Is guesswork permitted here?

[Wulfsige]

If guesswork is permitted here, please offer the benefit of your suggestions about my wife's ancestor Edward Woodger:

- March 1814 banns of marriage are announced between Elizabeth Woodger and Edward Wooding
- May 1814 Edward, the spurious son of Elizabeth Woodger is christened
- July 1814 Edward Wooding aged 19 marries Elizabeth Woodger aged 21
- 1815ff children of the union are christened Wooding; spurious Edward remains Woodger.

What was going on? Banns in March, wedding in July; husband aged just come 19, bride 21; illegitimate son born in between, father not named. Any ideas?

[Tickettyboo]

You didn't say where the baptism and marriage took place. I searched and it seems to have been East Malling, Kent. There is no indication of when the child was born, just the baptism date.
Perhaps the wedding was planned and she went into labour, so the marriage was postponed for a while.
Spurious just means illegitimate, which he was as his mother was single at the time. Even if the father was known its not common for a father's name to be recorded on an illegitimate baptism.

Two choices, either he was Edward Wooding's child or he wasn't, no evidence one way or another in the records.
Was Edward(jnr) recorded in census returns as Woodger or Wooding? If he married what does his marriage record say about his father?
Boo

[Bookbox]

- March 1814 banns of marriage are announced between Elizabeth Woodger and Edward Wooding
- May 1814 Edward, the spurious son of Elizabeth Woodger is christened
- July 1814 Edward Wooding aged 19 marries Elizabeth Woodger aged 21
- 1815ff children of the union are christened Wooding; spurious Edward remains Woodger.
What was going on?

One possibility is that someone objected to the banns. If she was under 21 at that time, she'd have needed parental consent to marry. So maybe they just waited until she was of age? Nothing very unusual in that.

ADDED
Looking at the image, I think it's Woodyer, not Woodger.

[Guy Etchells]

If guesswork is permitted here, please offer the benefit of your suggestions about my wife's ancestor Edward Woodger:

- March 1814 banns of marriage are announced between Elizabeth Woodger and Edward Wooding
- May 1814 Edward, the spurious son of Elizabeth Woodger is christened
- July 1814 Edward Wooding aged 19 marries Elizabeth Woodger aged 21
- 1815ff children of the union are christened Wooding; spurious Edward remains Woodger.

What was going on? Banns in March, wedding in July; husband aged just come 19, bride 21; illegitimate son born in between, father not named. Any ideas?

I am not exactly sure what you are asking.
First it is normal for child to only be baptised once and against the "rules" of the Church of England to be baptised more than once.

Was Edward the first child of Elizabeth Woodger or did she and Edward Wooding have more children, if they had more children were they born before or after the marriage?

Edward had been baptised in 1814 so he should not be baptised again if there were other children renamed are you sure they were baptised previously?
Cheers
Guy

[Wulfsige]

Some good thinking here so far: thank you. In reply:

Yes, it all happened in East Malling; my wife was born nearby in Basted: there were (and are) a lot of Woodgers in the area.

Elizabeth was christened in February 1793 and the banns were read in March 1814, so she had just passed her 21st birthday.

She and Edward Wooding had further children, after their wedding, who were christened Wooding (not Woodger)

The name was variously spelled Woodyer, Woodgier, Woodger; it has settled down as Woodger since those far off days 200+ years ago

Edward jnr remained Woodger in the censuses till his final one (1881).

Elizabeth would have been 19 when she conceived Edward; I am not aware of any previous 'spurious' children

I cannot see any reference to his or his bride's parents on the banns and wedding records - which on all fam hist sites are only transcripts. On both of these he appears as Edward Wogger (no worse than one elusive Thomas Proctor, who appears as Thomas Prodger in one census).

I guess the only way to explore further whether his biological father was Edward Wooding would be to compare Wooding and Woodger DNA as the forum kindly explained at great length for me on another thread: but as it is my wife's family, I shall leave that to her after she retires and develops the hobby more. Once again, many thanks.

[LizzieL]

Elizabeth would have been 19 when she conceived Edward; I am not aware of any previous 'spurious' children

You say Elizabeth was baptised in February 1793, so she would be at least 21 and 3 months old when her son Edward was baptised in May 1814. So was Edward between 1 and 2 when baptised?


And the marriage is on 18th July, more than 3 months after last reading of the banns - 27th march

[Wulfsige]

Thank you for pointing this out. Here are the details of christenings and wedding:

Elizabeth Woodger 17 February 1793
Edward Wooding July 1795
Edward Woodger  May 1814 (so conceived ca August 1813)
marriage July 1814.

This gave my calculations of their ages, and I agree you are correct about Elizabeth. It doesn't seem as if the parish records for East Malling have been digitised on any of the family history websites, and some dates are only from transcripts where it is not made plain whether the date is of the birth or the christening. If I ever make the terrifying journey around London on the M25, I may be able to consult the originals in the Kent county archives!

[Tickettyboo]

https://www.familysearch.org/centers/locations/

If there is a family history centre near you, you should be able to view these images there (not available to view on the web).
Always a good idea to find your nearest and ring to check  before going.

Boo

[Wulfsige]

Hmmm... I don't know, though I've never heard of one. I have always used county records in situ, or such sites as Ancestry. It is an idea worth looking into.