Hannah or Hanah North 1752 Almondbury, Yorkshire

[Anydogsbody]

Just revisiting this area of my tree and trying to re-assess the evidence.

My 2gGrandmother, Sarah North,was born to my 3gGrandmother Hannah North in 1777 (baptism Huddersfield St Peter 15th November 1777). The only relevant record for Hannah seems to be a birth in Almondbury(baptism Almondbury 22nd April 1752). The parish register puzzles me.

I had always assumed that because Sarah was born Sarah North and the register records only her mother, Hannah North, that Sarah was illegitimate. Is that necessarily true?

In my experience illegitimate children were recorded as such with sometimes, but not always, the name of the putative father. Alternatively, could Hannah have been a widow? What was her MS?

If so, one assumes that the father was alive 40 weeks or less before the birth. Who might he have been? I've tried looking for young male North deaths at the relevant time but drawn a blank.

I am very confident(DNA records) that the marriage of Sarah(North) to Joshua Cliff is correct. I am equally confident from DNA records that the North connection is correct and extends back to 1066 and beyond but there is just a slight area of confusion about exactly what the connection is in the mid 18th century.

Is anybody else working in this area? Views?

[PaulineJ]

Quite frankly, I'm surprised that you have but the one candidate.
With the prevalence of the North surname, I'd have expected to see a half dozen or so.

Have you looked at the original registers to see what comments may be against the 1777 record?

Pauline

[Anydogsbody]

Yes, I've looked at the original records and they don't help.

You've identified the problem though. North and Cliff may not be nationally common surnames but in south Yorks it's a bit like being called Smith!