Cummins Family Help

[verezzi]

Hello,

I have just began to unravel my Ancestry tree in a panic but I am looking for a little advice, a second opinion  or someone who might know the family?

So I have a Thomas Cummins born in Great Chilton to Richard Cummin (Thomas added the s to Cummins) around 1725. I can be sure of this as I have transcribed a collection of land documents from Durham Records Office where Richard passed on some land to my Thomas who eventually passes it on to his son Thomas- this is all ok as the addresses match my research... Now Thomas married and had children in Great Chilton however I know he migrated to Rainton Mill around 1773 as the family start turning up in records there. Thomas was a miller and eventually moved to Philadelphia and then Newbottle. He dies 1800 in Newbottle and a wife called Mary 'Wife of Thomas Cummings' dies in Newbottle 1796.

Now I, like 72 other Ancestry trees, have had this Thomas marry Mary Smith in Boldon 5th Sept 1745, bit of a jump in terms of distance but Thomas' father had historically tended a farm in nearby Heworth and I theorised he had been apprenticed out as a miller. This couple also have a son Richard baptised in Boldon 1746 who would be named after Thomas' father and just after this there are a lot of children born in Great Chilton and baptised at Kirk Merrington. This all seemed to check out and I was happy with this, but...

While transcribing the above mentioned land documents, one states that Thomas' wife was called Jane, I thought it was a clerical error at first (as the document also references Thomas' parents as 'Richard Cummins and his wife Jane' which is correct and I thought it might be a mistake) but it has made me panic a little, I have had this family in place for over ten years and I have even taken Mary Smith's line right back, however in light of this land document, I did a little digging and:

1. None of the Chilton baptisms state the mother, only the first Boldon one which may not be correct for my Thomas- I never found a further record for this first son Richard Cummins.
2. Durham Records Online has a 'Jane Cummins of Rainton Mill' die in 1773- I know my family were at Rainton Mill in this year as Thomas' son had this address for the baptism of an illegitimate child(!) so Thomas was almost certainly working the mill, is this his wife? Then again he had a daughter Jane born 1752, no age is given in the burial nor does it say 'daughter of'...
3. I have also found a record for a Thomas Cummins 'of Houghton le Spring' (parish for Philadelphia and Newbottle) marrying Mary Barkas at St Giles Durham in 1776- this could be the Mary for the above burial and a second marriage for Thomas which could suggest the land document is right - it is talking about claimants from 'Thomas Cummins the Elder and his wife Jane', if all the children were born to Jane this would be right.

Anyway, I feel I am undoing my own and many others' research. Any opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks for reading this overlong tale,

Dan

[rosie99]

Now I, like 72 other Ancestry trees, have had this Thomas marry Mary Smith in Boldon 5th Sept 1745,

I suspect that the majority of those 72 trees have just blindly copied another tree without checking anything out.        

[verezzi]

Probably, I am kind of seesawing between which is correct, it doesn't help that records are not complete for this family. I think I can rule out the Mary Barkas marriage though. there are a lot of children born to a Thomas and Mary at St Giles (where the marriage was) just after this marriage and they can't be mine...

[jomcd967]

Hi Dan,

What year do you first see Thomas baptising children? As there is a Thomas Cummin marrying a Jane Linsley in Brancepeth, 8 Jun 1742, it is noted the groom in is from Dsg?

Jo 

[verezzi]

Hello,

Thank you for replying! I saw the 1742 Jane Linsley marriage and it would fit in terms of year and place. I have been dithering over it all week! I might be being thick but what do you mean when you say the groom is 'from Dsg'? I haven't got the actual record, I must have written it down from Familysearch. I feel like I want to get to Durham Records Office but of course it will be closed for Covid.

Thomas' children start appearing for definite from 1747 at Kirk Merrington Church all born in Great Chilton but there may be children to find in another parish prior to that... Thomas was a miller and so may have travelled for work, he does flit about later in life when I can track him better moving to Rainton Mill, Philadelphia and finally Newbottle in North Durham. I found a land document for him selling a cottage at Great Chilton which confirms those latter addresses from the records are accurate- it is this land document that threw the name Jane at me!

Anyway thank you for the help and have a good week,

Dan

[Bookbox]

what do you mean when you say the groom is 'from Dsg'?

As written in the transcript. Probably = Durham St Giles.

[verezzi]

Ah, thank you, I can possibly put his brother in Durham Saint Giles for a burial, age matches and ‘native or Merrington’ thank you, this helps a lot.

Have a good week,

Dan