Did Thomas Pittard really marry sisters

1646 Map of Somerset

My mother-in-law visited recently and I had a lot of pleasure in showing her what I found over the

last year on Find My Past for her recent immigrant ancestry.  Her grandmother, Elizabeth Pittard, was born in Martock, Somerset, England.  Thanks to finds on FMP we not only broke down a wall but have a lead on a new possible line.

There is a family story, like there always is, that goes along with this ancestress.  Elizabeth’s mother died when she was very young.  The story passed down was that her father married her mother Ann’s sister, Jane, after her death.  Growing up the joke was that even though they were half siblings the children were really full siblings since their mothers were sisters.  Got that?

Well from her Grandmother Elizabeth’s wedding certificate I discovered her mother’s name was Ann Tatchell.  The name was confirmed with her certificate of marriage to Thomas Pittard which I ordered from the UK.  I was very excited, except that there was no father listed for Ann.  Questions began to percolate in my head.

To make matters worse, I also ordered Thomas Pittard’s death certificate from the state of New York.  His wife’s name was Jane Talwood.  I don’t know about you, but Tatchell and Talwood are not very similar. If these women were siblings, wouldn’t they have the same surname?  Once again, the maiden name was confirmed when I found their record of marriage on FMP listing Thomas Pittard as a widower and Jane Talwood as a spinster.  Yeah, the questions were now even bigger.

What the heck was going on here?!  At best these 2 women are ½ sisters.  Could the women have considered themselves sisters for some reason now unknown to us?  Most interesting, Jane has a father listed on her marriage record but Ann does not.  I did notice there was a Jane Tatchell listed as a witness on her marriage record.  Now, who is this woman?

While talking about my finds with a friend who does a lot of UK research I was informed that if there was no father listed it was more than likely that Ann was born out of wedlock.  Well, now I have a scandal and I have to keep digging!  It also got me thinking, could the mysterious Jane Tatchell be her mother.

In the UK, as in the US, sometimes the easiest way to trace people at first is through the Census Records.  I knew that Ann was born and married in the same general area according to all the records I had.  With that in mind I went back 10 years from her married Census Records (1871 contained Thomas, Ann and daughter Elizabeth) and found her on the 1861 census with a woman named Jane.  Jane Tatchell was listed as an unmarried head of house employed as a glove maker with 3 daughters Ann 11, Eliza 7 and Sarah 4. 

1861 England and Wales Census

Then I went back 10 more years.  Ann should be 1 in the 1851 census and maybe we can solve this riddle.  I find a Jane Tatchell in the same town and employed as a glove maker, the occupation listed from before.  However, there are other people now too.  18-year-old Jane is living in the household of John Tatchell, a 33 widower, who is listed as her father and a slew of siblings.  There is no Ann though, but maybe she has not been born yet.

1851 England and Wales Census

Things get a bit murkier when we follow this Jane forward in time.  In 1871 she is in the same town, with the same job and we find Eliza and Sarah 10 years older.  Jane is now listed as a widow and is still employed as a glove maker.  There are now a total of 4 children: Eliza 15, Sarah 13, Masen 8 and John 4.  What I found most interesting is that the children were born in different places in Somerset, Wales or Dorset.  Jane was not located on the 1881 census and, while I don’t have the document yet, I did find a Jane Tatchell listed on a death index from the 1^st quarter of 1880 for the town she last lived.

1871 England and Wales Census

Now what do I do?  Was she a widow?  Was she a woman who had bad luck and loved the boys?  On a lark I looked to see if I could find a marriage record for her in the town she lived.  There was a Jane Tatchell listed in an index from 1858 marrying a Simeon Eglon.  However, I have no proof that was her.  There were also several Mary Janes and Eliza Janes who all married in that area.  I have a feeling there were Tatchells everywhere!

This little puzzle is just another reason why I need to make a trip overseas.  I wonder how much more I could find in person.  On that note, if you have any research ideas, thoughts or comments let me know.  I am not used to doing research for people in this location and at this point I need some help.

My Heritage: progress and minor frustration

Okay, the new tree is going really well for the most part.  My biggest excitement came when I was able to find records for my husband’s great grandmother in Wales and England.  Frustration came quickly after since I have not figured out how to page through the images.  So, where do I begin?  How about with finding new a new document?

Last month I received the death certificate I ordered from the state of New York for Thomas Pittard.

He was my husband’s 2^nd great grandfather who immigrated to the US in the early 1880s with his children and 2^nd wife.  On it there were clues to who his parents were, which made me giddy beyond all belief.  You see Pittard is a very common name in the area he was from on the border of Wales and England.  Plus, throw in Thomas, which is not a very distinctive name, and you have dozens upon dozens of hits.  However, becasue of the new record now I know that his parents were Thomas Pittard and Elizabeth Palmer and the whole family was born in Martock, Somerset, England.

I know, death certificates cannot be trusted 100% of the time.  Yes, the person may be giving information they think is correct but may be all wrong.  Yep, got it, but I am inclined to believe it for a couple of reasons.  First, they were married in England before coming over and the wife may have known them. Second, the family lore that his 2^nd wife and 1^st wife were sisters.  If that is correct I am pretty sure she would know their names.

Last week a record hint appeared for the 1851 England Census.  Thomas was born in 1850 which made him 1 on this census.  Lucky for me it looks like I found the family.  Whoot!  He was there with his parents and a slew of siblings.  Plus, an uncle named Thomas Jeans who was 51 and deaf.  I copied the image of the census record below:

Needless to say there are now lots of little clues coming up very frequently.  It is hard to spend only my allotted time working on this (I do have other things I have to get done after all) but it is very nice to come and see actual record hits every time I open the page.  Yes, it is the beginning and in the beginning there are a lot of hits, I wonder how long I can keep building the tree out from these records alone before I have to go to my files.

The thing that I am extremely frustrated about is that I can’t browse the images.  I like to look forward and back from my family of interest to see what else I can learn about the community and to see if there are other potential relatives there.  I still can’t figure out how to do that with the website and it is bugging me.  I mean, the image is awesome, but for good research I need to be able to research and that means looking forward and backwards in the record pages. 

If you know the hint to solving this problem let me know.  I’d really love to hear it!

Finds in the 1940 Census: the next family tree firsts post!

My next post at Family Tree Firsts is up, and you can read it here.

It was been a real hoot at times reading through all the answers on the 1940 US Census concerning my family.  To see where they were living, what they were doing, and who was in their community.  I knew many of the people who are listed, which makes it even that much more... awesome.

Unfortunately, it also  makes me miss those that I have lost that much more.  What I wouldn't give to talk to them about this census.  All those questions about who their neighbors were, what it was like then, and so much more. 

It is killing me that I have to wait 20 years to do this and see my mom.  20 years after that I and my husband will be in the Census results.  30 years after that my kids.  Wow... I guess I better start passing the torch now.  I would be over 100 to see my kids.  Possible, yes.  Likely, not so much.

Back of the image shown above

The family in the picture is my mother-in-laws grandmother and her siblings.  Elizabeth Pittard Mills is the oldest, and picture in the middle with the black dress and white collar.  She was born in Martock, Sommerset, England, on the border of Wales.  she grew up in Llwynypia, Glamorgan, Wales where her father worked in the coal mines. In 1882 she immigrated to the US with her father, step-mother (who was also her aunt), full sister, and 2 half siblings.  The rest of the 10 children were born in New York.