Worrall Family research

[B Daniel]

Hello!  I am in Canada and researching my family tree.  I am looking for information on the family of Nathan Worrall and Frances Prescott who were married in London in 1721, St James.  I believe we have a connection to them and that their son or grandson may have immigrated to New England just before the revolution.  But all I can find is their marriage and nothing else.  Any suggestions on where I can look next as have not been able to locate anything so far.  Many thanks.

[ColC]

Possible baptisms?

Nathaniel Worrall
Baptism   25/02/1693 Tewin, Hertfordshire,
Father    Thomas

Frances Prescott
Baptism   12/09/1693 Saint Anne Soho, Westminster, London,
Parents    William & Elizabeth

London, England, Clandestine Marriage 1721
Date blacked out. Name transcribed Nathan Worral
Record not clear but appears a Nathen ?oorall, St James, Mason
Frances Prescott ditto

Name transcribed Mathew on family search

I have checked on find my past and strangely enough there were a number of baptisms for the name Worrall at Saint Anne Soho, Westminster, London, where Frances may have been baptised. Sadly they were in the mid 1700s so maybe the next generation but one of the baptisms was for a Nathan, I am not a member so could not check the detail.

According to family search the records should be on find my past.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/St_Anne_Soho,_Middlesex_Genealogy

However I am on Ancestry and I checked the baptisms there but it only covers the years 1800-1810.

So access to find my past might help, even if you find the later ones mentioned above it might give a trail back to the 1720s?

Colin

[B Daniel]

Thanks so much!!! You know I actually looked at that marriage as well.  I did find a trade certificate for "Mathew" not long after that.  But I think Frances may have died in 1726 according to a record I found.  If they had child, which I cannot seem to locate anywhere, I think this could be a connection.  But again, the trail appears to go cold.  My 2 x great grandmother, Mary jane Worrall,  was born about 1824 so if there is a connection, Frances might be a great grandmother.  Wondering if there might be ship records of a Worrall going to the New World but not sure where to find this.  I also believe Mary Jane's mom and Dad were from Nova Scotia which means they may have been loyal to Britain but can't find anything.  I think I might try and track Mathew (who I also thought was Nathan) to see what happened to him. Interesting to note they married at Fleet Street prison so thinking Mathew had some money issues.

[Bookbox]

Interesting to note they married at Fleet Street prison so thinking Mathew had some money issues.

People who married at the Fleet were not generally prisoners. Originally, the clergy who performed these ‘irregular’ or ‘clandestine’ marriages may have been confined to the Fleet Prison for debt, but that was not always the case.

Fleet marriages were not necessarily in the prison itself but were performed in many different unlicensed venues in the surrounding area (known as the 'Rules of the Fleet'), commonly in pubs and coffee-houses.

There is no particular significance in getting married at the Fleet at this period. It has been estimated that about 40% of London marriages in the early to mid-1700s took place in the Fleet, the Mayfair Chapel or another unlicensed venue. It was a quick, easy and cheap way to get married, with no questions asked about age or consent, no witnesses required, and little fuss. Hardwicke’s Marriage Act put a stop to it in 1754.

There’s a brief explanation here ...
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ypm/

... and an excellent TNA podcast here.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ypl/