Research Forum

Hi Pat.

As you know, I also have STOKES ancestors. So I have Samuel and Elizabeth in my tree even though I am not a direct descendant of theirs. For what it is worth I have exactly the same information as you. That doesn't help very much though I'm afraid.

Although Elizabeth's name has been correctly transcribed as PEATES, I did wonder if it might have been recorded incorrectly in the marriage record (I note that she marked). For example, might it have been PITTS or PETERS? The marriage was concluded after Banns. Have you managed to find a record of the Banns?

Dave Erasmus

Thank you Dave,  I haven't found the Banns for St James yet.  In 1815, on the same day and at the same church another Samuel STOKES was married to a Mary HIGGS, with the same witnesses - William & Ann LODGE - they witnessed all three marriages which took place that day.  I also wonder whether errors might have occurred in entering these marriages.

I had been thinking along the same lines as you and had looked at PEARCE as a possibility but hadn't thought of PETERS - I'll look again.  I looked at PEARCE because when Samuel married for the 2nd time in Wraxall in 1840  two people with that surname were witnesses - John & Martha PEARCE. I believe John & Martha were brother and sister to Samuel's second wife, Nancy (Ann) but they did also have a sister called Elizabeth who was christened in 1801 in Wraxall who was a little young to be Elizabeth PEATES - but who knows?

I wondered if Elizabeth might be WEEKS (I know that is a bit of stretch)? It was a relatively common surname in North Somerset for that period. In the year following the baptism of Charles, and on the same page, an Elizabeth Weeks is baptised at Wraxall on 29 June 1794, the daughter of John and Mary Weeks.

Perhaps the old reverend might have been a bit deaf!

Best regards,
Richard

What an interesting suggestion!  I can imagine  some confusion caused with PEATES and WEEKS if the diction wasn't very clear - the central part of the name is very similar but I can't say I had ever considered it.  I was wondering if she was a widow when she married Samuel STOKES.  Oh well, back to the drawing board!  Can't find a marriage or a suitable burial for the Elizabeth WEEKS born in 1794 so this is a real possibility.