Research Forum

hello. I am researching Leah Martin b circa 1850.
published by on Sat, 22/07/2017 - 10:54

Census records from 1871 show a Leah Martin (22) working as a servant for Charles Roberts B 1803 in Gloucestershire. In 1871 Charles Roberts (68) lived in the vicarage of Christ Church, Weston-Super-Mare with his wife Louisa H Roberts, 3 sons and 3 servants, one of whom was Leah.
Does anyone have any information on Leah or Charles that can help me further my research. Thanks

Comments ..

Submitted by daveerasmus on Sat, 22/07/2017 - 20:12

Can you be more specific about exactly what you are looking for, please? It will help people focus their research.

Dave Erasmus

Submitted by Pat Hase on Sun, 23/07/2017 - 0:02

One of the problems of the 1871 Census Transcriptions online is that they are not always complete. In this case if you look at the original you can see that Leah MARTIN was born in Colesford[sic], Gloucestershire (It's actually Coleford). This is in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and in the Registration District of Monmouth.

Using the free GRO Index you can see that her birth was registered in the June Qrt of 1849 and her mother's maiden name was BROWN.

The Forest of Dean is covered by a very useful site The Forest of Dean Family History Trust which has transcriptions of these parishes and you can find a marriage of a Leah MARTIN in 1872 to a William MATTHEWS in the parish of Newland.

Does this fit with your research?

Submitted by on Sun, 23/07/2017 - 10:14

Thank you, this does fit with my research. I travelled to Coleford from NZ recently and found the house Leah's father lived in. I had that Leah married a William BEACH, Monmouth - 11a25. How do I confirm which marriage is correct?

Submitted by Pat Hase on Sun, 23/07/2017 - 11:50

If you use FreeBMD you will see that there are two marriages entered on that page:

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page

Marriages Mar 1872

BEACH William Monmouth 11a25
MARTIN Leah Monmouth 11a25
MATTHEWS William Monmouth 11a25
MEADOWS Emma Monmouth 11a25

So the options are that Leah married William BEACH or William MATTHEWS

On the 1881 census you can find a Leah MATTHEWS married to William MATTHEWS and an Emma BEACH married to a William BEACH

The transcription I suggested before (The marriage to William MATTHEWS) showed that Leah's father was William MARTIN and that one of the witnesses was a Henry WHITTINGTON

If you look on the census of 1861 of Newland you will see that a Leah MARTIN is living with her widowed mother, Hannah, and that there is also a lodger Henry WHITTINGTON.

We had established that Leah's mother's maiden name was BROWN and the Forest of Dean records show a marriage in 1846 of a William MARTIN to a Hannah BROWN.