The 1870 Facey Hymn Book Goes to a New Home

A tiny prayer and hymn book has been passed down in my husband's family since 1870. A few weeks ago it came to my husband. It was given by his 3rd great grandfather Edmund (Edwin) Facey to his wife Mary Little in West Nissouri Ontario on January 25, 1870.

We are not sure of the significance of the date or what event it might have celebrated. Edmund Facey was born in September 1813 in St. Winnow, Cornwall England and married Mary Little in February 1841 in Stoke Damerol, Devon England. 

Mary's date of birth was May 1814 in St. Pinnock, Cornwall England. In 1852 the family left England for Ingersoll Ontario Canada. 

By December 1865 they had settled in W. Nissouri Tp. Middlesex Co. Ontario. It was just 4 years later when Edmund gave Mary this tiny book. It has been well-used and well-loved over the years!

Mary Facey, West Nissouri, Ont. from Edwin Jan. 25, 1870

 The line of descent is from Edmund & Mary (Little Facey) to their grandaughter Mary Louisa Facey who was born in 1882 in W. Nissouri. Mary Louisa married William Elgie in 1904. 

The book then passed to either  their daughter Florence or Verda Luella, my husband's grandmother. My husband's mother was the next to receive the book and now it is my husband's turn to treasure it and pass it on to the next generation.

Reading 16th Century English Records

Call me a geeky nerd but I love the challenge of old handwriting. This image on the left is the baptism record of my 11th great-grandmother Martha Barrett. 

It took me awhile to find her on the page but by scrutinizing the handwriting of all entries I was eventually able to recognize her first name and the surname. This entry reads: 

28 of October was baptised Martha
daughter of Henry Barrett

Isn't the handwriting beautiful??!
 
I used to decipher 16th and 17th century Dutch handwriting - at first I struggled but after a few years I was sort of getting the hang of it. In fact I have some tutorials on my blog in case any of my readers are researching in the same time frame and country. If you think it will help, please see How to Read 16th & 17th Century Handwriting

 

By the way I was pretty thrilled to find this baptism for Martha. Next I'm going to look for the marriage of her parents. Wish me luck!

I'm Almost Sad that I'm Right!

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post called Who's Your Dadddy It was about my ancestor Betsey Norman who was born circa 1822 in Brixham Devon. An online source (in fact 2 online trees) showed different parents for her than I had. And the online information did have pretty good sourcing for all the material and info on the family.

On checking my genealogy program I saw that I'd never obtained Betsey's marriage certificate to William Henry Williams. So I really couldn't be sure I had the right parents at all! I'd found a baptism record in the Brixham Church records and made the terrible error of assuming it was for MY Betsey!

Baptisms Brixham Devon: Betsy Norman, d/o William & Elizabeth (labourer) 13 Oct 1822

I have not yet found Betsey in the 1841 census but the online tree had her in Barnstaple (I'd have expected to see her in Brixham) as an 18 year old with father Nicholas Norman age 55

I began to doubt myself.  I do have Betsey in the 1851 census:

1851 Census Brixham, Devon. Lower Brixham:
161 Pinkey's Row:
Williams, Betsey, 28, fisherman's wife, b. Brixham
Mary A. dau, 2, b. Brixham
Hannah A. dau. 11 mos. b. Brixham
Jane Weysmouth, 15, visitor, b. Brixham

So I sent for the certificate of marriage from GRO. I'd also noted that the same source who had a different set of parents for Betsey had a different father for her husband, also my ancestor, William Williams.

I was doubting myself big time. But I consoled myself with the thought "Hey, It would be kind of fun to have two entirely new lines to research!"

Well, the certificate came today. And guess what? I was right. Both Betsey and William have the fathers I originally found for them. Betsey's father's name is given as William Norman, not Nicholas Norman as the online Family Tree has. William's father is noted as William Williams, not Richard Williams as given in the same online tree.


Here are the details the marriage record provides:

1847. Marriage solemnized at the Church in the Parish of Brixham in the County of Devon. June 13th. 

William Henry Williams, full age, bachelor, Mariner residing Brixham. Father's name William Williams, Mariner

Betsy Norman, full age, spinster, dressmaker, residing Brixham, Father's name William Norman, Labourer. Married in the Parish Church. 

Witnesses: Sarah Bennett & Sarah Edwards Narramore. William signed an "X" for his mark.

Now to search for Sarah Bennett and Sarah Edwards Narramore and see if I can figure out if they were friends or family!

And I'll have to go and post comments (Corrections) on the two online Family Trees on Ancestry.com We'll see how that goes, in the past I've found people reluctant to give up their own ideas even when presented with a definitive source.