Attendance at our Thursday night classes has dropped drastically with the arrival of spring, but this past week I had 5 students. To see the contents of the class click this link. http://billbuchanan.byethost17.com/ Then click the link to England and Wales below my photo.
We ran into a technical glitch. We lost our internet connection for about 10 minutes, but we perservered and it returned.
Finding the maiden names of females is relatively easy in England and Wales. The census will show you approximately when the marriage occurred. Then use http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ to look for the marriage. If you are lucky there is only one person with the name you are looking for getting married in that locality in that time period. In marriages after 1900, it will actually give the spouse's surname. For example, searching for the wife of William Shipgood in 1900-1920, we find:
Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
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Marriages Sep 1913 (>99%)
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Forsbury Mary A Shipgood Camberwell 1d 1947
Holliday Robert V Smith Camberwell 1d 1947
Shipgood William Forsbury Camberwell 1d 1947
Smith Florence Holliday Camberwell 1d 1947
William's wife's surname is shown as Forsbury, so we know he married Mary A. Forsbury.
Prior to that date you need to do a little more detective work, by finding the husband in the next census and seeing which wife he is with.
For example, looking for the marriage of Thomas George Ing in London, about 1865, we find:
Marriages Dec 1862 (>99%)
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Ing Thomas Luton 3b 9_1
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Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
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Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
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Marriages Sep 1866 (>99%)
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ING Thomas Berkhampstead 3a 519
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The one in Bethnal Green is the only one in London. Clicking the link to the page number, finds these people's marriages on that page.
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
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Marriages Dec 1865 (>99%)
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Batt Thomas Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Boulton Eliza Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Forsbury Martha Jane Bethnal Gn 1c 691
Ing Thomas George Bethnal Gn 1c 691
So who did Thomas marry, Eliza Boulton or Martha Jane Forsbury? The 1871 census has the answer!
1871 Census of EnglandName Age in 1871 Birthplace Relationship Civil Parish County/Island
Thomas Ing 34 Paddington, Middlesex, England Head Paddington London [Coster monger]
Martha Ing 22 Paddington, Middlesex, England Wife Paddington London
Thomas Ing 5 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
William Ing 4 Marylebone, Middlesex, England Son Paddington London
Location in 1871 Paddington Kensington, St Mary Paddington
Obviously Thomas married Martha Jane Forsbury, and Thomas Batt married Eliza Boulton.
What work did a coster monger do? He sold fresh fruits and vegetables, usually from a portable stand or a wheelbarrow. (Sort of like Molly Mallone in the old song. "She was a fish monger, ... She pushed her wheelbarrow down streets dark and narrow, crying "Cockels and mussels! Alive, alive! Oh!") Some coster mongers were fortunate to work along busy streets with lots of hungry pedestrians; they were the equivalent of today's fast food outlets. McDonalds, Wendy's and so forth, didn't arrive in England until a century later.
Enjoy your English research!
