The mystery of the Mortons: the British German Legion and the Essex girls. We looked at the Morton side of my wife's family again after neglecting it for a long time. I won't bore you with the full story -- if you want to read it, it's on our family history blog here: http://su.pr/AmnvMt Now, looking at that side of the family again, we did manage to get hold of the 1851 census which shows Mary Morton, aged 8, with her parents, George and Elizabeth Morton, both aged 45, and therefore born about 1806. Elizabeth came from Boxted, up near the Suffolk border (perhaps nearly not an Essex girl!). Mary had an older brother G. Fred, and an older sister Emma, aged 10. Her younger siblings were Thomas (3) and Catherine (1). And here’s where the mystery deepens. If she was 8 in 1851, she was surely too young to get married in 1856, when she would have been only 13, even as a minor with her father’s permission. It must be the right family, unless there was another George Morton in Colchester who was a gardener and had a daughter Mary. And the FreeBMD site shows Mary Nevard Morton being born in 1843. FreeBMD also shows an Emma Morton being born in 1838 (when we would have expected Mary to be born)and dying in 1839. Then there is Mary Nevard Morton in the June Quarter of 1843. Emma is dead, long live Emma. She shows up alive and well and aged 10 in the 1851 census. And get this: on the same index page as Mary Nevard Morton’s marriage to August Decker, TWO Emmas married a George David Julius Casdorff — Emma Morton and Emma Rodwell. As if that were not enough, on the previous page of the FreeBMD index, an Elizabeth Mount Decker married another German. Perhaps she was the “Lady Mount”! It looks as though we will need to order the other two marriage certificates, as well as Mary Nevard Morton’s birth certificate to see what happened. -- Steve Hayes Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/ http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote in news:ds6ff61e4em9ki4k66i1g74p2kfths40p4@4ax.com: > The mystery of the Mortons: the British German Legion and the Essex > girls. > > We looked at the Morton side of my wife's family again after > neglecting it for a long time. > > I won't bore you with the full story -- if you want to read it, it's > on our family history blog here: > > http://su.pr/AmnvMt > > Now, looking at that side of the family again, we did manage to get > hold of the 1851 census which shows Mary Morton, aged 8, with her > parents, George and Elizabeth Morton, both aged 45, and therefore born > about 1806. Elizabeth came from Boxted, up near the Suffolk border > (perhaps nearly not an Essex girl!). Mary had an older brother G. > Fred, and an older sister Emma, aged 10. Her younger siblings were > Thomas (3) and Catherine (1). And here’s where the mystery deepens. > > If she was 8 in 1851, she was surely too young to get married in 1856, > when she would have been only 13, even as a minor with her father’s > permission. It must be the right family, unless there was another > George Morton in Colchester who was a gardener and had a daughter > Mary. And the FreeBMD site shows Mary Nevard Morton being born in > 1843. > > FreeBMD also shows an Emma Morton being born in 1838 (when we would > have expected Mary to be born)and dying in 1839. Then there is Mary > Nevard Morton in the June Quarter of 1843. Emma is dead, long live > Emma. She shows up alive and well and aged 10 in the 1851 census. > > And get this: on the same index page as Mary Nevard Morton’s marriage > to August Decker, TWO Emmas married a George David Julius Casdorff — > Emma Morton and Emma Rodwell. As if that were not enough, on the > previous page of the FreeBMD index, an Elizabeth Mount Decker married > another German. Perhaps she was the “Lady Mount”! > > It looks as though we will need to order the other two marriage > certificates, as well as Mary Nevard Morton’s birth certificate to see > what happened. > Couldn't see any obvious way to sort that lot out otherwise. Might be of interest if you don't already have.. http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeC/essexc14g.html White's Directory of Essex 1848 - list of inhabitants Gardeners, Seedsmen, etc. George Morten James Morton William Morten both James and William are both Gardeners in Colchester in 1851. Perhaps William will turn out to be father or uncle of George and James? 1851 England Census about James Morton Name: James Morton Age: 33 Estimated birth year: abt 1818 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Rebecca Morton Gender: M (Male) Where born: Colchester, Essex, England Civil Parish: Colchester St Peter Town: Colchester County/Island: Essex Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View image Registration district: Colchester Sub-registration district: Colchester First Ward ED, institution, or vessel: 3d Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 79 Household Members: Name Age James Morton 33 Rebecca Morton 33 Rachael Morton 7 Alice Rebecca Morton 5 James E Morton 2 Charles W Morton 1 MO 1851 England Census about William Morten Name: William Morten Age: 64 Estimated birth year: abt 1787 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Elizabeth Morten Gender: M (Male) Where born: Colchester, Essex, England Civil Parish: Colchester St Martin County/Island: Essex Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View image Registration district: Colchester Sub-registration district: Colchester First Ward ED, institution, or vessel: 4b Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 94 Household Members: Name Age William Morten 64 Elizabeth Morten 63 Elizabeth Morten 36 William Morten 28 Sarah Morten 23

On 03 Dec 2010, you wrote in soc.genealogy.britain: >> unless there was another >> George Morton in Colchester who was a gardener and had a daughter >> Mary. Nearest I can find is this one but a bit old to marry in 1854 ish.. Name: Mary Mount Morten Gender: Female Baptism/Christening Date: 20 Jun 1808 Baptism/Christening Place: LION WALK MEETING HOUSE- INDEPENDENT,COLCHESTER,ESSEX,ENGLAND Birth Date: Birthplace: Death Date: Name Note: Race: Father's Name: George Morten Father's Birthplace: Father's Age: Mother's Name: Alice Mother's Birthplace: Mother's Age: Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C06722-1 System Origin: England-ODM Source Film Number: 587672 Reference Number: Collection: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Looks like a lot of that family on the LDS pilot. Search for Morten without first name in Colchester.

On Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:17:35 -0600, CWatters <Colin.Watters@DELETEMEturnersoak.plus.com> wrote: >Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote in >> It looks as though we will need to order the other two marriage >> certificates, as well as Mary Nevard Morton? birth certificate to see >> what happened. >Couldn't see any obvious way to sort that lot out otherwise. Yes, we've now ordered the certificates, but will also order the microfilm of the St Botolph's marriages, to see if it was a mass wedding with Essex girls, like the one that took place on board ship. >Might be of interest if you don't already have.. > >http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/placeC/essexc14g.html > >White's Directory of Essex 1848 - list of inhabitants >Gardeners, Seedsmen, etc. >George Morten >James Morton >William Morten Thanks very much , that was useful. Also www.historicaldirectories.org. Thanks too for the census entries. Actually findinng George Morton in the 1851 census makes it possible to link him to to a George Morton in the IGI, a record we've had knocking around for 30 years or so -- three chirlden of a George and Alice Morton or Morten - George, Mary Mount and Thomas, baptised in 1806, 1808 and 1810 respectively. There was no way of linking those to our George until we found him in the census. And since then, using FreeBMD and the 1881 census, I've managed to follow up some of the children, with interesting family names cropping up again - Hedley, for example. -- Steve Hayes Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/ http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

On 02/12/2010 13:20, Steve Hayes wrote: > And get this: on the same index page as Mary Nevard Morton’s marriage to > August Decker, TWO Emmas married a George David Julius Casdorff — Emma Morton > and Emma Rodwell. Not two Emmas, one Emma with 2 names. You often see that where the woman had been married before or possibly where she was born with one surname but habitually used that of her step-father. -- Jenny M Benson