Which Mary is mine?

QI have a 2x great-grandfather baptised in Luton in 1820 named Charles Hucklesby, parents John and Mary Hucklesby. In the Luton baptism records there are entries to John Hucklesby and Mary Hucklesby for 10 children baptised between 1796 starting with Elizabeth and ending with Charles in 1820. This seems straightforward except for one problem.

There is a marriage in Luton of a John Hucklesby to Mary Wingrave in St Mary’s church in 1796 and another in the same church in 1803 of a John Hucklesby to Mary Boston. I had assumed that the first Mary died and John married again to Mary Boston. But the only death that I can find of a Mary Hucklesby locally in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire or Buckinghamshire is in 1836, so maybe there are two John Hucklesbys. If so, some or all of the children from 1796 could have been born to the first Mary, and some or all of the children baptised after 1803 could have been born to the second.

This means that my Charles would have some or all as siblings, but I don’t know which. To compound the problem, I have looked to find John’s baptism locally. I can only find one, in Great Gaddesden, quite near Luton as the middle of three brothers. He was baptised on 26 October 1783. So, if he was baptised as an infant it’s unlikely he married in 1796. If there are two Johns, he was probably married to the second Mary. But if he was baptised when a little older, he could be married to either or both. His brother William was baptised in Gaddesden in 1782 and brother George in 1786. So probably baptised as an infant. I am at a loss of how to break this particular brick wall.

David Warren

AExperiment with wildcards

Hucklesby is not a common name but lends itself to a number of spelling variations. Even within one website I found Charles transcribed as Hucklesby/hacklesby, Joseph as Huckeslbey/ Huckeslbury and John as Hucklesby/hekelsby so best to use several wildcards such as h*k*l*b*y when searching. Also Luton is very close to the county border with Hertfordshire and not far from the border with Buckinghamshire so a search needs to include all three counties at least.

Seek out the originals

While a good many parish register entries for Bedfordshire can be found online, I can’t find digitised images of the original entries, only transcriptions. There can thus be a lack of detail such as witnesses for marriages and also transcription errors. On at least one website, for example, there are two entries for an Elizabeth Huckelsbey baptised on 11 December to John and Mary Huckelsbey at St Mary’s, Luton, but one entry is for 1796 and the other for 1797. Is this the same baptism with one mis-transcribed or did the first Elizabeth die as a baby with a second one baptised on the same date a year later? Entries are available on several of the main websites and there is a good selection of transcribed registers at http://familytr.ee/bedsprs though sadly these don’t include Luton. It’s important to realise, of course, that not all records are online.

What can the baptisms tell us?

The baptisms of the children, roughly every two years, suggests that they were baptised fairly soon after birth. The fourth child, Joseph, was baptised on 20 February 1803 so he was presumably born not long before this. It’s possible that his mother died at or shortly after his birth but while it was common for widowed fathers, out of necessity, to remarry, a marriage to Mary Boston around three months afterwards does seem a little premature. It certainly doesn’t make a clear case for the same John to have been the groom at both the 1796 and 1803 marriages, especially as there is no indication of a death for the first Mary in between, so other evidence needs to be considered.

Looking for possible Marys Wingraves/wingroves & Bosten

Looking for a possible Mary Wingrave/wingrove across the three counties, only two, both in Hertfordshire, seem likely in terms of location and date: Mary Wingrove baptised in Lilley on 12 January 1777 to Robert and Mary and Mary Wingrove baptised in Redbourn on 16 August 1767 to John and Elizabeth. Lilley is some five miles north-east of central Luton while Redbourn is around nine miles south so both are within easy reach.

The Mary baptised in 1767 would have been around 29 at the birth of Elizabeth in 1796 but 53 at the time of Charles’ birth in 1820 so clearly couldn’t be the mother of all 10 children. She could be the Mary of the 1796 marriage but there is no obvious sign of a death for this Mary Hucklesby before 1803.

The Mary Wingrove baptised in 1777 would have been around 19 at the birth of Elizabeth and 43 at the time of Charles’ birth which means she could have been the mother of all 10 children.

The case for the 1777 Mary Wingrove being the mother of all the children is also supported by the burial of a Mary Hucklesby in Luton. This burial took place on 13 November 1836 and Mary was aged 60 which gives a birth year of 1776, a very good match for the Mary Wingrove baptised in Lilley in 1777, especially as her baptism took place on 12 January 1777 so she could well have been born towards the end of 1776. I can’t find a burial which suggests that this Mary Wingrove died before 1796 either.

There is a Mary Bosten baptised in Luton on 25 March 1781 to Francis and Mary and a Mary Bosten baptised in nearby Barton-inthe-clay on 08 April 1781 to William and Judith. Both could be the bride at the 1803 marriage. Neither of these matches the 1836 burial age, though, so are not the Mary Hucklesby buried then and the names Francis and Judith are not used for any of the children born to John and Mary.

None of this is proof but ...

None of this is proof but I think there are two things you can do. The online transcripts for the 1803 marriage of John Hucklesby and Mary Boston have just the two names, the date and place. The original register should state whether John is a bachelor or a widower. If the 1803 John is a bachelor then he clearly isn’t the same John as the one who married Mary Wingrave in 1796. If he’s a widower then it is strong evidence for it being the same John Hucklesby for both marriages.

Bedfordshire Archives will probably have the original registers but they also have transcripts available on CD. While still transcripts, they are likely to be much more detailed than the online version: http:// familytr.ee/bedsarchives (You could check before ordering and if the transcripts don’t have the details they will probably look up the original register for you.)

You could also check monumental inscriptions. There is a CD available for St Mary’s, Luton at http://familytr.ee/bedsmis. If there is a headstone it might have confirmatory information.

While a likely 1777 John Hucklesby seems to be elusive there is a burial in St Mary’s, Luton on 28 January 1838 for an 84-year-old James Hucklesby whose year of birth of 1754 could make him a possible father for John. ME