Rebeecca Lovege [or Lovedge]

[MattD30]

This is a long shot but I am hoping someone may be able to point me towards a christening for this lady.

Rebecca Lovege married Francis Page at Newbury on 12 June 1690. Both Francis and Rebecca were described as "of Newbury" but I can't find any record of a Rebecca Lovege in the area or other parishes. Francis was born in Newbury in 1669 and was an innholder by trade.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Many thanks everyone.
Matt

[QueenoftheWest]

I also cannot find an obvious baptism for this lady, so I'm going to take a "think outside the box" approach.

When looking at the names of the couple's parents, I like first to look at the names of their children, as many couples (albeit, not all) followed traditional naming patterns. However, I cannot view an image of the parish register and I can only find transcriptions for 2 children:

- Francis (1691)
- William (1705)

There were obviously children born in between, including 2 daughters, whose husbands are mentioned in Francis' will. For others, here is a link to a free copy of Francis' will:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D630364

Can see a mention of Francis (1691) in there, but did not see any other sons (having said that, it is rather long and I only skimmed it).

I then went about finding others who lived in Newbury and shared Rebecca's uncommon surname. I then found this marriage:
Robert Lovadge married Rebecca Ratcliffe on 24th August 1670 at St Nicholas, Newbury, by banns.

Searching for their children, I again found large gaps:
- Robert (exact year of baptism unknown, but between 1660-99)
- James (1676)

Could they have been Rebecca's parents? She would have been under the age of 21 when she married Francis, but it is possible she was the eldest daughter and could have been at least 18 in 1690.

An administration and inventory of the estate of a Robert Loveidge, weaver of Newbury, took place in 1696. Unfortunately, since this is just an administration, it is unlikely to provide a definitive answer as to whether he was Rebecca's father.

Just though I would share my theory!

Queenie 

[Daisypetal]

HI,

I found this entry in the Berkshire Baptisms Index, unfortunately I can't see the image but maybe someone else here can,


Baptism date:  10 Oct 1671
St Nicolas, Newbury

Last name:  LOVEDGE
First name(s)    -

Mother's first name(s):  Rebecca
Father's first name(s):    -
Father's last name:    LOVEDGE


Regards,
Daisy

[QueenoftheWest]

Baptism date:  10 Oct 1671
St Nicolas, Newbury

Last name:  LOVEDGE
First name(s)    -

Mother's first name(s):  Rebecca
Father's first name(s):    -
Father's last name:    LOVEDGE

As far as I know, the Berkshire Archives have not yet digitised the parish registers. I myself am also hoping the images are one day available online.

This would match with the marriage I mentioned above, so it seems like it is definitely possible this is Rebecca's baptism.

Queenie 

[MattD30]

Thanks to both Queenie and Daisy

I definitely think you've got something there and I recon we are onto something here. The "out of the box" approach used by Queenie is very similar to an approach I use sometimes.

I will take a proper look tomorrow after work and see if I can add anything as well.

Matt

[KN]

May be completely unrelated but there's a Rebecca Lovedge baptised 21/7/1672 at St Giles, Cripplegate, London, listed on Ancestry.

Father Will, and mother Rebecca.

The original is difficult to read so I'm trusting the transcription.

KN

[MattD30]

I also cannot find an obvious baptism for this lady, so I'm going to take a "think outside the box" approach.

When looking at the names of the couple's parents, I like first to look at the names of their children, as many couples (albeit, not all) followed traditional naming patterns. However, I cannot view an image of the parish register and I can only find transcriptions for 2 children:

- Francis (1691)
- William (1705)

There were obviously children born in between, including 2 daughters, whose husbands are mentioned in Francis' will. For others, here is a link to a free copy of Francis' will:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D630364

Can see a mention of Francis (1691) in there, but did not see any other sons (having said that, it is rather long and I only skimmed it).

I then went about finding others who lived in Newbury and shared Rebecca's uncommon surname. I then found this marriage:
Robert Lovadge married Rebecca Ratcliffe on 24th August 1670 at St Nicholas, Newbury, by banns.

Searching for their children, I again found large gaps:
- Robert (exact year of baptism unknown, but between 1660-99)
- James (1676)

Could they have been Rebecca's parents? She would have been under the age of 21 when she married Francis, but it is possible she was the eldest daughter and could have been at least 18 in 1690.

An administration and inventory of the estate of a Robert Loveidge, weaver of Newbury, took place in 1696. Unfortunately, since this is just an administration, it is unlikely to provide a definitive answer as to whether he was Rebecca's father.

Just though I would share my theory!

Queenie 

Hi Queenie

Thanks for your help. I think this is probably the right family and I think Daisy has found the right christening for Rebecca in 1671. It seems there is no father named on her christening but the date fits with the marriage you found for Robert Lovadge and Rebecca Ratcliffe.

I think the following may be the christening for Robert Lovadge

Robertus Lovedge - christened 22 September 1644 Welford, Berkshire
Father - Robert Lovedge.

I can't find a marriage for Robert snr but there is also a daughter named Dorothy christened in 1633.

What do you think?

Matt

[QueenoftheWest]

Hi Matt,

A few thoughts:

I think this is probably the right family and I think Daisy has found the right christening for Rebecca in 1671. It seems there is no father named on her christening but the date fits with the marriage you found for Robert Lovadge and Rebecca Ratcliffe.

Regarding this comment, I don't think the transcription implies that there was no father named, just that the father's name is illegible. This could be for several reasons: smudging, fading, stains or rips and tears in the paper. The fact that the child's name is also not transcribed makes me think that the page is rather seriously damaged.

Robertus Lovedge - christened 22 September 1644 Welford, Berkshire
Father - Robert Lovedge.

This is very possible, but I personally don't feel there is currently enough to support this (or contradict it; just not enough evidence either way). If I were you, I would perhaps add it to my tree with an asterisk indicating that it is currently just a hypothesis.

The issue here is essentially the same as I mentioned above in that we cannot see the images of the register, so we have no way of knowing what is missing/illegible/incorrectly transcribed. I am not sure when or if the Berkshire Record Office will ever get round to digitising parish registers and wills, and I am in the same boat as you hoping that they eventually will.

I suppose a lot of genealogy is a waiting game, hoping that more will become available to help us with our research.

Queenie 

[MattD30]

Hi Matt,

A few thoughts:

I think this is probably the right family and I think Daisy has found the right christening for Rebecca in 1671. It seems there is no father named on her christening but the date fits with the marriage you found for Robert Lovadge and Rebecca Ratcliffe.

Regarding this comment, I don't think the transcription implies that there was no father named, just that the father's name is illegible. This could be for several reasons: smudging, fading, stains or rips and tears in the paper. The fact that the child's name is also not transcribed makes me think that the page is rather seriously damaged.

Robertus Lovedge - christened 22 September 1644 Welford, Berkshire
Father - Robert Lovedge.

This is very possible, but I personally don't feel there is currently enough to support this (or contradict it; just not enough evidence either way). If I were you, I would perhaps add it to my tree with an asterisk indicating that it is currently just a hypothesis.

The issue here is essentially the same as I mentioned above in that we cannot see the images of the register, so we have no way of knowing what is missing/illegible/incorrectly transcribed. I am not sure when or if the Berkshire Record Office will ever get round to digitising parish registers and wills, and I am in the same boat as you hoping that they eventually will.

I suppose a lot of genealogy is a waiting game, hoping that more will become available to help us with our research.

Queenie 

Good points and yes I agree sometimes genealogy is a waiting game. Sometimes I find it is also case of looking at all possible threads and working out the impossible. After all "once you elimate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".

At the moment it's a lead but that's all I think. It's definitely a possibility but there's more digging to do.

Matt