James Gasson marriage

[Necromancer]

why do you think I hid in the Pub   

used to work just up from the Municipal swiimming pool, just before the level crossing - this was early 90's (the year, not me ... )

[lizdb]

Wow, small world. I can picture it well.

My grandparents lived but a stone's throw from there (but this is much earlier, when the office buildings along the road by the level crossing hadnt been built, but there were big old victorian houses there, gradually demolished in the 70's),  and I went to school just down from swimming pool (but left in 1970's, so again much earlier). And traffic went through the tunnel (been pedestrianised for many a year)

Sorry, reminiscing here.

Not helping decide why Eliza from Horsham may or may not have got married in Reigate in 1887 (even I wasnt there that early), if indeed we are on the right track and she did.

Still think  grandad's birth cert is the way to go.

[banana54]

Wow, many thanx for all the speedy replies & for all the trouble you've taken - there was I was thinking it would probably be days before anybody came up with anything!  Am I right in thinking that this is such an addictive hobby that all of you who may have completed/drawn a dead end with your own family trees are suffering such severe withdrawal symptons that you just can't wait to dive in & help with somebody else's? 
I'll try to  briefly answer the various points

Yes, I think that I'm going to have to try & get hold of my grandfather's birth cert.
And yes, there are a lot of Gasson records for Sussex: it took me ages to sift through them all to be sure I was following the right trail - not helped by the fact that most of my grandfather's siblings were known in the family by their middle names rather than first names!

Google gives the distance between Reigate & Horsham as 15.8 miles; I'm not sure how far the Horsham registration district extended, but if Eliza lived in Rusper, then Reigate is only 10 point something miles - and that's going on the main roads; perhaps her family moved around a lot, as did James Gassons? In 1871 he was living in Cuckfield, which is 'only' 18 miles from Reigate, but who knows, he could easily have lived & worked far closer at the time he met Eliza? They seem to have started their married life right over in Cootham, which is nearer to Horsham than to any of the other places.

As for the Reigate connection, well I'm working on that one ..... Reigate isn't far from Dorking, where my grandmother grew up; and I have a feeling that there 'may' have been links between the two families for quite some time prior to my grandparents meeting.

Thanx once again for all the input - I'll keep you posted if/when I make any further progress!

[lizdb]

Wow, many thanx for all the speedy replies & for all the trouble you've taken - there was I was thinking it would probably be days before anybody came up with anything!  Am I right in thinking that this is such an addictive hobby that all of you who may have completed/drawn a dead end with your own family trees are suffering such severe withdrawal symptons that you just can't wait to dive in & help with somebody else's? 

Got it in one!

[banana54]

Oh well in that case you won't mind reading the next instalment then 
The free BMD site shows an Eliza Tucknott was born in Horsham in 1863, but according to the official 1871 census site there were no girl children with the surname Tucknott/Tuchnott or any one of umpteen other spellings born in Horsham at around the right time.  However, there is an Elizabeth Hucknott of exactly the right age who was born in Coulsdon, which is only 5 miles from where the Reigate wedding was!

In fact I found quite a large Tucknott clan of that generation; there seem to be two branches, so possibly cousins? The 2nd branch were living at Worth - just a spit & a throw away from the Cuckfield/Balcombe area where James Gasson was living at the time he would've been seeking a wife.  So thank you, thank you, thank you to whoever put me on to that lead. Until I went back there I hadn't realised that you could view all the names on the same marriage register page of the free BMD site - previously I'd only looked at the other view (where you see a great list of alphabetical names).  Can you tell that I'm new at this game? 

But the bad news is that when I visited the 1871 census site I'd forgotten I as still logged in:  I thought I was only looking at the free views, whereas I managed to spend an entire carefully-hoarded 500 credits on looking at umpteen female Tucknetts 'just to make sure'. Duh! 

[lizdb]

Now I am going to sound horribly borong and old and spoilsportish, if I encourage you to slow down just a bit and not draw too many conclusions!
The first rule of family history is Never Assume Anything.

If you look at the 3rd post on this thread (by Tati) you will see she found a very good candidate for the 1863 Horsham born Eliza Tucknott, still living in Horsham.

And, of course, we have no evidence that Eliza was nee Tucknott, iti s just a posibility from a marriage index.

I would still recommend that you get your Grandfathers marriage cert. That way you will find his mum's maiden name. IF it is Tucknot, then, the Reigate marriage will be worth pursuing. Again really the best thing to do then would be to get the marraige cert. It will give James's dads name and occupation that you can then compare with your 1871 census findings, to ensure from as many angles as possible that you are on the right line.
But, of course, if grandad's birth cert gives a different mum's maiden name, or shows up something we havent thought of, like a previous marriage or something, then we will have to pursue a different line.

In the meantime, there is no harm in looking around at Tucknotts (a name which will be written in many different ways, i guess!) but i would hate to see you going off following a line that wasnt yours at all.

Hard though it is, sometimes patience and spending a bit of money are the best ways forward!

And we dont mind how many installments there are! (as long as you dont mind me trying to wind Newf up!!)

[lizdb]

Just been fiddlimg around looking more at teh Eliza Tucknot born 1863

In 1871 (as Tati found) she is as follows:
RG10 1098 58 26
Crawley Rd Horsham
Joseph Mabbett 62 Ag lab bn N/K
Lucy wife 50 bn Worth Sussex
Eliza Tuckott 7 dtr bn Horsham

Going back 10 years we find Lucy married to Mr Tucknot (pres Eliza's dad)
1861
RG9 608 167 13
Fay gate Horsham
William Tucknott 32 Fettler on Railway bn Burstow
Lucy 38 bn Worth
Ann 7 bn Worth
George 5 bn Worth
Mary 2 bn Worth
Elizabeth 1 mth bn Horsham

I wondered what had happened to Eliza's older siblings

Then, when looking for William Tucknot's death I found -

Jul/Aug/Sep 1864
All Horsham, same page
William Tucknott
George Tucknott
MAry Tucknott
Elizabeth Tucknott

so, although the indexes that far back do not give ages, it looks very much as if poor Lucy lost her husband and 3 children all within weeks of each other. I wonder if there was some epidemic.
Eliza must have been a baby.

Then:
MArriage
April/MAy/Jun 1866
Horsham
ref 2b 458
Luct Tucknott
also on page Joseph Mabbitt.

I cannot find Eliza in 1881 (under Tucknot or variations or Mabbet or variations) to see if she goes off to Reigate.

[lizdb]

Looking back, Tati again found a possibility for Eliza in 1881 (8th post)

this is very likely i think, Lucy Mabbett dies Ap/May/Jun 1877 in Horsham, Joseph Mabbett dies 1891 in East Grinstead (both on FreeBMD)

Looks like they went to East Grinstead.

[banana54]

Hi again; I shall start by giving you all a good laugh: for some reason I haven't been getting email alerts to new posts in this thread, & had consequently forgotten all about it; can you believe that the only reason I found it again was cos I googled Eliza Tucknott & this was one of the first hits - it gave me quite a start when I saw my own name at the top of the pile!  Anyway, nice to see that you've all been soldiering on without me. 

Well I didn't have to send for my grandfather's birth certificate to confirm that Eliza Tucknott was my great-grandmother: turns out that my brother did our family tree some years ago when he worked close to Somerset House (but has since LOST all the records  ) & when I told him that I was stuck on this Eliza, he instantly said: "Oh, you mean Eliza Tucknott"  Unfortunately he couldn't remember much else, & I've drawn a blank everywhere I've looked, but I'm liking Liz's theory a lot - & if this is indeed 'my' Eliza, the coincidence(s) would be too spooky for words: I used to walk along Crawley Road, Horsham every day on my way to primary school (in fact, started infant school on that very road); also, Faygate station was the next stop along the line from Littlehaven Halt, where I used to meet my Dad off the train from work. We knew our family were from the Cuckfield/Ardingly area, but in all the years we lived in Horsham nobody had an inkling about that.  But Liz's theory also made me very sad ..... poor Eliza and as if losing her parents & siblings so early in life wasn't bad enough, she also lost her husband in a tragic accident when she was around 40, leaving her with 6 small children to look after.  Still, if this IS one & the same Eliza, she did eventually remarry - my aunt has just sent me a photo of that wedding.

Incidentally, I found Joseph Mabbett on the 1881 & 1891 censuses, but Eliza wasn't with him.

Anyway, I've just sent off for James Gasson's marriage certificate; hopefully that'll give me a few more clues about Eliza.