Pontesbury Marriage - Where next?

[cazmel]

I've found an article in the newspaper archive about a marriage which supposedly took place in Pontesbury in March 1858 between William Smith of Longden and Jane Barker officiated by Rev. W. Harrison. It is reported as an event that took place, not a forthcoming marriage. I've looked at the Pontesbury parish records on line but there is nothing between Oct 1857 and July 1858 (These entries are on the same page so it's not that some have been missed). There is nothing in the civil records either. I can't find banns records so it doesn't look like a marriage that was cancelled at the last minute. I'm wondering if weddings were temporarily moved and recorded elsewhere for some reason and hoping someone with some local knowledge might be able to point me in the right direction as to where else I could look please.

[rosie99]

Which newspaper was it in

[cazmel]

The Shropshire News 18 March 1858

[Viktoria]

Not certain about dates but Methodist and Baptist  Chapels we’re not always licensed for marriages.
The  Vicar/ Rector in The Church of England was also registrar, and still is.
Not so in Non Conformist  marriages. The Registrar had to be present.

For that reason many people who were Methodists or Baptist’s married in a Church of England church. It was a little cheaper.

It is likely that the marriage then would not be recorded in a chapel’s register but in the church register .
However civil records ought to have full records, but if out of Pontesbury Parish it could be somewhere else.
Worthen?Pontesford, ?Minsterly?
Hope you unravel the mystery.
Viktoria.
P.S.
What was the occupation of the groom do you know?

If you are in Shropshire the Library on Shrewsbury’s Main Street ,formerly Shrewsbury School have Newspaper Archives you can see.
The Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News ,Shrewsbury Chronicle .
Best of luck.
Viktoria.

[cazmel]

Thanks very much for your reply Viktoria, the newspaper article is all I have to go on, it just says Mr William Smith of Longden, no other details. It says the marriage was at Pontesbury and I can see in the church records that Rev W. Harrison did conduct some but not all of the marriages there, your point about non-conformist marriages could help to explain that. I've not found any firm trace of Mr Smith on other records (census etc) yet but I'll see if I can get some time to try again today. I do have more on Jane Barker's past but it's what happened to them after the wedding (if it did take place) that I would like to find.

Thanks again for your help.
Caz

[rosie99]

The Shropshire News 18 March 1858

Thank you.

Is it the Jane Barker that was a servant in Pontesbury in 1851 born Pontesbury Hill

[cazmel]

Pontesford Hill, yes I believe so.

[Millmoor]

There is a baptism in Pontesbury for a Jane Barker in 1832 of Pontesford Hill with only a mother, Mary Barker recorded but as a widow. The newspaper notice of the marriage of William Smith and Jane Barker states she is the youngest daughter of the late Charles Barker.

The 1841 census has a possible entry for the Jane born in 1832 with John Tennant and Mary Tennant. There is a marriage in 1836 of John Tennant and Mary Barker in Pontesbury and the birth of a Mary Tennant in 1839 suggests a possible maiden name for her mother as Burgwyn. There is I note a marriage in 1817 in Pontesbury of Charles Barker and Mary Burgwyn.

There is a burial for Charles Barker in 1827. This might explain why no father is named on the 1832 baptism!

William

[cazmel]

Hi William, yes I knew about Jane's history and thought that maybe the truth about her father may have come out and may even have resulted in the wedding being called off. However the newspaper report does say that the marriage took place even though I can find no other records of it. I lost track of Jane for a few decades and this 'marriage' could answer a lot of questions for me whether it took place or not.