I’m trying to find birth information for my 3rd great grandmother, Caroline Mabbott. This is what I do know.
From her death cert: she was born in London 1808 or 1809; her father was Joseph Mabbott, fruiterer. However, she was 92 when she died and since she was then living in Australia and her husband and had long since died, the only people who could have provided this information were her surviving children so it is not necessarily accurate.
Her ages on other documents / sources give a birth year range from 1807 to 1811.
At the time of her marriage to John Henry Stead, 26 Mar 1826, she was living in the parish of St Marylebone, County of Middlesex. John and Caroline lived for a few years in the US and Canada, before returning to England and settling in Devon, where the family (they now had 4 children) was recorded in the 1841 census (Stead has been transcribed as Head). Among the other members of this household was Lydia Mabbott, 15 (can’t read her occupation). She could have been Caroline’s much younger sister, or perhaps she was a niece or cousin?
I have not found any birth records for Caroline, daughter of Joseph. Ancestry have lots of trees with father William Mabbott and mother Elizabeth Painty, with Caroline being born, or at least baptised in 1814 (or 1816, Family search), but this was in Nottingham, not London, and this Caroline would be too young. Surely this must be a different Caroline.
I have found baptism records for 6 children whose parents were Thomas and Lydia Mabbott, including Caroline Mabbott, born 9 Oct 1809 and baptised 29 Oct 1809 St Andrew, Middlesex – which is right in the middle of my possible date of birth range and roughly the right geographical location. There was also an older sister called Lydia. I don’t think Lydia was a very common name so the fact that “my” Caroline had a Lydia Mabbott living with her makes it very tempting to think that this could be “my” Caroline Mabbott, with the 15 year old Lydia from the census being a niece or cousin.
So, was Caroline’s father Joseph, William or Thomas? Or none of the above? How can I find out?
Henrietta