Mary Harker is revealed

Introduction
Recently I received the marriage certificate of my 2xgreat-grandmother (Charlotte b.1864, Knottingley) and also that of my 3xgreat-grandmother (Mary b.1834, Knottingley). Whilst I knew their first names I had been quite confused as to what their maiden names were as their census entries had been a bit of a muddle. This is a summary of what I knew for each time point - the originals can be viewed on this page:

1871 census: Charlotte Nichols - stepdaughter of William and Sarah (or Mary) Pascoe
1881 census: Charlotte Pascoe - daughter of William & Mary Pascoe
1881 marriage index: Charlotte Ann Schofield
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - daughter of William & Mary Pascoe
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - wife of Joseph Garbutt



The marriage certificates
Charlotte's marriage:

• On 2nd October 1881 at the parish Church of Castleford after banns.
  

• Joseph Garbutt, 20, bachelor, occupation - collier, abode - Castleford, father - Joseph Garbutt, father's occupation - collier.

• Charlotte Ann Schofield, 18, spinster, abode - Castleford, father - John Schofield, father's occupation painter.

• The witnesses were John Bennett and Joseph Robshaw.
  

Mary's marriage:

• On 11th February 1866 at the parish church of Pontefract, Yorkshire

• William Pascoe, 30, bachelor, occupation - potter, abode - Knottingley, father - John Pascoe, father's occupation - potter

• Mary Schofield, 32, widow, abode - Knottingley, father - William Harker, father's occupation - labourer

• The witnesses were William Harker and James Goddard.
  

How has this helped?
It appears that Charlotte Ann Schofield (see here for a picture) was born in Knottingley in 1864 to John Schofield, a painter, and Mary Schofield (nee Harker). From the GRO index I found that John Schofield and Mary Harker were married in the June Quarter of 1859 (Jun Qtr 1859, 9c 111 Pontefract), with Charlotte being born 5 years later. I do not know if John and Mary had any other children during this period. By 11th February 1866 John Schofield had died and Mary Schofield re-married to William Pascoe, a potter. William Pascoe was the son of John Pascoe, both of whom were born in Bovey Tracey in Devon. From the censuses, I can find that William and Mary Pascoe had at least two children - Sarah and Mary Jane Pascoe - the step-sisters to Charlotte Ann Schofield. Charlotte Ann Schofield then later married Joseph Garbutt on 2nd October 1881 in Castleford. The only thing that does not fit with this is the 1871 census (see here) where Charlotte Ann is called Charlotte Nichols, the step-daughter of William Pascoe. However, looking at that census entry, it seems as if the enumerator may have been a little confused as he also gets the names of Mary and her daughter Sarah mixed up.

What are the next steps?
The priority is to obtain the birth certificate of Charlotte Ann Schofield, and the marriage of John Schofield to Mary Harker. These should confirm the pedigree that I have outlined above and my belief that the information in the 1871 census was somewhat inaccurate.

Following this I will try to find out more about John Schofield as I do not know very much about him currently. His marriage certificate will let me know his father's name which may help me to find him in the census. As John Schofield married Mary Harker in 1859, I should be able to find them in the 1861 census but this has thus far not been possible. John Schofield's death certificate may also be helpful but I have not yet found the GRO certificate. Schofield is a very common name in Yorkshire so it might be hard to isolate the right John Schofield.


I would also like to find out more about Mary Harker (or Schofield & Pascoe as she became). I know that she was born in 1834 in Knottingley to William Harker, a labourer. In the 1841 census, I find a Mary Harker of the right age living in a place called 'Holes' in Knottingley with a father William who is a labourer. As this is the only Mary Harker in Knottingley, I think this is the right entry. I cannot yet find William and Jane in the 1851 census.

A mystery suitable for Dalziel & Pascoe

So What is the Mystery?
In the 1891 census, Joseph and Charlotte Garbutt were living on Ford's Row, Whitwood with Mary Pascoe and her daughter Mary Jane Pascoe. It was not clear whether Charlotte or Joseph were the child of Mary Pascoe.

I therefore attempted to search the 1881 census for Mary and Mary Jane Pascoe. I found them still living in Ford's Row with husband/father William Pascoe. William and Mary Pascoe had also two elder daughters - Charlotte and Sarah. All the children and Mary Snr were born in Knottingley, West Riding. However, William Pascoe was a potter who was born in Bovey Tracey, Devon.

I then found William Pascoe in 1871, working as a potter, living at Hill Top Knottingley. His birthplace and age match the 1881 census, as do that of his wife - however, she is called Sarah and not Mary. However, if you look at the 1891 census, it appears as if the enumerator has probably got the maiden names of mother and daughter the wrong way around here. William also has a step-daughter, Charlotte Nichols of the right age and born in Knottingley.

Therefore Charlotte appears to have several names -

1861 census: Cannot find her?
1871 census: Charlotte Nichols - stepdaughter of William and Sarah (or Mary) Pascoe
1881 census: Charlotte Pascoe - daughter of Mary Pascoe
1881 marriage index: Charlotte Ann Schofield - marries Joseph Garbutt???
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - daughter of Mary Pascoe
1891 census: Charlotte Garbutt - wife of Joseph Garbutt

It is a mystery if each of these Charlotte's is the same person. Following the census information backwards it would appears so, but it is difficult to explain why her surname changes so much. It appears that she may have had several surnames because of the death and re-marriage of one or both of her parents.

How can we resolve this mystery?
Tracing the life of Charlotte Garbutt may be a case of assuming too many census facts at face value. We need to take the steps backwards more slowly to try and find the evidence that confirms relationships. How can this be done:

1)The marriage certificate of Joseph Garbutt and Charlotte Ann Schofield may help. This appears to be the only Joseph Garbutt marrying at the right time in the Pontefract area, but another Joseph may have been missed in the index and this could be completely misleading.

2) The parish records of Knottingley and Whitwood may throw light on Joseph and Charlotte Garbutt and Charlotte's earlier life.

3) The birth certificates of Joseph and Charlotte Garbutt's children - Mary Ann, Joseph, Ernest, Gertrude & Jane - should give Charlotte's maiden name (or names).

4) Perhaps a marriage between William Pascoe and Mary in around 1865-1870.

In the IGI I found a marriage between a William Pascoe (father John Pascoe) and a Mary Schofield on 11 Feb 1866 in Pontefract. This same IGI entry claims that Mary Schofield's father was a William Harker! The marriage certificate for this is Mar 1866 Vol9c, p98, Pontefract.

So why might Charlotte be called Charlotte Nichols in 1871?, and where is she in 1861? The mystery deepens....

See here for a picture of Charlotte and here for an update to this story.

The Garbutt family - how writing on pictures can be very useful!

Background
My grandfather, David Hughes, was born in Castleford in the West-Riding of Yorkshire, as was his father, also called David Hughes (b.1905, Castleford). His father (my g-g-grandfather) was also called David Hughes and was born in Whitwood, Yorkshire. I know a great deal about his family, but relatively little about his wife, Mary Garbutt.

What did we know initially about the Garbutt family?
What I knew initially was that David Hughes (b1882) married Mary Garbutt and had three children - David (b.1905), Mary (b.1907) and Joe (b1909). Mary Garbutt died in childbirth, or soon after, with Joe. Joe Hughes married Amy Walsh - see this post for more information about her very interesting life - and here for information on the ancestors of Mary Garbutt.

Information from family members suggests that Mary might have had a brother, Joe, and that her father may also be called Joe Garbutt. However, the real brekthrough came when my Great-Uncle Jack showed me a picture of a wedding in Castleford featuring about 20 family members that he had in his possession. I will post an image of this photo here when I am able to scan it. This photo featured members of both the Garbutt and Hughes families - and had a few names written on the back. I will write more about the Hughes names in a later post.

The picture was of a wedding between Joseph Garbutt and Elizabeth Ann Day.

Some of the Garbutt names were - Mary Garbutt, Charlotte Garbutt, Ernest Garbutt.

Knowing this enabled me to find out more from the 1891 & 1901 censuses:











In the 1901 census of 4 Pottery Lane, All Saints, Whitwood, I found Joseph and Charlotte Garbutt with their children Joseph, Ernest, Gertrude and Jane. Whitwood is within the ancient parish of Featherstone and about 3 miles from Castleford and Whitwood. Knowing that the elder child were born in Castleford, I searched the 1891 census and found the family living at 57 Fords Row, Whitwood. This confirmed that Mary Garbutt also was their daughter and told me that she had the middle initial 'A'. They are living with a Mary Pascoe, who was born in Knottingley like Charlotte, is the parent of either Joseph or Charlotte - though the census enumerator also seems confused - see here for information about Mary Pascoe. I was then able to find Mary Garbutt in the 1901 census. She was working as a cook in a household in St. Phillips, Whitwood, belonging to a Hannah Lacey. In both 1891 and 1901 Joseph was a coal miner - it is likely that he came to Yorkshire like a lot of those who were born in Staffordshire to work in the coal mines.

Most of the information found here matched the names on the family photo (Charlotte and Ernest Garbutt being unique among census entries to this family), and the information supplied by family. What was new to me was that the Garbutt family came from Staffordshire - Joseph Garbutt was born in Brockmore, Staffordshire. I had expected that the Garbutts would be a Yorkshire family as other Garbutts down my maternal grandmother's line had been from the North Riding of Yorkshire.

This data also needs to be corroborated though with certificates and parish records which I aim to get imminently - particularly:

Marriage of Mary Ann Garbutt & David Hughes - Mar 1904 Pontefract, 9c, 164.
Birth & Death certificates of Mary Ann Hughes (nee Garbutt) - cannot find!

Marriage of Joseph Garbutt & Charlotte Ann Schofield - Dec 1881 Pontefract, 9c, 144 - (probably the marriage of Joseph and Charlotte). see here for an update


I have not yet managed to find out much more about the Garbutt family. However, looking at some of the material available online about Whitwood, I notice one page that lists a memorial to an E.Garbutt who died in WW1. I wonder if this may be the Ernest Garbutt who was Mary's brother and who was pictured on the wedding photograph my Uncle Jack showed me?