The Bentham's from Standish

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

Given his wealth why would Sir Roger send his sister(if she was indeed a nun) to live with his blacksmith?? No this makes no sense. The logical conclusion is that Katherine fell in love with his farrier and they eloped.

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

if it helps I remember reading the letter my grandfather gave me from a detective thay hired at the time. He states that he is one certificate away from proving our cliam. He states that the marriage certificate of Katherine and James or John Bentham must be at Wigan Parish Church Wigan or St Elizabeths church Aspull. I am not so confident as family members now deceased mentione they eloped and married elsewhere.

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

For any Bentham reading this link please remember Katherine Bradshaigh is the key to proving our claim.

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

The Bentham in question was a farrier at Haigh Hall tending Sir Rogers horses. there  is a record of a James Bentham living in Red Row in Haigh living with a Catherine . The timeline doesn't fit though .It is safe to assume that when they did marry he would change his profession from farrier to labourer or collier given they too wanted to keep the marriage a secret.

[Maiden Stone]

One example struck me as very suspicious. I visited Standish Parish Church with my cousin to examine a a marriage documents dated October  1781. I knew the vicar quite well and he agreed to wave the usual fees to look at the parish records which were held in the  cellars of the church. When we found the volume we were looking for one page was burned( yes burned) out of the records. The vicar said there had been a fire hence the missing page. Now just think about that for a moment .. One page burned from a book.. why not two three ?? surely at least two pages would have been burned??

I assume you refer to St. Wilfrid, Standish.
I looked at transcripts on Lancashire Online Parish Clerks website. There were 2 weddings in October 1781. On examining other marriages in 1781, page numbers and entry numbers for the October weddings are consecutive. 2-4 weddings per month seems to have been average.

You may like to read the explanatory page "The Church of St. Wilfrid, Standish  -  Sources"
www.lan-opc.org.uk/Standish/stwilfrid/index.html
"To develop the transcription of Standish parish records the following sources were consulted.  …..
Many of the records were in poor shape and Bishop's Transcripts and other sources were accessed to determine the original entry."
Two of my ancestors were married at the church in 1783.

[Maiden Stone]

The Bentham in question was a farrier at Haigh Hall tending Sir Rogers horses. there  is a record of a James Bentham living in Red Row in Haigh living with a Catherine . The timeline doesn't fit though .It is safe to assume that when they did marry he would change his profession from farrier to labourer or collier given they too wanted to keep the marriage a secret.

It's never safe to assume anything.

[Maiden Stone]

Re. reply # 11, a firm of solicitors. When did this happen? If the firm is still in business, your comment might be considered libellous. It's advisable not to make accusations on this public forum.
It would be helpful if replies to a much earlier post included the post number or quoted part of the earlier post. This saves people having to read the whole thread again to find the piece of information to which the reply referred. 

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

I am quite prepared to fight a libel case as its the truth. The Dublin firm disappeared without a trace with all our paperwork. Would love to hear from them . Libel  challenge or no.

[GEORGE BENTHAM]

thankyou for your help though.