Where was Elizabeth Pearce born?
QI’m having trouble tracking down my great great grandmother, Elizabeth March (née Pearce).
On the 1841 census, she was a widow living (and born) in Feltham with her children Frances, Ann, William and Nathan. In 1851, her place of birth looks like Chilton, Wiltshire. In the 1861 census, I cannot read her birthplace. I’ve found two possible baptisms for her, one in Chilton Foliat to William and Frances Pearce, and the other in Charlton St Peter to William and Mary Pearce. Christine Green
AThe censuses seem to hold conflicting information, with Elizabeth’s year of birth being between 1782 and 1805, and her birthplace being Middlesex or Wiltshire (place illegible). However, although Elizabeth’s age in 1851 is indecipherable on Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk), where it is transcribed as 46, the image on Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) is much sharper and her age is clearly 64, suggesting she was born c1786. As for Elizabeth’s birthplace, both the 1851 and 1861 censuses state that she was born in Wiltshire, at “Chiton” or “Chelton”.
Having checked Church of England and nonconformist baptisms, the only possibility does appear to be Elizabeth, daughter of William and Frances Pearce at Chilton Foliat in 1788. Whenever there is doubt about a record, try to verify whether it is the one you have been searching for: a married daughter might be named in a will or have witnessed a sibling’s marriage; or a settlement examination might supply the place of birth. Unfortunately, none of these applies here. However, William and Frances’ daughter does not seem to have been married or buried at Chilton Foliat; parish register entries suggest the parish was referred to simply as “Chilton”; and Elizabeth and her husband named their first child, Frances. So the Chilton Foliat baptism seems correct. Katherine Cobb