James Dewberry

[Jan Prit]

Hello everyone and Happy New Year  Would anyone be familiar with the late James Dewberry born 30/9/1781 and passed away 1/12/1838 St. Pancras Chapel  I am connected to him by his first wife Sarah.   Would be interested in finding out more about this family

Regards,
Janet

[bedfordshire boy]

Is it really a birth date or is it a baptism date? Where did the event take place in Hunts? With an exact date presumably you have his parents' names.

You seem to know rather more about him than you're letting on. Who, when and where did he marry?

What exactly is it that looking to find out about him?

David

[Jan Prit]

Hello Bedfordshire boy, thanks for your unusual advice  I don't know his parents, I don't know where he married only the date    he was married to a Sarah Hall first and she passed away in 1813 he then married her sister Mary Hall in 1814 in the Old Church St. Pancras. 

Janet

[KGarrad]

From London Metropolitan Archives:

28th December 1814 at St Pancras

James Dewberry, bachelor  to  Mary Hall
Both of this parish.
James signed, Mary made her mark
Witnesses James Smith and James Gowing

Can't make out what it says about Mary's status?
Attached a snippet for others to decipher.

[KGarrad]

LMA has another marriage:

9th Sept 1817 at Stepney St Dunstan and All Saints

James Dewberry, Widower  to  Sarah Riddington, Widow

Might not be the same man, but how sure are you that he married Sarah first, and Mary second?

[bedfordshire boy]

Hunts is not the easiest county in England to research as the LDS was refused permission to film many parish registers, so coverage on the IGI and BVRI is very limited. So for many parishes the register can only be consulted at Huntingdon Archives. Which is why, for us to be able to help you, we need as much information as possible. Didn't realise I'd given any advice. Just trying to establish a few facts! You've doubtless found there's no baptism for James on the IGI in Hunts, nor on the BVRI.

The IGI at www.familysearch.org has an extracted marriage at Godmanchester Hunts on 17 Oct 1803, between James Dewberry and Sarah Hall so that's a starting point. You need to check the microfilm at your nearest LDS Family History Centre to see what extra detail is given - was James' parish of residence other than Godmanchester*; do the witnesses provide a clue.

In the 1814 marriage to Mary Hall, James is described as a bachelor, and both were otp. As it wasn't permitted at that time to marry your deceased wife's sister, that's possibly the reason James described himself as a bachelor. Or else it was a different James. How have you established that Mary was Sarah's sister?

At burial on 2 Dec 1838 James Dewbery was aged 58, of College St, St Pancras. There's also a Mary Dewbery age 53 of Little College St buried on 9 Jun 1839. Pity both seem to have died before censuses.

What was the source of his birth date, and of Sarah's death in 1813?

David

*Hunts Marriage Index shows that on marriage in 1803 James was of the parish of St Nicholas, Ipswich, Suffolk. But that's where he was living, not necessarily where he was born.

[bedfordshire boy]

James and Mary baptised a number of children in St Pancras 1815-30, so it doesn't seem as though the Stepney marriage is connected - unless the James, bachelor who married in 1814 is not the same James who married in 1803.  Ancestry shows the 1814 marriage in two registers - I think Mary is described as spinster in each. The first letter in your snippet, which looks a bit like an L is in fact the down loop of the y of Mary in the line above.

[KGarrad]

The first letter in your snippet, which looks a bit like an L is in fact the down loop of the y of Mary in the line above.

Thanks for that, David!

I only put forward the 2 marriages as possibilities - nothing more

[bedfordshire boy]

I only put forward the 2 marriages as possibilities - nothing more

I wouldn't rule either out, at least without more research. As of now I'm not convinced that the 1803 and 1814 marriages are the same James (but just because 1814 describes James as bachelor doesn't mean that he wasn't a widower). It's possible also that the 1803 and 1817 marriages might be the same James. As I say, it needs more research.

I don't believe in coincidences as a general rule, but the two Halls might just be that.

Another coincidence that I've just come across is that Janet has been given the baptisms of Sarah and Mary Hall in Woodwalton, Hunts. There are only eight Dewberry burials in Hunts on the NBI - six of those were at Woodwalton (and the other two were in the adjoining parish a mile away). I don't like coincidences!