Looking for Assistance Re Margaret Chapman and Edward Parkinson

[fgp]

I have Edward Parkinson born around 1827 and died 1896  I have Edward and Margaret showing up on the 1861 register as married. Their Son James Edward was born around 1956.

I cannot find any record of the marriage. I have checked every source i can think of and would appreciate any assistance in locating it or even where else to look

Margaret was born around 1833 in Manchester and died 1866 in Pontypool

After Margaret died he remarried Emma Watkins In 1868  in Pontypool

[Greensleeves]

I've found the birth certificate of the son James Edward, born Wolverhampton 3 June 1856 which states 'Margaret Parkison (sic) formerly Chapman'.    It states that the father's occupation was 'Dealer in Hardware' so I am wondering if they travelled about a lot.  In the later years when he was married to Emma in Pontypool, he is shown as a 'Hawker'.

[IgorStrav]

It may of course be that Edward and Margaret did not marry, but lived together, and had a son as Greensleeves has discovered.

I have in my own family some ancestors who travelled in their work, and though they had a number of children did not marry.  The woman was described as 'wife' in census though.

[fgp]

Thank you Those are the correct records. There is always a chance he was never married I have searched many sites and documentation but have never found anything.
I've had difficulty tracing her family records as well. Its very difficult with limited information

Thank You

Francis

[Greensleeves]

I agree with Igor that it's quite possible they never married; plenty of people in my tree lived together and raised families without getting married.  The woman simply took the man's name and in those days, no-one would have been the wiser, particularly if the family moved about a lot.

I don't know anything of Edward's background, but as he was a hawker of sorts, I am wondering if he came from a travelling family.  If so, that would make the possibility of finding a marriage even more unlikely.

I have been trying to find Margaret Chapman in the 1841 and 1851 censuses without success, but as I don't have much information on her, there's very little to go on, bearing in mind her not unusual name.  Do you have any details of her parents or siblings that could help?

[fgp]

Unfortunately I don't have much to go on. She is the only one in the family that we don't have any details on at all. The census gives me the place of Birth and the Birth certificate for the son gives the rest of the details.

I appreciate the help but it may have to go down as unsolvable

Francis

[Scoli53]

Hi all,

I’m a descendant of Mary Ann Parkinson (b 27 Aug 1861 Kings Lynn) and Joseph Partridge (b? d Birmingham 1899) and am returning to genealogy after a very lengthy break.

I’m in the middle of tidying up the complete muddle that constituted my research but am keen to take my Partridge/Parkinson/Chapman lines further back. My Partridges are even more elusive than the Parkinson/Chapmans and when I looked into this many years ago I suspected (hoped) the families may have travelled the country together.

As I say I never moved on from the novice stage of genealogy but hopefully some of the following is relevant:

1) Birth certificate Mary Ann Parkinson, born Aug 27th 1861 at (?) Yard, Norfolk Street, daughter of Margaret Parkinson formerly Chapman and Edward Parkinson, a herbalist. (Interestingly, the registrar was named Horatio Nelson who I believe was the grandson of Lord Nelson).
The 1861 census, giving us Edward and Margaret as living in Wellingborough, was taken on April 7th 1861 so the family must have moved from there to Kings Lynn between then and Mary Ann’s birth in August.
There were seventeen other Chapmans living in Kings Lynn at the time of the 1861 census, three families and six individuals. One of the families lived in ‘Thurrock Yard, Norfolk Street’ which is either close to or the actual place of Mary Ann’s birth.
MARY CHAPMAN, 66 ,Head, born Hunstanton, Norfolk
ANN CHAPMAN, 41, Daughter, born Kings Lynn
WILLIAM CHAPMAN, 21, Grandson, born Kings Lynn, and curiously an ANN CHAPMAN, 72, Lodger, born Kings Lynn.
Is it possible Margaret had a connection to this family or the other Chapmans in Kings Lynn?


2) Certificate of Baptism John Edward Partridge, son of Joseph Partridge and Mary Ann Parkinson, June 5th 1892, St Peter’s Catholic Church, Cardiff. Edward Parkinson is listed as godfather.

3) Marriage Certificate Edward Parkinson (36, widowed) and Emma Watkins (38, widowed) 1868 Pontypool. It’s difficult to decipher but says the church was Catholic.
Edward and Emma’s residence is simply given as Pontypool, her father being David Thomas, a collier. The big news though is Edward’s father is given as Francis Parkinson (deceased), a builder.


4) Edward Parkinson’s occupation on death certificate of Margaret Parkinson (d Dec 26th 1866, Frosnant, Pontypool) is a cotton spinner.

Cardiff and Birmingham are two of the main clusters for Partridges, and to a lesser extent around Pontypool and Wellingborough, so the theory that they travelled with the Parkinsons holds up.  Indeed, in the 1861 census Edward and Margaret live two doors away from a Partridge family in White Place, Wellingborough.

Anyway, my apologies for the ramble and jumbled up information but hopefully it all helps.

Steven

[Scoli53]

One other point - according to someone else researching their Parkinsons on Ancestry Mary Ann was known as Polly.