James BAILEY = Isabella LAMBERT, Melcombe Regis, 1800

[DougNZ]

Hi there

Some years ago the Somerset and Dorset FHS provided me with the following marriage details:

James BAILEY = Isabella LAMBERT, 22 September 1800, at Melcombe Regis, St Mary.  Wits:- Anne GRANT, Elizabeth GRANT.

I am trying to prove or disprove that they are James and Isabel BAILEY, perfumers, who lived in Taunton from 1800 - c1824.  Two questions, please:

1.  Can anyone provide further details about the couple from marriage records (occupation, parish)?

2.  Are there any further records of the couple in Dorset after the marriage (birth of children, census, etc)?

I thought I would try here ahead of ordering the marriage record.  Many thanks in advance.

Regards

Doug

[ciderdrinker]

Good Morning
Had a look for the couple and nothing to report in Melcombe Regis I'm afraid ,no children,no burials,no baptisms.Nowt.I know that's not what you're after but perhaps it does confirm that they moved elsewhere?
The marriage says both of this parish,at that date there is no occupation or details of their fathers.And being that early(before1837) there's no marriage certificate to order.
Sorry
Ciderdrinker
Ps did the land records as well and nothing there for James Bailey either.

[DougNZ]

First, thank you, Ciderdrinker, for all your work on following this up.  I really appreciate it.

Here's what I know.  James Bailey showed up in the Taunton land tax records in 1800.  I note that James and Isabella were married in September but I recall that the land tax records were mid-year (though I cannot find where I noted that).  So that is a slight miss-fit.

Also, James had a son, William, who was born 1864-5.  The 1851 census records say he was born at Taunton but I have found no record of his baptism there.  That's another miss-fit.

Isabel Bailey died at Taunton in 1813, aged 49.  That means she was born about 1764 and would have been about 20 if she was William's mother.

I suspect that, if the Melcombe Regis marriage is the correct one, then Isabel(la) is James' second wife.  It could also be that James was Isabella's second husband.  After all, The witnesses are two Grant girls (maybe Isabella's sisters).

The next steps, I suggest, are:
*  to look for Isabel(la) Lambert or Grant baptised about 1764 
*  to look for a James Bailey, perfumer or hairdresser, in Weymouth
*  to look for James Bailey in Weymouth land tax records pre-1800 (did you find anything?)
*  to look for a marriage of Isabella Grant (?) to a Mr Lambert and his subsequent death

What do you think?

Regards

Doug

[DougNZ]

I jumped onto the OPC pages for Weymouth & Melcombe Regis, and Wyke Regis - no Grants or Lamberts in baptisms, marriages or deaths, and no Baileys (or variants)  that look likely.  Mind you, the baptisms from May 1765 to 1767 were missing.

Hmmmm.....

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
Did land tax records for Dorset 1780-1820 and no James Bailey at Melcombe.
No Grants at all before 1800 and  then a couple of children to a William and Mary.
No Bailey or Lambert baptisms ,no marriage.Years all there for baptisms.
All Ancestry
James Bailey and Isabella Lambert are bachelor and spinster so it should be their first marriage for both of them.Both of this parish and by banns,so no licence to find.Both signed their names if that helps.Isabella does seem a bit old to be marrying for the first time at 36.
Really can't see anything for them at all.
Ciderdrinker

[DougNZ]

Thank you, again, for all your work.

It all just doesn't seem right.  I'm assuming that William (b. c1784; perfumer/hairdresser) is the son of James (perfumer).  This is based on William taking over James' lease at Taunton.  Of course, he could be James' younger brother.  However, that does not take away from the fact that Isabel Bailey was born 1764 and would be, as you pointed out, about 36 at time of marriage, assuming she was the same Isabella Lambert.

Regards

Doug