Finding and confirming ancestors in parish records

[PR_1979]

I am working on the Shaw line of my tree and am at the parish record point. I have been trying to clear up the origin of a 5 x g grandmother but I don't have huge amounts of experience and wanted an opinion on my findings.

I will work backwards from a place I know is totally correct.
Esther Shaw 1822-1890, South Malling, East Sussex m William Kenney 1819-1854
Esther Shaw's parents were Richard Shaw 1770-1830 Bolney, East Sussex m Hetty Durrant 1779-
Richard Shaw's parents were Abraham Shaw 1735 m Sarah Buttonshaw ? They were married in 1763.

This is where I have a query that I need some help with. I have done several searches, varying spelling and estimated age of Sarah on Ancestry, I even left the location completely blank, and have come up with 3 records that could be potential matches. These all come from the All England Select Births & Christenings.

Sarah Buttonshaw, Baptism 20 April 1747, West Peckham, Kent. Parents - William and Elizabeth. This would make her 16 when she married. West Peckham is 41 miles from where my ancestors married in Warnham.

Sarah Burtonshaw, Baptism 28 Mar 1742, Cuckfield, East Sussex. Parents - Henry and Susan
Sarah Burtonshaw, Baptism 31 Mar 1742, Cuckfield, East Sussex. Parents - John and Sarah

These two Sarah's would have been 21 when married and Cuckfield is 15 miles from Warham.

Could anyone offer insight into how I would go about determining who is the Sarah I am after?

Thanks for any help you can give.

P.

This is the only Sarah Buttonshaw that I have found

[groom]

Welcome to Rootschat.

I would think that it is one of the Cuckfield Sarahs, rather than the Kent one. Looking on FamilySearch, it seems to have been a common name there with a spelling of Burtenshaw. It is going to be difficult to find which one it is unless the original parish records give a father's name and often they didn't!

Instinct tells me it could be John and Sarah and that Sarah is named after her mother. Have you got the names of Abraham and Sarah's children - do they call any of them Henry, Susan, John or Sarah?

FamilySearch  https://familysearch.org

[groom]

Not a lot of help but this is the other Sarah's marriage, unfortunately it doesn't give her father's name to eliminate her.

 Sarah  Burtenshaw
 Marriage     14 Oct 1769
 Cuckfield, Sussex
 Spouse:   Thomas  Broad

[Jebber]

Have you looked for family wills? If you can find any, they  can often be a help in sorting out relationships.

[km1971]

Pre-internet you would go back to the parish of birth and look for the girl's early death and then later, her marriage. You should be able to eliminate all but one. It may be easier now as more church records are being published on CD or on websites. So you do not have to physically travel to the record office holding the records.

Failing that you would look in church records for surrounding parishes, gradually extending the search. I would also ask at the Record Office in case there are other records available. The poor could ask for relief from the parish, and the ledgers they used to record payments often survive. Local rich families may also have records that record details of locals employed on the estate.

41 miles is a long way to travel except if the places are connected by canal or sea. So I would research her last.

Ken

[jim1]

As well as the above you need to look at the original entries & see if there are any siblings as witnesses.

[BCJ2016]

I think the Sarah you are looking for is this one, born in Ifield which is nearby north of Bolney. Her father is a Richard too. If you look on the Sussex Weald website you can find your family, plus another family from Richard's elder brother Abraham (he was born in Oakwood in 1767). The have emailed this information to the Weald website, so your should see the link between the two families in the near future. I will also be adding more information on Sarah's parents as well.

As for Abraham snr - I'm still looking for his place of birth, though I have discovred that he died at the age of 87 in 1822, making his date of birth circa 1734.

Sarah Buttenshaw bpt 3 Jul 1739 Ifield, Sussex
dau of Richd & Ann Buttenshaw     


Regards - BJ

[BCJ2016]

Ref: Shaw / Buttenshaw families.

Hi, I suggest you look at the work I have provided for the Shaw Tree on http://theweald.org/N10.asp?NId=5826

Sarah parents were Richard Buttenshaw and Ann Allen, both born circa 1700.

I would welcome any further information you may come across on Abraham Shaw b1734 - birth location unknown