Which Henry Carpenter married Elizabeth Ham at St Blazey, Cornwall, 20 Jul 1836?
Research note for the St. Blazey Families Project by Wesley Johnston, begun 8 Jan 2014, last updated 9 Jan 2014
The Problem
On 8 January 1836, Henry Carpenter and Elizabeth Ham married at St. Blazey. Both were sojourners in the parish, meaning that they both came from outside the parish. They both signed their own names. The witnesses were William Hicks and Edward Merifield. Edward Merifield witnessed hundreds of St. Blazey marriages and was most likely not related to the couple. I do not yet know whether or how William Hicks may have been related to them. The image of the marriage is at:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-22657-56695-34
There were two Henry Carpenters born about the same time who may have been the Henry of this marriage:
- Baptized 1815 Aug 27 at St Blazey, son of William and Mary (maiden name not yet known) Carpenter
- Baptized 1818 Jun 6 at Tywardreath, son of Thomas and Charity (Keam) Carpenter
And there were other Henry Carpenters who were born earlier who may have been Elizabeth Ham's husband:
- Baptized 1793 Mar 3 at St Austell, son of Thomas and Mary (Vezey) Carpenter [This was apparently the uncle of the 1818 Henry -- his father Thomas' brother.]
- Baptized 1801 Apr 5 at Illogan, son of William and Grace (maiden name not yet known) Carpenter.
So which Henry Carpenter married Elizabeth Ham?
The Marriage Record Itself
The marriage record lists both Henry and Elizabeth as "sojourners in this parish" and not as "of this parish". Thus the Henry who married Elizabeth was apparently not residing at St. Blazey 20 July 1836. This evidence weighs against the St Blazey-baptized 1815 Henry Carpenter.
1841 and 1851 Censuses Eliminate 1818 Tywardreath Henry Carpenter
The 1818 Tywardreath Henry definitely married a Mary, since they appear together - with no children - in the 1851 census at Market Place in St Blazey, living in the household of Samuel Mitchell, with Henry a Miner (32) born Tywardreath and Elizabeth (32) born St Austell:
http://interactive.ancestry.com/8860/CONHO107_1906_1907-0216/17606519
But this same Henry is unmarried and living with his father and step-mother and siblings in St Blazey Village (apparently the same as the Church Town in the parish registers) in 1851:
http://interactive.ancestry.com/8978/CONHO107_146_146-0228/512259
Thus the 1818 Tywardreath Henry Carpenter did not marry Elizabeth Ham in 1836. So who did he marry?
The 1818 Tywardreath-baptized Henry Carpenter married Mary Clemens Mitchell 30 Mar 1850 at Par. The image of this marriage can be seen at:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/DGS-004764205_00002
This couple emigrated to Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario between the 1851 and 1861 censuses. They had no children.
Elizabeth and Henry's Children
The Cornwall Family History Society's research database has these baptisms at St Blazey that appear to be those of the couple married in 1836. (Note that there are baptisms at the same time of a separate Henry and Elizabeth at Illogan, so that the 1801 Illogan Henry can be eliminated now, leaving just the 1815 Henry and the 1793 Henry.)
- 1837 Jun 27 - William Henry [named for Henry's father?]
- 1842 Jun 8 - Richard Ham and James Ham [one of them named for Elizabeth's father?]
- 1845 Feb 2 [at Tywardreath] - Mary Ann
- 1850 Sep 11 [at St Blazey] - Elizabeth Jane and Joseph
1851 Census Confirms 1815 St Blazey Henry Carpenter as husband of Elizabeth Ham
The 1851 Census shows all the children, including the middle name Ham, so that this is definitely the Henry Carpenter who married Elizabeth Ham:
http://interactive.ancestry.com/8860/CONHO107_1906_1907-0186/17606102
And Henry is shown age 35 and born in St Blazey. So we now know which Henry Carpenter married elizabeth Ham.
RELATED RECORDS
Since the question that is the purpose of this research note has been answered, the following do not need to be considered here but will need to be considered in regard to other persons in the St Blazey Families database.
Marriages
1788 St Austell - Carpenter-Coombe, witnesses Carpenter, Coombe == http://cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=marriages&id=936653
- image: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11110-175167-3
- banns image: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11110-177045-4
1824 St Austell (bachelor, spinster) - Carpenter-Coombe, witnesses Coombe, Caprenter == http://cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=marriages&id=937850 [probably the 1793 St Austell Henry]
1839 St Austell - Carpenter-(Hancock) Walkey, witnesses Coombe, Higgs == http://cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=marriages&id=460239 [probably the widowed 1793 St Austell Henry]
Burials
1794 St Austell - age not given == http://cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=burials&id=1771915
1849 St Austell - 57 - probably the 1793 St Austell Henry
1880 St Austell - 69 - no known 1811 Henry, maybe the 1815 St Blazey Henry (who married Elizabeth Ham)?
Was Elizabeth Ham a Widow?
There is no baptism of an Elizabeth Ham for any date in Kenwyn in the Cornwall Family History Society research database. Elizabeth was about 9 years older than Henry. So she was about 31 when they married in 1836.
These facts lead me to suspect that Ham was not her maiden name but her married name. The 1836 marriage record does not give their marital status. I did make a few brief searches ... for an Elizabeth marrying a Ham, for a Ham burial about 1835 or 1836 ... but there were too many hits to narrow it down very quickly. So I will have to leave that search for a later time.
However, the fact that Henry and Elizabeth named two of their sons with the middle name Ham does weigh strongly for Ham being her maiden name. So there is evidence both ways, although I think the sons' names give the balance to her maiden name probably being Ham, so that she was not a widow.