Hello!
This is my first post and I hope I'm not making any major errors with rules or etiquette. I'm a bit wary about the possibility of copyright issues with images, but I'm not sure how else to ask for help deciphering the surnames and birth place from the marriage record and various censuses.
I'm also hoping this board is the best fit for the queries I have - it isn't wholly about handwriting and, as I write this, I wouldn't know which regional board to use.
Could I ask for help / advice / wisdom / knowledge / leads, please? I am struggling to identify somebody with no certain surname and no convincing idea of where she was born.
The person in question is
Martha P, who married
James CHAMBERS in 1851 in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. I would dearly love to find a record of her birth, and I think for that need to confirm her surname and just where it is that she came from.
I believe her surname to be something similar to
PILKERTON but feel I've exhausted the usual websites with every variation of that, wildcards and all. I know her father's name was Richard but no joy there, either. I'm finding nothing even vaguely close enough to feasibly be either of them. When I try the name in speech marks for an exact search of the internet, the sole result is a thread on this very site from 2006.
As for her place of birth... I don't really know where to begin looking. It changes from census to census, but I'm pretty sure Ireland is mentioned. If this is the case then I guess I'm pretty overwhelmed - I've been reading all I can find about searching for Irish records, but feel lost without a clearer idea of what part of the country to be looking at.
All the information I have is below and in an approximate timeline. I have the original sources for everything below except
Martha's birth / baptism. I have underlined things I'm not sure of, and I'd be grateful of other people's interpretations of the information in the census snippets and marriage record that are attached.
Very big thanks in advance
Martha is assumed to have been born around 1828. Her father was Richard.
James was (presumably) born 1830/1831 and was baptised 24 Jan 1831 at St Mary's, Whittlesey.
His parents were John CHAMBERS, a thatcher, and Ann FALKNER of Woolpack(?) Lane, Whittlesey.
In the 1851 census,
James is living with his parents and working as an agricultural labourer.
Martha ? ? ? is a lodger in the household and also working an ag lab. Her place of birth is given as
Dublin.
24 Aug 1851,
James and
Martha marry at St Andrew's, Whittlesey. His age is given as 20 and hers as 22. Her father is named as Richard
PILKERTON, a labourer.
Four children are born to the couple, all registered at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. The General Register Office lists the mother's maiden name as PILKINGTON on all four records.
Mary Ann CHAMBERS b: Q4 1852
Martha CHAMBERS b: Q1 1854
James CHAMBERS b: Q3 1855 d: Q2 1857
John Thomas CHAMBERS b: Q2 1858
In the 1861 census
Martha gives her place of birth as
Rahoon, Co. Galway, Ireland.
The couple bear another child, registered at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. The General Register Office lists the mother's maiden name as PILKINGTON on the record.
James CHAMBERS b: Q2 1864
In the 1871 census,
Martha gives her age as 43 and her place of birth as
Ireland.
In the 1881 census,
Martha gives her age as 53 and her place of birth as
Ireland.
In the 1891 census,
Martha gives her age as 61 and her place of birth as Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.
In the 1901 census,
Martha gives her age as 73 and her place of birth as
Not Known.
Q2 1901,
James dies and his death is registered in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.
Q1 1903,
Martha dies and her death is registered in Peterborough, Northamptonshire. The General Register Office lists her name at death as Martha Matilda CHAMBERS. (Although this is the first I'd seen of a middle name, it helped assure me this was the correct person - her daughter and granddaughter are both named Martha Matilda.)
