COMPLETED: St. Mary's, Luton Marriage Lookup Please, COURTNEY

[MatthewJ]

Hello,

I'm looking for a marriage between a Thomas Courtney and an Eliza Hine Pollard, which is in the GRO indexes in the first quarter of 1873 in the Luton district. I don't know which church it took place in, but what I believe to be Eliza and her family are living in the St. Mary's ecclesiastical district of Luton on the 1871 census. If anyone can help I would be very grateful, even if it's just to rule some churches out.

Thanks,

Matthew

Edit: I've updated the title of this thread now, following Tazzie's confirmation of the church.

[tazzie]

   Have a look at
   www.familysearch.org
 Bedfordshire has a good coverage on here and we find...

  St Mary's  Luton Beds
  1 Feb 1873    Thomas Courtney age 28
                        Eliza Pollard   age 25

  Does that help?

  Tazzie
 

[MatthewJ]

Hi Tazzie,

Thank you very much for that, I usually check the IGI, I obviously missed this one. That confirms that they were married at St. Mary's, and gives us the date too, so thanks for that. Eliza was illegitimate, and I'm interested to see if her father's name is given, I think it might be George Hine, as from the censuses it looks like her mother later married him, and Eliza is listed as Eliza Hine Pollard in the GRO indexes for this marriage. I'm also interested in Thomas Courtney's profession and father's name, as I've not found him on the censuses. At least now I have an approximate year of birth based on his age at the time of his marriage.

Thanks again,

Matthew

[johnP-bedford]

Matthew,  I don't know how local you are, but you could check out the marriage certificate in the parish registers at either Bedford Archives or Luton library. If you cannot visit them I suggest email the Beds Archives for them to find the entry on the microfiche. Now that you know date & place their charges most likely will be less than you paying £7.00 for the cert from the GRO.

regards John   

[janan]

Hi

Have you seen this baptism?

Eliza Hine baptised 3 Feb 1850 at St Marys Luton parents George Hine and Eliza

Is this your Eliza Hine Pollard? If so does add weight to her father being George Hine

Jan

[MatthewJ]

Hello,

Thank you both for your replies.

John, I'm not very local, so your Bedfordshire Archives suggestion sounds like a very good option, thank you for that.

Jan, that looks like it most likely is the Eliza I am looking for. There aren't many George Hine's in the area and especially not married to an Eliza. The year is a little later than I expected (the censuses consistently make her a couple of years older, as does her marriage record). However, George and Eliza only got married in October 1849, and they had a son together around 1850 (he's on the 1851 census), and I see that there's a baptism for him the same day as the Eliza one that you found. Maybe they wanted to wait until they were married before they had her baptised. They haven't got a daughter named Eliza on the 1851 census (the Eliza Hine Pollard I've been looking for appears to have been raised with her materal grandparents). So it does look promising.

I'd still be interested to know who was named as the father on Eliza Hine Pollard's marriage record, but if no one has access to it then I will think about visiting the area myself sometime, I now know of a few records that I want to look up.

Thanks for all of your help,

Matthew

[janan]

Hi Matthew

Bedford and Luton Archives are extremely helpful, it is a smashing place to visit. If you can't get there they are equally obliging if you email them with your query

http://www.rootschat.com/links/0851/

Jan

[johnP-bedford]

Matthew, Are you suggesting this is a late baptism for Eliza; if so could it tie in with the birth index of Eliza Pollard in March qtr 1848 in Luton RD volume 6  page 112 - do you have the birth certificate ? 

[MatthewJ]

Hi,

Thank you both for your replies. John - I am fairly sure that that it the right Eliza Pollard in the birth indexes. I haven't purchased the birth certificate yet. Because she lived with her grandparents on the censuses I know her maternal family, and I thought that her marriage entry would be a good starting place to confirm her father's name. I wasn't sure whether the birth certificate would give her father's name, as she was born out of wedlock. I do intend to get it in time. I also think I will consider visiting Luton sometime, or maybe contacting the Bedford and Luton Archives.

Thanks,

Matthew