I have been looking for the Death Registration for my great grandmother Maria Jane married to Edward Blake 29 Oct 1870 at Upper Clatford about as long as I have been doing research (6 years). I have searched the GRO Index a number of times in the early days and came up with one possibility and ordered the certificate. It was incorrect as I was misinterpreting the family lore about her youngest son. Going back to England and meeting with his direct line I refocused my thoughts with regard to where Maria Jane was after Edward died 18 July 1916 at Yew Cottage Goodworth Clatford. With the arrival of the 1911 census I have discovered that Edward, Maria Jane and Henry were at Yew Cottage in 1911. I have also discovered that the marriages of Mary Elizabeth and Edith Kathryn were also at Goodworth Clatford in 1907 and 1911 respectively. I have also just found that Sarah Ann's second marriage (she was widowed during the first world war) was also at Goodworth Clatford in 1923. The death of Edward in 1916 and the death of George Mattocks (Sarah Ann's first husband) would have meant the mother and daughter were both widowed within a couple of weeks of each other and Sarah had a son who was six years old. I know that Sarah taught school at Upper Clatford on into the 1950s. Having now visited the area Sarah could easily have lived at Goodworth Clatford and taught school at Upper Clatford. I also know that Maria started living with all her children sometime in the 1920s and spending six months with each of her children before she died. With this information at hand I again searched the Death Registrations from 1923 on and I found five individuals who could conceivably be my great grandmother but the last one in the third quarter of 1928 caught my eye as she had died at Bridport. Bridport is where my grandfather's youngest brother lived and so I think I have now found Maria Jane but her name was listed as Mary and her age as 90. It is quite easy to make a mistake between 90 and 80 and Maria is found less commonly these days. There wasn't a Mary Blake on the 1911 census at Bridport born in 1850 plus or minus 5 years. I have now ordered the certificate and we shall see if my much longer think through has been more effective than my rambunctious thinking of my early days in Genealogy! Genealogy is always a surprise.
Still reading The Knights Templar and feel a real affinity with the book. They espouse my thoughts on the Celtic Church of England and its influence in those early years of Christianity. Although many say that Henry VIII was the root cause of the Church of England no longer being in communion with the Roman Church I tend to think that it was a process that had been at work for centuries as the Celtic wing of the Church gained supremacy with regard to their discussions with the monarchy. Henry had something he wanted and the Celtic Church knew a way for him to do it that allowed their wing to become the main wing of the Church of England.
I have to decide which wills and other documents to transcribe this week. I have done some of the easier ones and now it is probably time to try a few of the really hard to read ones! I have several really good ones that will be a test of the eyesight and patience. Initially one jumps at the BMBs and BMDs to find one's relative but gradually I have come to realize that I need so much more in terms of information in order to firmly tie down the particular line without a trace of doubt.
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