Tough one? 1749 - George and Sarah Peters

[hipposx3]

Hi

I know George Peters married Sarah Dane (shows as Pane sometimes) in Balcombe, Sussex, on 5th Oct 1749. I need to know how old he was. I have 3 possible birth options - all George Peters in Balcombe between 1704-1711, but which to choose?

Any ideas or suggestions welcome.

Thanks
Gavin.

[Little Nell]

Tough, eh??  You could be right there.

According to the Sussex Marriage Index, they married by licence but there is no indication of age or names of bondsmen or of witnesses.  Have you looked at the entry in the register to see if one of the witnesses could only belong to one of the three families in question.  Or to see if there is any other clue as to residence or occupation - unlikely I know, but just occasionally a nugget like that comes to light.

The other possibility is to look for his death or memorial inscription which perhaps gives his age.  I can't check the NBI at the moment.

Another possible way is to look at the names in each of the possible families and then compare them with the names of George and Sarah's children.  Families tend to use names of their relatives - it doesn't always work, but you never know.

Hope you work it out.

Nell

[forester]

Hello Gavin,

Also, there are no other George Peters marriages that I can see on the SMI that would match any of the three christenings on the IGI. The marriages either side of your one are 1683 and1776.
 There is a chance that the other two Georges died before marrying. The burial records, provided they give the ages, may eliminate them.

Phil

[Little Nell]

Two burial records for George Peters in Balcombe:

26 Sep 1708 George PETERS Balcombe, St Mary
25 May 1721 George PETERS Balcombe, St Mary

The first could be the one born in 1704, but obviously not the one born in 1711.  Unfortunately no indication of age.  I think you need to check the parish register - it may contain extra information.

Nell

[hipposx3]

Hi Phil, Nell

Thanks for your thoughts. The burial on 26/9/ 1708 probably ties up with birth No.2 which has a christening date of 23/9/08. Also the father of No.2 was later the father of No.3, just adding a middle name, so only makes sense if No.2 sadly died. Which leaves me with No.1 from 1704 and No.3 from 1711.

The clue on childrens names is helpful. I find the first male child of George is called Richard, which is also one of George's possible fathers. And even George's 2nd son is not a John, which is the other possible parent. George being born in 1711 makes more sense - married at 38 though somewhat old for those days is better than being 45 (which would be the case for the 1704 child).

How would I check the "parish register"? I'm new to this family history task so I'm not sure where I go from here. Equally the NBI? I'll do a Google search, I guess.

Any help from anyone would be welcome - otherwise my thought is that George was born in 1711 and I'll search on NBI to track him down.

Thanks again
Gavin.

[Little Nell]

Hi Gavin,

The NBI (National Burial Index) is not available online.  It comes on a set of CDs and is available from the FFHS, family history societies and genealogy software suppliers.

As far as checking the parish register is concerned, unless there is an online parish clerk for Balcombe (just checked -sadly there isn't), it means a visit to the record office in Chichester, or ordering the film of the register from your local LDS family history centre for you to search there, contacting the Sussex Family History group and asking if any memorial inscriptions for George Peters are in their database (although the records I gave you may have come from them in the first place - check out http://www.sfhg.org.uk) or asking if anyone here is able to help you out.

If there is anything else you would like to know, just ask.  Lots of people here with a wealth of experience.

Happy hunting. 

Nell

[hipposx3]

Many thanks Nell for the advice
regards
Gavin.