Adoption - Wards of Chancery - 1840s

[richredwood]

Hi all,

Any knowledge or advice in relation to the following would be warmly received.

Family legend has it that one of my great, great grandmothers, called Jane Weatherby, was adopted.

She was born at Market Drayton, Shropshire in 1846. It's said that she was born to unknown parents there, at an inn where a man named William Weatherby worked as an ostler. He then apparently adopted her into his family.

Nothing in her birth certificate or parish register entry points to an adoption: the father is named as William Weatherby and the mother as Amelia Caswell, who were an estalished couple with children already - see for instance 1851 census HO107/1996/189/9 at Church Lane, Market Drayton.
 
It is said that Jane was made a ward in chancery, and that money for her keep was paid through a
firm of London Solicitors.

After going to school in Derby, she later became a ward of Dr Stocker at Draycott in the Moors, where he was rector.

So, for instance, is there any chance of tracking down court of chancery records from the 1840s and how would I go about that? Maybe, I'm also missing other possible lines of inquiry?

Thanks a million,

Richard

[AntonyMMM]

Very difficult to find evidence of this kind of family story - they often have a grain of truth, but can also sometimes have become mixed up and connected to the wrong person over time.

It sounds like the birth certificate, census records and her marriage (entry available on FindMyPast) all name her parents as William & Amelia Weatherby.

I would look at the wills of those involved - this Dr Stocker perhaps, although as she with her "parents" in 1851/61 and her husband in 1871 it isn't clear when she may have been living with him (if at all).

Chancery records are at Kew and full of family information but can be difficult to find and research in because of the way they are grouped and indexed (if at all).  They are not available on-line. If you do find them they can be a goldmine of information - I have one in my family from the 1730s relating to a probate dispute which on a single page details the whole family tree ( and the properties owned) back to the  mid 1600s.

Susan Moore is the expert I always go to with any Chancery problem - start with her very good books on the subject.

https://www.susanmooreresearch.co.uk/publications

DNA may also be something to look at.

[Milliepede]

What date of birth is on the certificate for her? 

There is a baptism on 20 Feb 1846. 

In 1851 she is down as a government (?) pupil teacher then she is a national school mistress

Pinch of salt with the family legend I would say but 

[Milliepede]

Charles William Stoker 57 is listed as rector in 1851 with wife daughters nephew and a variety of others including a pupil so he could be your Dr Stoker.

He dies in 1870.  Brother and son (also a Reverend) executors. 

[richredwood]

Dear All,

A huge thanks for the various replies, and apologies for the belated response. I'll try to wrap everything up here.

Jane was born on 24 Jan 1846 and baptised on 20 Feb 1846, so more or less a month later, Some of her 'siblings' were baptised days after their birth, others were baptised three or four weeks afterwards. So I'm not seeing anything conclusive here. Also, the birth spacing of William and Amelia's children throws up no question marks around Jane's legitimacy.

Jane married Thomas Cope on 18 Feb 1871, and as AnthonyMMM indicates, the father of the bride is given as William Weatherby, so again no red flags.

I have, I believe, seen all of the available wills for the relevant Weatherby and Cope families, and likewise, I've found nothing yet to suggest that she was adopted. I haven't seen the Reverend Charles Stocker's will, but I'm reluctant to think he is involved in any way other than as a ward. Coincidentally, one of his daughter's eloped with one of Thomas Cope's brothers, and ended up in South Africa. It is said that the Reverend cut her off in his will, leaving her one guinea only. Perhaps rather fancifully I'm assuming his moral rectitude (including as a CoE rector) precludes him from being involved ...

DNA-wise, on Ancestry, if the Thru-Lines matches are to be believed, I would seem to be connected separately to both the Weatherby and the Caswell families at the level of the next generation back from Jane herself. Now, my understanding is that this might in theory be 'conclusive' proof, assuming that other people's trees in Ancestry are reliable (though this assumption is I guess not inconsequential)? Conversely, I haven't seen any DNA matches pointing to Revd Stocker.

And so, lastly then for now, thanks also for the pointers towards the records at Kew and the books by Susan Moore. I'll need some time to take a deeper dive with them.

richard