Hi Harvo,
Perhaps in time as more and more newspapers are digitised, something will
come to light.
Not sure how much you already know, or what your standard of proof is. For
myself, I don't consider any document to be proof, preferring to think of
levels of confidence, which diminish with every generation back in time.
So for a start, from his burial record, William was born approx 1860-72 = 1788.
Searching all parishes in the Forest of Dean + or - 20 years (being over generous)
provides only three candidate baptisms:
1. Abenhall 1774 Mar 6 William MALSON to Richard and Susannah.
2. Abenhall 1788 Jun 29 William Jenkins MALSON base child to Hannah. Date is good++
3. Abenhall 1797 Mar 12 William Malson to Richard and Hannah.
No 1. Is ruled out because he went on to marry Catharine Gibbs with whom
he had six children. Both deaths were registered by their daughter Martha
Harris. His age on the death cert ties in with his baptism date.
No 3. Is ruled out because he went on to marry Anne Smith (at Hope Mansell
1825 Feb 13 witnessed by his brother Thomas and Hannah Gregory, the two of
whom married a few months later). He and Anne had seven children in Abenhall.
This leaves number 2, who I believe to be your William, presumably the
offspring of a mysterious Mr Jenkins. Hannah did not as far as I can
tell from newspaper reports of court proceedings go after him for support
for William as some ladies did at this time. You are right that Hannah was a
Thomas, as she
later married a John Thomas (Newland 1791 Jun 12) witnessed by
Richard Malson (she had a brother and a father of that name).
When your William married Sarah Newton Hunt (Abenhall 1821 Mar 17), he dropped
the Jenkins middle name, but the clue is in the witnesses - one was Hannah
Thomas who I take to be his mother. The other was Richard Lowe who also
witnessed the marriage of Hannah's brother Richard to Hannah Yearsley. Twenty
years later at the 1841 census Wm. & Sarah were living at Lady Grove, Abinghall
with the two youngest of the five children known to me, and in the same dwelling
as a separate household were Richard Lowe with his daughter Hannah Lowe, and his
grand-daughter Elizabeth Lowe. Elizabeth married another William Malson, the son
of couple number 1 above, and my 2G GF. Pause for a chorus of Duelling Banjos.
If you have most of the information above, what may be giving you cause for concern
is the baptism record itself. The BTs say MASON but the baptism register says MALSON.
Further, Familysearch have it as MASON, but I do not know if they used the BTs or
the register.
www.forest-of-dean.net transcribe it as 'unclear - MALSON or MASON'.
It looks to me as though the 'l' was inserted in the surname later, which would
explain why the BTs differ.
I will attach the relevant baptism line and just the surname, so that you can see for
yourself. It might be worth you posting one or both to the deciphering board here. I
haven't done so because it's not in my main line, and my mind is already made up.
Sorry to ramble on at such length. I don't know if it will help or just muddy the
waters even further. I'll answer your follow up question in a separate post.
vv.
