Number 5 Brick Wall

Brick Wall Number 5: Wife of William Molton

This brick wall seems a bit out of order but I created this order a couple of years ago and at that time I did not know for sure the parents of Hannah Arnold (my 3x great grandmother). I met an Arnold cousin online and he had been able to verify his family lore that Hannah Arnold was the daughter of William Arnold and Elizabeth Malton (online transcription of marriage). But we could not find the parents of Elizabeth Malton. The transcription of the original marriage register was incorrect and it wasn't until my cousin visited the Dorset Record Office that the correction was made to Molton and he discovered that Elizabeth Molton was the daughter of William and Sarah Molton but he could not find this marriage.

Elizabeth Molton was baptized 20 Apr 1766 at Winterborne Whitchurch as were her five siblings. Sarah (her mother) was buried 13 Jan 1799 at Winterborne Whitchurch and her father William was baptized 2 Aug 1743 at Winterborne Whitchurch son of John and Elizabeth Molton with John being baptized 20 Jul 1714 at Winterborne Whitchurch son of John and Elizabeth Molton. Elizabeth (wife of John baptized 1714) was buried 18 Jun 1781 at Winterborne Whitchurch and John was buried 24 Jul 1784 at Winterborne Whitchurch.  His parents were both buried at Winterborne Whitchurch - John buried 29 Apr 1747 (aged 64 years) and Elizabeth buried 14 Dec 1768. The children of both sets of John and Elizabeth were all baptized at Winterborne Whitchurch. My cousin still works in England and doesn't get down to Dorset often but hopefully on his next trip we might learn even more.

This remains a brick wall for me but I haven't really done any of the work on this line. The Dorset records are now on Ancestry so will search these out for a bit today. There isn't a marriage for William Molton to Sarah on Ancestry. I also checked Find My Past, Family Search and the Dorset OPC site. A mystery remains with regard to the surname of Sarah my 5x great grandmother. I really have not found anything about this family at Winterborne Whitchurch. Checking the census at Winterbourne Whitechurch in 1851 does not reveal any Molton families. There are Molton families at Bridport and Blandford. I have not traced all the lines down and perhaps one day will do that just out of curiosity.