 - so I'd probably guess that he was born in Feb, bp in March.

Further:
Ann FLATMAN b abt 1774
Stephen THURSTON b abt 1770 All Saints
married 4th August 1789 St Margarets

¹P012821 - IGI batch for bp of John 1802

Further:
Stephen Jnr abt 1796
Martha bp 24 SEP 1797
James bp 10 NOV 1799
Sarah bp 11 MAR 1804
Elizabeth bp 04 APR 1806
Anna bp 30 JUL 1808


The gravestone could be prefectly correct in that maybe he actually died 8th Sept but wasn't buried until 12th Sept - just a thought.