Seeking descendents of Abraham & Jane HANCHARD

[familydar]

I am descended from Thomas WOOD and his wife was Elizabeth.  I'm trying to establish whether my Thomas's wife was Elizabeth HANCHARD.  She seems the best "fit" in terms of age and location but it's a common pair of forenames not helped by the extremely common surname of the groom and the dense population of London 200 years ago.  Both seem to have died between the 1841 and 1851 censuses.

It appears that Elizabeth's parents were Abraham and Jane nee MERRY.  They had a number of children.  Elizabeth was bap 1793 at Bethnal Green. Siblings Mary, Jane, Harriett, Jno, Abraham and James.

I'm hoping that someone descended from one of Elizabeth's siblings might have taken an autosomal DNA test.  I know it won't be conclusive but it might be of help in ruling Elizabeth HANCHARD in or out as my 3xGGM.

Jane :-)

[Ruskie]

Their marriage entry can be viewed on Ancestry - St Mary Whitechapel - 3rd July 1815.
Married by licence. There could be a number of reasons for this but if this is the Elizabeth Hanchard who you think is baptised in 1793 they did not marry by licence due to her being under age.
Both signed in a confident hand.
One of the witnesses, whose name I can't decipher, might be worth investigating.
Elizabeth Hanchard is of the Parish of St Matthew Bethnal Green.

[familydar]

Thank you Ruskie, sorry I didn't spell this out, trying to avoid a long rambling post, but I already have a copy of that marriage.  I think it was by licence because the couple were of two different parishes.  Like you I can't decipher the name of the second witness but I'm not able to turn it into any known family names.  Witness 1 witnessed a number of marriages so I suspect he was "professional" rather than known to the couple.

Jane :-)

[Ruskie]

The couple coming from different parishes wouldn't necessarily be the reason for marriage by licence I don't think.

I agree that names, places and dates seem to tally, but you still need that extra proof, though I can't think where to go to find that.

Do you have the family in the 1841 census to see if they have extended family living with them? I know you said you think they died between 1841 and 1851 - is that because you can't find them in the 1851 census? Have you looked at all the children through the censuses in the hope that you may get some clues from someone living with them?

Witnesses to the children's marriages? 

I'm sure someone will have some better suggestions for you.

[familydar]

I admit that until now my approach has been to "attack" it from the WOOD angle, and I've tried all the things you suggest - zilch.  With luck I'll have more success with the HANCHARDs - at least it's a less common name - but I only started on them yesterday.  After ignoring this brick wall for a couple of decades ("too difficult"), a DNA match has got me looking at it again.

There are a couple of trees on Ancestry (same owner from the look of things) which give some good pointers regarding the Hanchards, but nothing on Elizabeth other than her parentage.  It doesn't look as if the owner has done a DNA test, or at least not with Ancestry, perhaps if they read this they might consider it.  I don't have an ancestry subscription - use it at the library - so can't make contact through their messaging system.

Jane :-)

[Ruskie]

Someone may be willing to contact the tree owner on your behalf Jane. It is worth asking. 

[familydar]

Thanks for the suggestion Ruskie, I wasn't sure whether it would be allowed but since nobody has said otherwise I presume it is.  Also I thought I'd give it till today to see if the Ancestry free weekend would enable me to send my own message, but sadly not.

So this is a plea for someone to contact this Ancestry user on my behalf, and point them to this Rootschat thread, then they can choose whether they wish to engage.

I don't want this unsuspecting person to be bombarded with multiple requests, so could I ask that if you are willing to do this for me, you pm me here and I will pm you back with the Ancestry user name of the person I would like to get in touch with.  As soon as you let me know the deed is done I'll update this post so Rootschatters know the matter is in hand.

Thanks in anticipation

Jane :-)