An Impossible Puzzle!

[mofid42]

Hi Everyone

I am in need of some help and ideas

Agnes Mary Bowgett m Harry Popple Brentford Middlesex Jun qtr 1918.

The marriage certificate on Ancestry gives Harry's age as 32 and hers has been transcribed as 26 but its not very clear. Harry's address was Maidenhead Berkshire and Agnes was living in Chiswick Middlesex. Her father was Alfred Bowgett a soldier, deceased.

My problem is prior to her marriage Agnes doesn't seem to exist. I can't find a birth nor any census entries.

I have found a death of an A Bowgett, a soldier who died during the Boer War but as there is no full first name I don't know if its her father.

To further complicate matters there is another marriage for an Agnes Mary Bowgett in 1915 to a Thomas Paget. The marriage took place in the Maidenhead Berkshire registration district, which seems a bit of a coincidence.

There is a death of a Thomas Paget in WW1 on the GRO war deaths on FindMyPast but his name isn't on the CWGC website. If the two marriages are for the same Agnes it seems a bit strange she should marry for the second time using her maiden name if she was a widow.

There is a death of a Harry Popple of the right age in Maidenhead Berkshire 1956 suggesting he remained living in Maidenhead. There is also a death of an Agnes Popple with no middle name in the Windsor Berkshire reg dist in 1964 giving her birth year as 1899 but I am not sure this is the correct person.

Can anyone suggest anywhere else I can check to try and sort out this puzzle?

[danuslave]

My problem is prior to her marriage Agnes doesn't seem to exist. I can't find a birth nor any census entries.

She could have been born and raised abroad if the family were with the soldier father - India comes to mind!

To further complicate matters there is another marriage for an Agnes Mary Bowgett in 1915 to a Thomas Paget. The marriage took place in the Maidenhead Berkshire registration district, which seems a bit of a coincidence.

If the two marriages are for the same Agnes it seems a bit strange she should marry for the second time using her maiden name if she was a widow.

The marriage certificate should show her father, which will give you a better idea if it's the same Agnes

Although, conventionally, she would use her previous married name, you can use any name you like as long as it is not for fraudulent purposes.  Perhaps her 1st marriage was not a happy one?

There is a death of a Thomas Paget in WW1 on the GRO war deaths on FindMyPast but his name isn't on the CWGC website.

Unfortunately, not all names are on the CWGC site.  There have been other postings on RC about people getting names added

Linda

PS The GRO www.gro.gov.uk is the cheapest way to get certificates.  Sites like Ancestry will charge nearly double 

PPS Very few things are Impossible!!

[mofid42]

Hi Linda

Thanks for your advice.

I did wonder if Agnes was born abroad and did check to see if it was in India. I did find a birth for a Bowgett in India but the father was called Barnet.  I have found what looks like the same Barnet on the UK census so he must have returned to the UK with his family. I have no idea if he is connected in any way to Agnes.

I also checked incoming passenger lists but didn't find anything.

I can't find a birth for Alfred Bowgett either although I can imagine its a name that often gets misspelled.

To be honest as Agnes's husband Harry is a cousin 2x removed on my in-laws tree I am trying to avoid having to spend too much on certificates at the moment on more distant connections so the one for the first marriage will have to join the queue, which is why I am trying to solve the puzzle using other information and methods.

PS...Is it just me or is spellcheck on Rootschat a bit temperamental lately? I must have pressed the button a dozen times and it won't work, all I get is the AVG search engine.

[Galium]

Thomas Paget's bride was Agnes Maud Bowgett -  a record of the banns is on familysearch - but I don't suppose that rules her out completely as being your Agnes.

[mofid42]

Thanks Galium

That has helped a lot. I hadn't spotted that one of FS.

The name Bowgett seems to fairly rare in the UK with most instances being in Middlesex,, Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire, Hampshre and Maidenhead in Berkshire. Its possible my Agnes is connected to the Maidenhead branch, just can't find anything to link her yet.

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion she was born outside of the UK, although I have also found examples of the name in Ireland. Think I need to take another tour of the IGI and FS

[Milliepede]

There's an Agnes Bowgett on the 1901 in Maidenhead.  Appears to be living on her own, single, head of the house, charwoman? age 27 and interestingly birthplace Not Known. 

Also there is a tick in the end column on the census for afflictions but as there are 12 ticks on that page maybe it is ticking off something else rather than an affliction 

Oops probably too old for yours if she was 26 at marriage 

[mofid42]

Hi Milliepede

I did see that one but dismissed it as being too old but now I'm not so sure as the age on her marriage cert is a bit odd and quite honestly could be read as 26,36 or 46!

[mofid42]

I'm trying to post a snippet of the cert showing the ages but it just won't let me. First time I tried it did not complete the process properly and it did not appear but when I tried several other times it just keeps telling me I've already added a file with that name so I changed it and now it tells me I've already posted it but nothing is there!!

[Milliepede]

Drawing a blank on the father too.  I saw the South Africa one you mention but as you say with just an initial can't be sure.  However any find of a surname like that is worth a mention.

I looked at the marriage and at first glance I thought 46 but numbers are very bad!