Genealogy Chat

i've been searching for the marriage of my ggg grandfather william ewell, i knew that his wife was mary ann but didn't know a surname. when searching free bmd i found a william ewell and mary ann sandum in 1859 in the right area and thought bingo, then came the birth cert for my gg grandfather (their son) and it says mothers maiden name was sandwell. could it be a transcribing error on free bmd or am i just hoping it is, Karen.

Hi Karen The best way to check to see if it is a transcription error is to find the entry on the 1837online website which has the birth marriage and death indexes on them. On freebmd it should tell you which year and quarter the marriage took place, so use this on the 1837 website and see if the surname is listed as Sandum or Sandwell. It could very well be the right one, just transcribed wrongly especially if it is in the right area at the right time. Regards Sharon

Hi Sharon, i've done that and it says Sandum, but its just that william ewell isn't that common a name so i was sure it was right(until the birth cert came), Karen

Karen, You might have to order another sibling's birth certificate to be sure. Is this the family in 1881? William EWELL Head M Male 45 Ewell, Surrey, England Marine Store Dealer Mary EWELL Wife M Female 40 Mitcham, Surrey, England Alfred E. EWELL Son U Male 16 Croydon, Surrey, England Assistant George EWELL Son Male 13 Croydon, Surrey, England Sira Assistant Mary Ann EWELL Daur Female 12 Kingston, Surrey, England Scholar Henry EWELL Son Male 6 Kingston, Surrey, England Scholar Crista

It could even be an error on the birth certificate Ewell, Sandwell, maybe the registrar wasn't concentrating when he copied it down. or if is handwritten maybe the ll looked like an "m"KIM

Crista , yes thats them. Kim , you thought them same as me,i'll order another cert to see if i have any luck, thanks for all of your comments, Karen

Karen, You could try contacting the Kingston Local History Centre. They have transcriptions of parish registers from Kingston (Plus a lot of other resources) and they may be able to trace christenings for the younger children. There's also a lot of other resources that they have there which might help you sort out the problem Zoe there email is on this page: http://www.kingston.gov.uk/leisure/museums/local_history_and_archives.htm

Thanks Zoe, will do, Karen

When I received my grandfather's birth certificate I found that his mother's maiden name was Standing, but in fact it later turned out to be Standen. Jan

Jan, thanks that gives me hope, Karen