Alexander Hughes/Catherine Smith, St Hilda's South Shields 1815/16 - LOOKUP

[Sandrafamilytree]

Hoping someone might be able to help.

There are two marriages for Alexander Hughes and Catherine Smith at St Hilda's, South Shields.

One is listed for 26 November 1815 and the other is 4 January 1816.

I think that one of these couples are my 3rd-great-grandparents.

Is anyone able to look up any additional information on those marriage records (parents? occupation?) to provide further clues?

All I can see on Ancestry are the 'bare' two records with the bride and groom names, and marriage dates and locations (so nothing to distinguish between the two!)

Many thanks!

[ColC]

I think it is likely that it is one couple and the first date was Banns and the second the marriage.

Colin

[ColC]

This is the record on https://www.durhamrecordsonline.com/SearchResults.php - £1:50 for record.

Marriages   South Shields   1816   Alexander   Hughes      this parish

Colin

[Tickettyboo]

If you look at the records on Ancestry the source is Family Search
They quote a film number
the ones dated Nov have film no 1894153 and the 4th Jan is film no 1894149

Go to Family Search.
https://www.familysearch.org (you need to be signed in to search and view any records but an account is free and easy to set up)

Search Catalogue, enter the film number for the Nov entry and the only likely records for that time frame are Banns
The other film is the marriage registers.
So Colin was spot on when he said the earlier one would be an entry for reading of the banns and these two records refer to the same couple.

The images for the Bishops transcripts are available to browse on Family Search and this is the marriage on 4th Jan 1816
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6SN3-11J?i

For this time period you are very unlikely to get info about fathers etc on a marriage record.

Boo

[ColC]

You may have seen this 1861 census?

Mill Dam Dock Cottage, South Shields

HUGHES   Alexander   Head   M   M   66   Store Keeper   Ross and Cromarty   Stornoway      
HUGHES   Catherine   Wife   M   F   58      Northumberland   North Shields      
HAND   James   Boardr   W   M   56   Mariner   Northumberland   North Shields      
DAVISON   Margaret   Servnt   S   F   16   House Servant   Northumberland   North Shield      

Sadly I cannot find 1841/51 censuses or a baptism for Alexander on https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, one possible baptism below.

Thomas Hughes
Baptism 6 Jul 1825
Tynemouth, Northumberland,
Father: Alexander Hughes
Mother:Catherine Hughes


Colin

[Tickettyboo]

There is a 'possible' record in the Masters and Mates database on Ancestry for an Alexander Hughes whose register ticket was 230287 (that's his register ticker, not the Master cert no), it says he's been in 'foreign' trade for 28 years, so quite likely not to be found at home for the census dates.

FindMyPast have earlier merchant navy records for a man of this name and ticket no, birthplace matches that 1861 census record and the latest date on those records that I can see is 1854.
the 1851 record says he was 5ft 3ins tall, dark hair, blue eyes, fresh complexion and first went to sea as an apprentice in 1814 :-)
Though I know that there were sad reasons for these physical descriptions (identifying bodies washed ashore after a shipwreck) I just love these glimpses we get in these very old records.

Boo

[Tickettyboo]

1851 census - possible
Piece 2409, folio 342, page 68
6 South St, Tynemouth
Catherine Hughes, Head, married age 49, seaman's wife, born North Shields
children all born North Shields:
James, son, unmarried, age 32 seaman
Alexander son, unmarried, age 18, boat builder apprentice
William, son age 14, butcher apprentice
Mary daughter, age 12, scholar
James Horner, step father, widower, age 73, formerly seaman, born Wakefield, Yorkshire

That youngest child is possibly Mary Jeffrey Hughes, Q4 1838, Tynemouth, MMN Smith on the GRO births
and this looks likely to be her baptism from the BTs on Family Search

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6S8Q-Z4D?i

Boo

[Sandrafamilytree]

Many thanks Col and TickettyBoo for your valuable help.

I've been researching for just a few weeks and I'm completely new to this -  I'm still getting used to the various sources of advice available.

I do have a FamilySearch account and use it a lot. I did find the 'text only' transcripts for Alexander/Catherine on FamilySearch but I didn't find the Bishops' Transcript originals so the advice about using the 'film' numbers is really valuable to me. Also useful is that guidance on Banns - I'll watch out for that.

ColC - I did find that 1861 Census and now that I know there aren't two families, I am pretty sure those are my relatives. I also found an 1871 Census with Alexander (born Stornoway) and Catherine plus the same lodger (James Hand).

Also there's an 1851 Census with a Catherine Hughes in South Street, North Shields and described as a 'Seaman's wife'. The dates seem to fit. That could be because Alexander was away at the time, especially as she wasn't described as a Widow.

I had identified several possible children, and now I know there are probably not two couples and families to muddle, I will pursue their details.

Yes, Mary Jeffreys Hughes is definitely my relative, TickettyBoo - the name Mary Jeffreys was passed down the line.

Many thanks again and best wishes to you.

[Tickettyboo]

No matter how long any of us have been doing this, we all learn new tricks in here:-)
https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=https://www.familysearch.org/service/cds/recapi/collections/1309819/waypoints

That's the main page for the BTs for the Diocese of Durham. As you can see it covers more than just the county of Durham and though the images are just browsable if, as you have done, you have a date and a parish that narrows it down enough to find what you are looking for.

NB If the parish/ date range can't be found from that page, its always worth going back to the catalogue and search using the parish place name. There may be records in the database that have been missed off that main list.

The only niggle I have with these possible census returns is the stated age for Catherine - she would have been very young in 1816 - though its possible for her to have married aged 14-16, I'd be spreading the date range when looking for a possible baptism as ages on census returns aren't always spot on.

Boo