Genealogy Chat

See below

I know that people were often known by their middle names/nicknames ect but I am getting frustrated with one of my rellies! On her son's birth cert she is Maria On an extracted record on the IGI she is Ann Marie On several census she appears as Ann, Maria, and Ann Maria Which do you think would be most likely the name she was christened with? I can't find a record on the IGI and of course it would be hard to look through the parish records as I would have to look through the Ann's, Ann marie's, Ann Maria's AND the Maria's. I am guessing at Maria as she has used that one twice, but the others only once. :o) What a pain! Caire xx

Did she ever marry?? Her dad's name from the cert would help you trace the correct baptism, maybe?? Merry

She married before civil registration. That is one of the extracted records off the IGI I got a name from. (I presume this is quite accurate as it is extracted, not contributed) Just to make matters more complicated, she married someone with the same surname (and not an uncommon one)! She is from Buckinghamshire and I understand the bucks FHS have lots of good records and are willing to do look ups for a small fee, so if I request a search, how can I help them narrow it down? Claire xx

If she is on several census returns, do you have a good idea of her year of birth and parish? Merry

Ann Marie/Maria Stevens nee Stevens 1841 census Birth C1801 1851/61 Birth C 1813 She married in 1833 so I guess that the birth date of 1813 would be more resonable. Claire xx

Sorry if anyone replies and I ignore. PC keeps crashing! Claire xx

No help.... but I do sympathise..... I've got one like that. I really can't believe that mine was registered Silvey in 1838, It seems too modern. She was christened Jane Sylvia and spent most of the time as Jane on census. Do you have a place of birth for Ann Maria? Have you found her banns of marriage.? Do the witnesses give you any clues? Was she already a relative of her husband? Gwyn

I feel a song coming on.... How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Unless she came from an enormous town, there won't be that many baptisms to go through. Most small villages you can go through several years worth of baptisms in a few minutes - unless the writing is very bad. After 1800 or so they started using pre-printed pages so there are neat columns to go down. nell

That is handy to know Nell. May be I will try the parish records straight away then. I was thinking I would have to be a lot more specific..........Very tuneful Paul! LOL Claire xx