So I think I’ve just found another twist in this case - I’ve found what I believe to be Joseph’s burial record in Rock in 1839, but he’s buried as Joseph Monk.
So I’m not 100% sure it’s the same one, but I’m pretty sure. I’ve found no records of any other Joseph Monks in Rock.
The dates almost match perfectly (birth is given as 1813 rather than 1816, but that could be a mistranscription, I suppose. That, or William and Elizabeth waited 3 years to have him baptised). burial date is given as 17th May 1839, two months after the baptism of Joseph Monkton’s second son, Thomas in Pattingham.
Now Rock is a long way to be buried away from Pattingham, especially when you’ve just had a son baptised there. Maybe Ann and Joseph had split up and Joseph had gone back to live with his father?
So this story just gets stranger and stranger. You have the Monk family, the sons all move away and by 1833 at least one of them is calling themselves ‘Monkton’. All of the other brothers have all followed suit by between ‘33 and ‘41.
One of the brothers, Joseph, gets married under his new name in Pattingham, but somehow ends up dying back in his hometown, while his father still lives. He is buried under his original name of Monk. Another Brother, Edward, returns to Rock either just before or just after his father dies, but he continues using Monkton. The name Monk seems to be buried with William.
Anybody have any ideas as to what’s happening here? I’m pretty stumped! Given that Joseph dies in Rock in ‘39, I think we can discount the idea of the kids deserting their father. Equally though, evidence suggests that William maybe either didn’t know or didn’t approve of the name change.
Thoughts?