Jane YEOMAN, Wife of Joseph LUKE: Who Were Her Parents?

Research note for the St. Blazey Families Project

by Wesley Johnston - begun 12 Feb 2014, last updated 12 Feb 2014 (minor typos corrected & surnames formatted 16 Jun 2016)

The Problem

On 1 Mar 1823, Joseph LUKE and Jane YEOMAN married at St. Blazey, Cornwall. Since there are multiple candidates for Jane's baptism, which would establish who her parents were, this research note presents the evidence and the reasons for the conclusion drawn, The only specific information about her birth is that she was enumerated as age 56 in the 1861 Canada census, placing her birth about 1805, which would have meant she was 17 or 18 at the time of her marriage in 1823.

Candidate Baptisms

Searching the Cornwall Family History Society research database, there are only these viable candidates for her baptism.

- baptized 12 Nov 1806 at St. Blazey, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth

- baptized 18 Nov 1804 at Paul, daughter of Nichols and Jane

There is also a much older Jane YEOMAN, baptized 1788 at Illogan, but I was able to determine that she was still in the UK at a time when we know that Joseph LUKE's wife was in Canada.

Jane's Children's Names

The first known child of Joseph and Jane (YEOMAN) LUKE was Elizabeth Yeoman LUKE. The second was Richard Yeoman LUKE. These children were clearly named for Jane's parents and clearly match the parents of the 1806 St. Blazey Jane YEOMAN.

Conclusion: She is the 1806 St. Blazey Jane, and her parents were Richard and Elizabeth YEOMAN

So a complete search of all Jane YEOMAN's born anywhere in Cornwall turned up just two viable candidates. And one of those had parents with the names (including surnames) of Jane's oldest children. So it is almost certain that Jane was the 1806-baptized daughter of Richard and Elizabeth. Clearly it would be nice to find an explicit record that says so, but no such record has been found. So in the absence of such absolute proof, this conclusion must suffice.