St Neots St Mary's parish baptisms - WILES

[burrito]

Well that was fast: I struck out on the downloaded St Neots register. I found the Thomas and Lettitia, and William and Henrietta baptisms, but the wives are supposed to be named Mary (for both), and I don't find a male that would be the right age to be my ancestor. 

So I'll have to look at some of the surrounding parishes that might not be indexed at FreeREG, Ancestry, FindMyPast or FamilySearch.

Thanks again for the suggestion, it's good to be able to rule that out. 

[jbml]

That pattern isn't really all that surprising when you consider the traditional English custom that it is the bride's family who organise (and pay for!) the wedding. So of course they tend to organise it in their own parish church!

Also ... unless the marriage was by licence, it had to be held in a church where the banns had been published. To have the banns published in a church you had to be resident in the parish. So there were only ever going to be a maximum of two churches where you could be married if you didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of getting a licence.

[burrito]

That pattern isn't really all that surprising when you consider the traditional English custom that it is the bride's family who organise (and pay for!) the wedding. So of course they tend to organise it in their own parish church!

Also ... unless the marriage was by licence, it had to be held in a church where the banns had been published. To have the banns published in a church you had to be resident in the parish. So there were only ever going to be a maximum of two churches where you could be married if you didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of getting a licence.

Excellent points, it all makes perfect sense.

Any suggestions where I might search next, to find any children of Thomas Wiles (m. Mary Emery) and William Wiles (m. Mary Sletcher)? Other than the Mary Wiles I found b. 1788 in Ravensden. I found a burial record for an Emery Thomas Wiles in Bedford much later, who may have been a son of Thomas and Mary. But no baptism records. Ravensden (All Saints) seems to be well-indexed from that period. Maybe I need to search parishes in Bedford City?

Also, should I mark this thread as "complete" now that I haven't found what I'm looking for at St Neots?

[jbml]

Up to you whether to mark it "completed" or not. If you think it's served its purpose then I would.

Ravensden is the first village out of Bedford on the Kimbolton Road ... then  you have Keysoe and Pertenhall, There's a road from Keysoe to Little Staughton.

[burrito]

This is now across the border from Huntingdonshire but I found an index of names from the Bedfordshire FHS and saw something interesting, that William Wiles who m. in Ravensden 1786 was a widower, so now I have to find his first wife. Also the woman he married, Mary Sletcher, was also a widow. I wonder if Sletcher was her maiden name or her first husband's name.

[jbml]

I've not encountered any instances of a late 18th century widow reverting to her maiden name. I'm not saying it didn't happen ... just that I've not encountered it.

You need to watch those valleys of the upper Ouse valley, too ... there were strong nonconformist congregations there (one centred around Carlton) and I don't know if their records are all on teh digital record yet.

[burrito]

Thanks for pointing that out.

I did find a marriage license in FindMyPast for a William Wiles (farmer from Eaton Socon) and Ann Lugsden in Little Staughton in Feb 1785, that could also be him. But no burial record for Ann or baptisms of any children. If he remarried as a widower in Ravensden in 1786, it was a quick turnaround.

[jbml]

Widowers often remarried remarkably quickly in those days. I've seen some who achieved it in a matter of weeks!

And missing burials are not that uncommon either. If you've got the remarriage you can assume the death ... the lack of a matched burial is just a minor irritation.

[burrito]

Maybe the one in Ravensden is a different William. It's surprising (to me) there are heaps of Wiles in this region. I have to see if I can find children of William and Ann anywhere in the Little Staughton area 1785- but no luck so far.