Genealogy Chat

I have looked for the marriage of Courtney Trott it appears in 2 places on free bmd to different areas and 2 different years. Sept 1897 in cardiff and Sept 1903 in hereford and he married the same woman twice?! Agnes Hutchings , am very confused now is one wrong or did he have two marriage ceremonies! Any clarification or inspirations appreiciated . KIM

You could try confirming which one on 1837online

Kim I see what you mean. I tried looking in the 1901 census and there is only one Courtney Trott in the country recorded. He is a coachman living in Milford Pembrokeshire, but born in Cardiff in 1874 making him 27. Living in the house is an Alice Trott, also aged 27. I don't think she is his wife because she is described as the wife of a fisherman (not a coachman or the "head of the household"). There are also a number of children in the house. James 7 George 5 Mary 2 Charles 10 months These could be the children of Alice and her absent at sea fisherman husband. There is no Agnes Trott in the house at the time of the census. Unfortunately there are a lot of Agnes Hutchings in the 1901 census BUT there are not many in the same age range or approximate location. There is an Agnes Hutchings in Tredegar Monmouth aged 26. Could be a possible wife for the 1903 date and its moving closer to Hereford. John

I have it on good authority that he married agnes just confused as to why he is on twice, also there is a definite possibility he did marry again but later and not to Agnes again... these things are set to try us I suppose. Alice Trott is his sister and she is on 1881 as aged 2 she should be 22 in 1901 so that could just be a typing error . Kim

I was looking for a marriage on the IGI once, and I found one result for 10 October 1810 and one for 10 October 1812, it really has got me confused. Lucia

As someone who does transcribe for FreeBMD when I get chance, maybe I can shed some light. Some of the records we transcribe from are of poor quality, and not due to the efforts of those who scan them for us. It is just the way it is. Therefore, working on the principle of "type what you see", and the fact that more than one person may transcribe a scanned record, discrepancies may, and do, happen. That is why you are advised on most sites to confirm from the original record if you can. Also, it does happen that BMD's can be recorded more than once, and possibly in quite different years. Those of you who have applied for, and received, certificates - how many times have you seen "his/her mark" where signatures are supposed to be. Consequently, it can happen that where a certificate was required for whatever purpose, and the persons (aren't I being PC!!) concerned where illiterate, they may have asked for another one, possibly giving incorrect dates or the clerk just wanted them out of the office!!. Paul

Thanks Paul for shedding light on the issue , so the secondor first entry could have just been a duplicate issued? Or it could be just unclear , so I need to check with 1837online really? Thankyou KIM

Kim I just looked in the 1901 census again for the Agnes Hutchings at Tredegar. She was born in Tredegar and was 26 in 1901. However, she was living with an Eliza Hutchings (aged 64) from Haverfordwest, a place that is a long way from Monmouth but very close to where Courtney was living in Milford Pembroke. It could be coincidence of course but might explain why a young man in Milford came to meet a young lady in Tredegar. This Agnes' occupation was described as "Sorting clerk & telegraphist". It certainly looks like the 1903 date is the true wedding date. John

Back on before I go to the land of nod. It is not uncommon to find entries on the indexes that are unconnected by family, but contain the same names and in different areas. Just thought I would confuse the issue :-))) Paul