Genealogy Chat

Can someone please help!! Today I have received a birth cert for a Richard Rattenbury 1839. His parents names are William Rattenbury and Mary Cleverdon. I went onto Family Search and came across both names but marriage 10 years apart. The first record shows marriage as 13 June 1824, Hartland, Devon. The second record shows marriage 13 Nov 1834, Hartland, Devon. How can I find out which one is correct?

Do they show up on a cenus as 'older' parents and ages that they proport to be? Might give you a clue as to the right one jess

I would be inclined to go for the 1824 entry, which was taken from parish registers rather than the later date submitted by a church member. If you do a batch search in the parish using the number from the earlier entry, there is no mention of the second date. It is always wise to check the IGI entries by referring to the original parish registers or viewing the fiche at your nearest LDS centre after asking for them to be ordered for you.

If they were married in 1824 I would expect you to be able to find that they had children from that date onwards. If their first child wasn't born until around 1834 that might indicate the later date is correct. nell

Thank you all for getting back to me. Jess, the earliest census I have is 1871 I think it shows their ages as 73 for William and 65 for Mary. To be married in 1824 he would have been 26 years old and if he married in 1834 he would have been 36 years old. Mary would have been 18 years old in 1824 and 28 years old in 1834. which one do you think is possible? Nell, I don't know if there were anymore children, how would I find out? Regards Ellen

ellen if you go to familysearch.org go to the igi and just place the parents names on the right hand side with nothing else except the england bit in the bottom it will bring up baptisms for kids with those parents, hope this helps sandra

Hi Sandra I must be doing something wrong because the only page that comes up is the home page for family search and I can not find a link to IGI. Regards Ellen

Ellen I can only find these on the IGI Hartland baptisms. International Genealogical Index / British Isles - 2 1. WILLIAM RATTENBERRY - International Genealogical Index Gender: Male Christening: 15 MAY 1831 Hartland, Devon, England 2. JAMES RATTENBURY - International Genealogical Index Gender: Male Christening: 27 MAR 1825 Hartland, Devon, England Both of them have parents William Rattenbury and Mary. nell

Hi Nell Many thanks for that, it looks as if the wedding in 1824 is the correct one. That's another question answered. Regards Ellen

william christened 27 may 1798 Monkleigh mary ,, 28 apr 1805 Parkham I suppose they could have renewed their vows.

Hi Jim Many thanks for that info. Where did you find it? Regards Ellen

Hi Ellen Places of birth from 1871 census christenings from IGI The last marriage 1834 is from parish records,could it be that descendants knocked 10 years off for appearances? PS Sorry the 1824 was parish records so please forgive my senior moment. Other Hartland Rattenb*ys James cr.27mar.1825 William cr. 15may 1831 both with parents William/Mary

Hi Jim Am I reading your thoughts that maybe some of the children were born before marriage? Regards Ellen