William Gray (Grey) & Harriet Prior (Pryor)

[Beckey]

Hi Pat,

Have just got a BMD for Alconbury Weston, do you want me to look anything up?

[bedfordshire boy]

Hi Beckey

Perhaps I might add a few requests until Pat gets online

Any Gray baptisms between 1805-1819 (the BVRI shows none, but something may have been missed)

Any details of the 1818 marriage of William Gray

Any details of the burials of John and Charles Gray in 1815 and 1817 respectively

Any trace of a burial of William Gray 1851-1855

Thanks and regards

David

[pflaagan]

Hi, David & Beckey, David seems to have covered most of my questions, but I'm also wondering if there is a Gray marriage that might be William's parents during the time frame of 1814-1818? I know it would not be possible to tell, but it might give me something more to work on.

Thank you to both of you.

Sincerely,
Pat

PS I have been doing translations for FreeBMD for over a year.

[Beckey]

Hi David & Pat.

Alconbury cum Weston,(St Peter & St Paul).

2/1/1815 Gray  John of London  26.
22/4/1817  Gray  Charles of Weston  27.

No William Gray shown until 1868.

Baptisms.
25/12/1805  Gray  Hannah  daughter of Samuel & Ann.
18/6/1819  Gray  James  son of William & Mary Ann  Basket Maker.
24/8/1820  Gray  Samuel  son of William & Mary  Basket Maker.

Marriage.

28/10/1818  Gray  William  (x)  Widower otp      By Banns
                    Allen  Mary Ann  (x)  sp otp.
Witness  Joseph Sharp & George Williamson.


Hope these are of some help, let me know if there are any more you want.

Have also being doing some transcribing for FreeCen.

[bedfordshire boy]

Thanks Beckey.

So...
William wasn't baptised in Alconbury-Weston (which is not to say he wasn't born there
and just wasn't baptised)
Nor was he buried in A-W - but Pat, you say he would have died 1852-54.
I've checked FreeBMD and see Harriet didn't remarry William Oliver until the Dec
quarter 1859 so William's death might have been later than you think.
But Beckey confirms he wasn't buried in Alconbury Weston.

The previous marriage of a male Gray in A-W was in 1802, so no clues there. Nor
was the first wife of the William, widower otp who married in 1818 buried in A-W
(in fact there's only one female Gray buried in Hunts from 1810-18 of the right
age and she was Susannah buried St Neots 24 Nov 1817 age 22, but I don't
know if she was married or not).

I'm out of ideas other than Huntingdon records office as in my earlier post.

Regards

David

[Beckey]

Hi David,

Just to make sure have re checked and the only baptism was,
10/12/1788 Gray Wm  s of John & Eliz his wife.
buried 20/4/1789 Wm s of John & Eliz.

1/4/1797 Gray William s of John & Eliz  (BT Elizabeth).

I think the last one would be pushing it a bit to be married again in 1818.

[pflaagan]

Hi David & Beckey.

Although William's children were born in Alconbury Weston, & he was living there in 1841 before his marriage, he & Harriet were married in Old Weston. Maybe he was born there. That would not be included in the Alconbury Weston births/baptisms, would it? Harriet (Prior) Gray was born in Winwick.

His father & mother would have been married sometime in the years before his birth - even up to 10 years before if there were other siblings? Or if he was the first child, they might have married the same year he was born.

When contacting the Huntingdon record office, do you have to have all the specific information before they will check?

Sincerely,

Pat

[bedfordshire boy]

Hi Pat

Old Weston was  a separate parish, whose parish register has been filmed by the LDS, and has also been transcribed and is available on fiche from Hunts FHS for the princely sum of £4-50 according to their website at http://www.huntsfhs.org.uk/Publications/Fiche-8.html

There were no Gray burials there

Winwick and Old Weston are only a mile apart

There were 22 male Gray marriages in Hunts 1804-18, but none of them leap out and hit you as being the one.

You have the reference for the quarter sessions entry, so Huntingdon should be able to trace that without any trouble,  and the only charge should be for photocopying.. In Alconbury Weston you are looking for any Gray entries in the parish chest say 1810-1855, particularly any involving settlement issues; and in Old Weston you just need a baptism check for William. You don't need to provide them with any other information - but this would probably be classed as research so they would charge for this - http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/what/hrs/

Good luck

David

[pflaagan]

Hi. I think I have found my William Gray. I sent a request to the Huntingdon Record Office, & the archives assistant there, not only replied to me, but also sent my request on to the Cambridge Record Office. They very quickly answered with the following:

Dear Pat Flaagan,

My colleague Laura Ibbet has passed your enquiry to me here at the Record office in Cambridge concerning your query into William Gray's birthplace as appears in the census. 'Cambridge Well' is a generic term for Upwell and Outwell. We then checked the Cambs. Baptism Index which confirms that he was born in Upwell.

I hope this information helps.
Yours sincerely
Yaye Tang
Archives Assistant

Since they found him in a Baptism Index, does that mean there is a certificate that I can request?

Sincerely,

Pat Flaagan
(on a very hot day in Grand Forks, North Dakota USA)