My 2nd great grandmother, Susan(nah) HANDLEY married a John RICE in Burford, 16th February 1847. John’s father is named as John SMITH, a Farmer. I have been unable to find any more information about John RICE. There are some census records having a Susannah married to a John PREECE. Although the surname RICE is written clearly in the record of the solemnization of the marriage could there be an error and he was really a PREECE? In the 1951 census at Coreley, Susan’s family, minus a husband, are named as-
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which correspond with my ancestors, Susan’s father George, her son John and herself. Susan is described as married. There is also Ellen LLOYD aged 5 a great grand daughter of presumably George as he is the head of the family. So who and where was her husband? Any suggestions on how to solve this conundrum please?
Barbara
Hello Mike
I am basing my knowledge on a photocopy sent to me by the Shropshire Archives as I am unable to travel to there. It is a Page 21 of some record with the relevant record being in the bottom half of the landscape page layout. It is for St Mary's church. Married by a William H Joyce. That would appear to be 3rd portion. Do I need to contact Shropshire Archives and ask for more information from them?
Barbara
Hello Barbara
Email me a copy to hulmemj @ gmail.com (remove the two spaces to use) so I can answer your question above.
Mike
Have done so. Thanks.
Barbara
Hello Barbara
What you have is a photocopy of the original parish marriage register of St Mary's Church, Burford, Shropshire.
As you said originally the grooms name is clearly written as John RICE of Full Age, Bachelor, Labourer and his father is John SMITH Farmer which seems rather a nonsense. A couple of things stand out from the certificate. The age says 'Full Age' which means that the person is at least 21 years old but can be any age above that. Neither the groom or the bride signed the register, instead they made their mark which suggests they were illiterate and would therefore not be able to read what the Vicar had written and this may have allowed an error to get through but we may never know.
The Marriage Certificate doesn't say whether the marriage was by Banns or Licence but you are lucky that the Banns Book is available so that must be the next thing to check just to see what turns up. The Banns should be have been read on three consecutive Sundays prior to the date of the marriage. The names of the two witnesses don't seem to offer any help.
Beyond the actual Marriage Certificate I think you need to try to confirm or refute each of the names on it, so you should look for Baptisms of John RICE and John SMITH then census entries for both men followed by deaths/burials for both and may be a probate for each. When doing all this I would consider the possibility that John RICE the groom may really be John SMITH or that John SMITH the father may really be John RICE senior.
It could be quite a long job sorting this out but there is no real alternative 160 years after the event.
Mike
Thank you Mike. I will try and do as you suggest.
Barbara
I have been unable to identify either the groom or groom's father so far. I have received the following reply from Shropshire Archives re gathering more information from the banns.
"I have checked the Burford Banns register for the above marriage but, as is the case with all banns registers, it simply records that banns of marriage between John Rice of this parish and Susan Handley of this parish were read on 31 January, 7 February and 14 February 1847.
Vicars can make mistakes when filling in registers but the writing is clear except for the signature which has a blot on it. I would think it is John Word or John Hord."
It seems like I may have hit the proverbial brick wall!
I was wondering if there might be a list of Shropshire farmers in the 19th century that I could check for a John RICE or John SMITH?
I am still trawling through records for Rice, Preece and Smith. However I have found the following entry with the National Archives
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Hello Barbara
I think the first thing you should do is have a look at the original Marriage Register from the Church to see if that is telling the same story. It is available at Shropshire Archives in Shrewsbury so you have an excuse for a trip to this area.
Burford is a rather complicated parish because it is divided into three portions and you will need to check each unless you have a copy certificate which tells you which part you want.
Burford (1st portion - Boraston and Nash)
Burford (2nd portion - Whitton)
Burford (3rd portion - St Mary)
See the Shropshire Archives parish register list near the bottom of this page.
Mike