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QMy
ancestor Frances Tickell married John Stone at St Andrew’s, Plymouth, on 14 July 1816 – both were listed as being of the parish. In 1841, Frances is listed as Mary Stone, “wife of Stone, taylor” (John was a journeyman tailor, and was away from home at census time). She was living with some of her children, and I’ve found baptisms for some of these.
Frances/Mary was born in Devon, and her age in 1841 was given as 50. This would make her birth year around 1791, but she must have been younger, as her youngest child Cordelia Elizabeth was born in 1842 – I think she was born no earlier than 1796. However, I cannot find Frances/Mary’s baptism.
Jane Russell
A Frances’ surname is one that is easily misspelled, and all variants should be considered – Tickel, Tickle, Teakell, Trickle and Ticknell all occur in the 1851 census. Baptism indexes do contain transcription errors, and so searching an original register may reveal a ‘missing’ baptism.
At least one of Frances’ children was baptised in a Methodist church, and she may have come from a nonconformist family. Following the introduction of civil registration, nonconformist registers were called in, but not always surrendered. Since Plymouth had a number of nonconformist chapels, you should check whether Plymouth and West Devon Record Office ( plymhearts.org/archives/collections) has any registers that were not surrendered in 1837.
Although 50 does seem old for Frances to have a child, the marriage register does not state that she was under 21 when she married, which suggests that she was born by mid-1795. John Stone was a widower in 1851, and I found the death of Frances Stone, aged 55, registered at Plymouth in 1846. If this is John’s wife, then it indicates that Frances was born in 1791 (although age at death was sometimes overestimated).
At Emma Place Independent Chapel, Stonehouse, I found a baptism that may be the one you need: Frances Reed Tickler, daughter of Roger and Mary, born 30 January 1796 and baptised 25 February 1796. The surname has been incorrectly indexed as Sickler. Another child, Richard Tickel, was baptised at St Andrew’s, Plymouth, in 1810, and Sarah Tickell at East Stonehouse in 1815. Katherine Cobb
‘Searching an original register may reveal a “missing” baptism’