Following from … The Bible Tells All …
It was 1895 when my Great Grandmother died on the birth of her last child. That left my Great Grandfather to care for the children that were still at home. It was at this time that his sister-in-law appeared on the scene to help with their upbringing.
The other marriage* that I discovered penned at the bottom of the page, was between my Great Grandfather and his sister-in-law! I quickly checked the dates and confirmed that thankfully there was an eighteen month gap between the death of his wife and his new bride.
The final four entries in the bible were that of three boys and one girl. As I mentioned before, the female died early. She was just two years old. Even today, after many years of research, I still feel saddened by how common it was for children to die so early.
As for the three remaining names, I couldn’t find any mention of them anywhere else in the book. So what would be my next task?
Ask the family, of course. However, even this drew a blank, so it was off to the town of Bodmin, this being the area where they were born. The Parish Church is often the best place to start for two reasons. Firstly, there is usually a graveyard attached where you scan the stones for recognisable names. Secondly, you can read through the Parish Records for Births, marriages, deaths and baptisms. It is also recommended that you make an appointment prior to your visit of any Church. Don’t expect to turn up unannounced and scour the record books. The benefit of booking a viewing is that the Rector or the person in charge may have useful information relevant to your research.
However, on this occasion I didn’t find the boys names on any Gravestones in either of the local cemeteries, but they were in the records. That probably meant that they had left the Parish. I now had to check the Census for this decade to see where they were or where they had moved to. Where’s the Internet when you need it!
*It was quite common for these marriages to happen.
Family Past 