Nancy Rawlings - St Marys, Islington - c1800

[pentangle]

I wondered if anyone had access to the St Marys, Islington parish records for baptisms c1800 as I have not been able to locate them - they are not on IGI or the Ancestry London Parish Records collection and I have not been able to find them online elsewhere.

Nancy Rawlings married Weldon Champneys at St Marys on 16th March 1823 and was buried there on 15th September 1828, apparently aged 28, having had one daughter, Amelia Lavinia Champneys also baptised at St Marys in 1825.  I am guessing that Nancy may well have been christened there too, hence my interest.

Any help gratefully received.

[dawnsh]

Hi Pentangle

The images of the baptism register for St Mary Islington are available to view,  but they have not been transcribed before 1813.
Until they are transcribed, you'll need to view the pages one by one to try and find who you are looking for.

The link for the images is here

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/list.aspx?dbid=1624&path=Islington.Saint+Mary

Dawn

[pentangle]

Hi Dawn,

Thanks for the pointer.  I do have a subscription to Ancestry so I have just had a look through these records.  Unusually they are clear, concise and not too many of them, but she is not there unfortunately so still looking!

Thanks again for your help

Best

Brett

[Valda]

Hi

Also be aware that Nancy at this time, was actually a pet name for Ann, so you need to check under Ann as well, though just because someone married in a London parish there is no reason to suspect, unless there is any evidence to the contrary that she was born in the London area. People literally 'poured' into London from across the country. With high death rates and a need to constantly keep growing London historically needed 'fresh blood' all the time, particularly as it might be relevant to Nancy's case - servant girls. People often moved frequently within the London area.

Regards

Valda

[pentangle]

Therein lies the problem as there were quite a lot of Nancy or Ann Rawlings (or Rawlins or Rollings) born c1800.  However, she was married and buried as Nancy so I tend to think this was probably her name rather than it being a diminutive.  As she was married and buried at St Marys it seemed a reasonable starting point for the baptism but sadly its not that simple.  I have trawled through all the candidates on IGI but there is nothing obvious so I will wait and hope for more evidence to work with.  Thanks for the input.

[Valda]

Hi

I wouldn't have said it if I didn't have experience of the names Nancy and Ann being used for the same person in different records overtime. e.g. I have a Nancy who were baptised as Nancy and married as Nancy, though refered to in her father's will as Ann and in the estate duty register as such. Nancy on her children's baptisms (in Islington) and Ann on the 1841 census. Missing 1851 and 61 censuses but pops up again in 1871 as Nancy with her death registered as Nancy. Despite Nancy not seeming to be a diminutive in this case I have found her in three records as Ann, two being legal documents.

Regards

Valda

[pentangle]

Hi Valda,

Actually I now think you were bang on the money with this one.  I have an Ann Rawlings, christened 23rd June 1800 at St Andrews, Holborn.  Parents  William and Susanna Rawlings.  Nothing very remarkable there as there were a few Ann Rawlings around.  However, Susanna's maiden name appears to have been Wrainch which is actually an incredibly rare surname and it crops up again close by in the same part of the tree so I think this is it.

Thanks again for the hint.

Brett

[Valda]

Hi

Experience has taught me you do need to be flexible with ancestors names and be aware of the use of diminutives. Our ancestors were not bound by bureucracy, particularly the working classes, so had a more 'flexible' approach to their names.


Regards

Valda