Hi,

living in Belgium, I don't have much experience with UK archives. All I know, is that they provide much less information than ours... For example, whereas a birth certificate in Belgium would mention the birth date and time, full name of the father, full (maiden) name of the mother, their ages, birth cities, whether they are married or not, city (sometimes full address) where they are living at the time of the birth, all witnesses and their relationship to the parents, a UK record would only give the birthdate (or baptism) and both parents' first names...

If the family is quite common in the area, it is virtually impossible to find out who are whose children, and who married who... On top of that, dates and places in the census aren't always as accurate as they should be...

That's why I'm asking for your help with the following problem.

My 4th great-grandmother is called Sarah Catherine Drew.
She married John Adams in 1830 in St Anne Soho.

This is the census information for her:

1841 - b. 1811, Middlesex
1851 - b. 1807, Westminster St Martins
1861 - b. 1807, St Martin in the Fields

Her marriage certificate says:

- she is from "this" parish (--> St Anne Soho, not St Martins)
- witness is Rose Mary Drew (I presume her sister)


There is only one Rose Mary Drew to be found, b. 1798 in St Martin in the Fields, daughter of William and Rose.

But now, there are two Sarah Catherine Drews, each of whom only partially fits in the picture:

1) Sarah Catherine Drew, born 1808 to William and Sarah

The date can be considered consistent with the census, but this one was born in St Anne Soho. Not St Martin in the Fields. There is no link to Rose Mary.
There are other children of "William Drew and Sarah" between 1794 and 1808, the only marriage though dates from 1797.

2) Sarah Catherine Drew, baptised 1816, daughter of William and Rose

As she is born in St Martin in the Fields and her parents have the same names, she could well be the sister of Rose Mary. But the date is completely off: I often allow 2 years of difference in the census, but 9 years seems to be quite extreem.
Then again, 1816 is the year of her baptism, on the same day as her sister Elisabeth Louise. Maybe Elisabeth was the one born in 1816, and Sarah Catherine just wasn't baptised yet. But why would they wait for her to be 8 or 9 years old to be baptised?


If I go further: it will be virtually impossible to find the father. If I consider that Sarah Catherines father would have been born somewhere between 1770 and 1785, there are at least 7 or 8 Williams to choose from, all born within St Martins, St Anne or St James...


If anywone could shed a light on this dilemma, it would be much appreciated...

Thanks in advance!
Tom

PS I tried several times with other people to buy the marriage or death certificates from the General Register Office, but that doesn't help. Death certificates never mention a birth date, only an approximate age, and the date of death which you already had or you wouldn't be able to buy the certificate in the first place. Sometimes, the transcription online is flawed and in stead of a 67-year old man, I get the certificate of a 6 months old boy. At £10 per certificate, I stopped doing this, there is no way to be certain the document is 1) the correct person and 2) will provide any useful information.