Second opinion on this marriage please.

[Hampshire Lass]

Hi, I'm not sure if I should have started a new thread or not.
I apologise if I've done the wrong thing but my previous thread concerning Tenterden records for Jeremiah Dunster may be leading me down the wrong path so I decided to start again using only the facts as known.

I have Jeremiah and Mary Dunster as parents of
Jeremiah 1756
Joseph 1759
Mary 1761
Sarah 1762
James 1764
Mary 1767
Ann 1769

All were christened at Stone in Oxney and I've seen the microfiche at Maidstone of the original records.

Jeremiah 1756 is the first record for a Dunster in Stone, so they came from elsewhere.
This is my problem. Where did they come from?

There is an entry in Canterbury Mariage Licences for Jeremiah Dunster, of Bearsted, a butcher, age 24 and Mary Kedwell of this parish, Spinster, age 24, at St Margarets, Canterbury, 24th April 1751.

There is a christening for Jeremiah Dunster at St Mildreds Tenterden 2nd Sept 1724, son of Jeremiah Dunster and Judith.  (The marriage record for Jeremiah and Judith says he also is a butcher, of Hawkhurst)

There is a christening for Mary Kedwell at St Mildreds Tenterden 15th Dec 1725, daughter of Thomas and Susannah.

My problem is that the Canterbury marriage record seems to be the only one for a Jeremiah and Mary. I don't want to simply "make it fit".  I would rather draw a line than proceed down the wrong path. So many questions about it:-
1. Why did they marry in Canterbury?
2. Why no children till 1856 (cannot find any anywhere)
3. Why are their ages slightly wrong?
4. Why licence and not banns?
5. It seems as though couples in those days named their children after their own parents and this would not apply here - so does that indicate a mistake?

Given the facts about the children can I find anything more about the parents?
Where did they marry?  What is Mary's maiden name?  Where were they christened ? Are the Tenterden records for my Jeremiah and Mary - there are other possibilities ?

Don't expect answers to all these questions, just airing my thoughts and am asking what path other rootschatters would go down. I'm prepared to visit Canterbury or Maidstone records office and also to buy CDs from KFHS.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and opinions about this.  I just don't want to make things fit but realise we can't always be positive and in the end make decisions based on the balance of probability.

[davidft]

Some thoughts

“1. Why did they marry in Canterbury?”

Possibly because Mary is described as “Mary Kedwell of this parish” ie she was living in Canterbury at the time of the marriage. That is she was married in her home parish, I have seen it said that more often than not the marriage was usually in the brides parish.

“2. Why no children till 1756 (cannot find any anywhere)”

Several reasons for this eg the early pregnancies did not go to full term, this could be because of disease, poor nutrition etc. Or perhaps there are children somewhere but you haven’t found them yet.

3. Why are their ages slightly wrong?

I think the discrepancy is minor and not worth worrying about. I am  more surprised at a time when numeracy and literacy were not at their highest that so many people got their ages right. If it helps I have a marriage by licence where the bride, a widow, claims to be 25 – she was in fact 32 but the fact she was marrying a 21 year old may have had something to do with it ...

4. Why licence and not banns?

If you married by banns you had to wait at least three weeks whilst the banns were read. If you got married by licence you go do it straight away – handy if there were time constraints

5. It seems as though couples in those days named their children after their own parents and this would not apply here - so does that indicate a mistake?

No for two reasons. First it’s a myth that everyone named children after their parents, a lot didn’t. Second there could have been children born 1751-1755 that you haven’t found yet that were named after the parents

6. What is Mary's maiden name?

I think perhaps this is a mistake and you meant what is Judith’s maiden name

7. Are the Tenterden records for my Jeremiah and Mary - there are other possibilities ?

I would be quite confident about the record being for Jeremiah Dunster as that is a rare combination of names. However I would be less confident about the record for Mary Kedwell as that is not so rare a combination of names

8. can I find anything more about ....

Have you looked for a will of the parents or the couple? Have you searched the parish chest records for where they lived to see if there are any mentions in there (even if a bit of a long shot)

9. I'm prepared to visit Canterbury or Maidstone records office ...

You probably know this but Maidstone has periodic closures so check the website for these just in case

[Harlow One-Name Study]

The marriage licence states that Mary Kedwell is a spinster, 24, of the same parish ie. Bearsted.

[Hampshire Lass]

Thanks for your thoughts davidft.

I did mean what is Marys maiden name in that I know I have Jeremy Dunster and Mary as the parents of all of the children I listed from Stone.
Whilst I have looked around I have found more than one Jeremiah Dunster but only one Mary Kedwell, strangely.
Mary Kedwell and Jeremiah from Tenterden seems a way for them to have met and then as he is a butcher in Bearsted and that is near Canterbury I suppose that explains marrying in Canterbury.

Thanks robin916 your reply came as I was posting this one. The record does say of this parish and so I thought it meant Canterbury but perhaps they were both living in Bearsted.
Then again I ask myself is this marriage for another Jeremiah Dunster and Mary, or did they move there from Tenterden and then back to Stone in 1756.

I had thought of them loosing all their children up to 1756 but they seem to have a good record after that so it seemed odd. BUT maybe I just haven't found them yet so perhaps Bearsted records would be a start.

I have tried unsuccessfully to find a Will for them. It would be great if there was one but I've had no luck so far. Wills have helped me enormously in the past.

If these records are correct then I know Judith is Judith Reynolds and I also have parents for Mary Kedwell.

Actually what bothers me is that there are many people researching this family and all the public trees on A******Y have taken a different pathway for Jeremiah and Mary  because of familysearch submitted records. Also when I look at trees who have the couple from Tenterden on it they have another set of results.
All gets a bit confusing but thanks  very much for your thoughts.

 

[casalguidi]

The record does say of this parish and so I thought it meant Canterbury but perhaps they were both living in Bearsted.

I think it says "of the same parish" ie. the same as Jeremiah ie. Bearsted.  It was quite common for persons marrying by lic. to get married in Canterbury or to have a Canterbury church as one of their options having gone to Canterbury to obtain the lic..   I would suggest it could quite likely be the reason rather than a locational aspect - Bearsted is near Maidstone, not particularly near Canterbury.  Have you details of the actual marriage or just detail from the lic.?

Casalguidi

[davidft]

I don't see how people say Mary was of Bearstead.

The OP clearly says


There is an entry in Canterbury Mariage Licences for Jeremiah Dunster, of Bearsted, a butcher, age 24 and Mary Kedwell of this parish, Spinster, age 24, at St Margarets, Canterbury, 24th April 1751.

If Mary was of the same parish as Jeremiah it would say of the same parish but it doesn't it says of this parish and follows by the name of St Margarets parish

[Hampshire Lass]

Hi Casalguidi

I'm not sure what it says now!!   I looked at my notes which I took from the book of Canterbury Marriage licences at Maidstone and I have:-

Jeremiah Dunster of Bearsted, Butcher, Bach (24) and Mary Kedwell of this parish, Spinster (24) at St Margarets Canterbury 24 April 1751.

However, the records which come up on Ancestry say ......of same.......

perhaps I need to double check at Maidstone.

I feel the details of this marriage are key.   All I've seen is the book with these details in. Don't know where to find out more about the marriage. Would there be more details?
Interestingly the licence and the ceremony were on the same day so that probably does explain the location.

I would be quite happy to say this is the marriage for my Jeremiah and Mary if only I could find more children for the years 1751-1756.   All the other pieces of the jigsaw could fit together then. ie Mary Kedwell born in Tenterden has a father, Thomas, and there is a Thomas Kedwell buried in Bearsted.
The only other doubt about the marriage is that a couple whose ages are in fact 25 and 26 seem by my experiences to be a bit old for those days.  It would also mean that the children I know of so far were born when Mary was 31 - 44 years old.  That seems a bit unusual too.

Thanks for your replies.
  

[davidft]

I'm not sure what it says now!!   I looked at my notes which I took from the book of Canterbury Marriage licences at Maidstone and I have:-

Jeremiah Dunster of Bearsted, Butcher, Bach (24) and Mary Kedwell of this parish, Spinster (24) at St Margarets Canterbury 24 April 1751.

However, the records which come up on Ancestry say ......of same.......

perhaps I need to double check at Maidstone.
  

I wouldn't rely on the ancestry record as it is only a transcription with no link to the original. I'd be surprised if it doesn't turn out to be erroneous.

[Hampshire Lass]

Thanks davidft, I do think that my notes were correct and I did feel that it meant Mary was of this parish, meaning Canterbury.    Would be nice to find more info about the marriage though as there are a few questionmarks.

I have just found previous info, kindly from Bearkat, regarding the fact that there are no Dunster or Kedwell baptisms in bearsted - so no missing children for the 5 years from there.   Maybe Canterbury may be a thought.

Thanks again. HL.