Genealogy Chat

I thought I was doing rather well in tracing my dads family, but have now got stuck. I have managed to trace back to Joseph Brownlow born 8th July 1847. Got his birth cert, to try and get back a bit further, now Im stuck. He was born at 145 Kay Street, Little Bolton in Lancashire. Dad was James and mum was Mary formerly Hardman. I have tried to find James and Mary's marriage but cant, also James registerd the birth, did Mary die. All my other certs the mum has registered even if she just left her mark, as Joseph's wife Alice did when she had her baby. Also what can I do now that I have almost hit the magic 1837 date, I live too far away from Bolton to go and have a look through there parish records. Many thanks in anticipation, Maggie

we have old birth certs, where the father registered the birth, and the mother still lived.

hi margaret does it not say on the birth cert were mary and james were married,cheers jackie.

Nope, but as 99% of the Brownlows where born and married in Bolton I assume they married somewhere in Bolton. Even if the wife has come from another town as has happened they still married in Bolton. Maggie

Hi there - have you tried to find them using the LDS site? If you enter just the name, individually, and the country you may find you get a match or two- or at least something you can follow further. Incidentally I too have a Hardman/Heardman in my tree - but she hails from the Ludlow area of Salop. Happy Hunting. Rosi

Maggie- I did a quick peek at LDS - the IGI part of the site myself- and I think I've found his christening- on November 1847. If you then click on the batch number at the bottom of the page andthen enter just the surname Brownlow andthe country - it comes up with a nice little batch of siblings for him - several with the middle name Hardman - which is encouraging. Good luck Rosi

A couple of ideas. Often the marriage took place in the area where the bride was born, a sort of tradition. Not always........just a thought. Secondly when you get the batch number starting with C for the christening change the C to M and that often give you the marriages in that church, if there are any lisred. Good luck, John

Thanks very much for all help, but am still stuck. Found 6 children listed but no marriage details can be found. Wherever I look it says no source available......Help! The 1st child was born in 1838, so I assume James and Mary where married that year or the year before. I found only 5 children on my 1st search but Ellen born in 1838 popped up on my next search. Confused, flustered, and bewildered. Maggie

Hi there Margaret. Why not try the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society, they have a web site. They also have a branch in Bolton and I am sure that one of their members would help by searching some Parish Records for you if you think that the marriage is pre 1837