Hi Doris, I've found this on Freebmd site which could be a possibility. Births Jun 1845 LOWRY Mary Ellen Penley Tynemouth 25 414 Have a look on the site at the name, then click on the spectacles at the right hand side of the entry. Click on "View the orignal" then all the names come up. Have a look at two girls names on the image - I'm only going to type their christian names Mary Ellen Sowry - says she is registered at Falmouth. Then underneath her is Hannah Penley - says she is registered at Tynemouth As you can see above, at the transcription, it says that Mary Ellen Penley LOWRY was registered at Tynemouth. I think the transcriber has mixed the two girls up, and that Mary Ellen, should really be Mary Ellen LOWRY (SOWRY - maybe a corruption of SOUTHRY?) I might well be barking up the wrong tree. Would appreciate it if other listers would have a look please, and see what you think. Jan ----- Original Message ----- From: "john harker" <john.harker@ntlworld.com> To: <DUR-NBL@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 3:43 PM Subject: [DUR-NBL] birth > Hello > have looked for years for my great grand mother`s birth ,to no > avail. > Wonder if any one can help ,or point me in the right direction > ,any help greatly appreciated > Her name was Mary Ellen Southry ,but many spellings on this name > Father to Mary Ellen was a French man ,one Henry Sontrin a boat > builder > Acoording to census she was born in Blyth Northumberland, date of > birth about 1845 > Many thanks for any information > Doris, membership > number 6933

Hi Jan, Have taken a look at the image and I agree with you that the transcriber has mixed the two girls up and the original indexer may have mistaken the 'S' for an 'L', so Sowry became Lowry!! Good luck Doris. Gillian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jan Boyes" <markandjanboyes@ntlworld.com> To: "john harker" <john.harker@ntlworld.com>; <DUR-NBL@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 9:08 PM Subject: Re: [DUR-NBL] birth > Hi Doris, > I've found this on Freebmd site which could be a possibility. > > Births Jun 1845 > LOWRY Mary Ellen Penley Tynemouth 25 414 > > Have a look on the site at the name, then click on the spectacles at the > right hand side of the entry. > Click on "View the orignal" then all the names come up. > > Have a look at two girls names on the image - I'm only going to type their > christian names > Mary Ellen Sowry - says she is registered at Falmouth. > Then underneath her is > Hannah Penley - says she is registered at Tynemouth > > As you can see above, at the transcription, it says that Mary Ellen Penley > LOWRY was registered at Tynemouth. > I think the transcriber has mixed the two girls up, and that Mary Ellen, > should really be Mary Ellen LOWRY > (SOWRY - maybe a corruption of SOUTHRY?) > > I might well be barking up the wrong tree. > Would appreciate it if other listers would have a look please, and see > what > you think. > > Jan > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "john harker" <john.harker@ntlworld.com> > To: <DUR-NBL@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 3:43 PM > Subject: [DUR-NBL] birth > > >> Hello >> have looked for years for my great grand mother`s birth ,to no >> avail. >> Wonder if any one can help ,or point me in the right direction >> ,any help greatly appreciated >> Her name was Mary Ellen Southry ,but many spellings on this name >> Father to Mary Ellen was a French man ,one Henry Sontrin a boat >> builder >> Acoording to census she was born in Blyth Northumberland, date of >> birth about 1845 >> Many thanks for any information >> Doris, membership >> number 6933 > > ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > To Post a message to this list send it to, > DUR-NBL-L@rootsweb.com > > ==== DUR-NBL Mailing List ==== > List Web Page > http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamgenealogy/index.phtml > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > DUR-NBL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Doris, Apologies for the length of this message but I wanted it to make some sort of sense. I have just made a possible breakthrough that might be of use to you. I looked at the 1841 census and found the following entry. Reg. HO107 piece 296 book 2 folio 1 page 6 Morpeth North Blyth. Auster Soutry age 20 occ. Boat Bdr. Ap. born F. The first name of this man looks like Austin to me but could be something else. Aristin/on, for example, or even Cristi(a)n or something similar. Auster is how Ancestry have the name transcribed in their index. Perhaps Henry was his middle name and he preferred to use it. Maybe ancestry have the first name completely wrong, though on the image it doesn't look anything like Henry. But this man in 1841 has the occupation of Boat Builder, apprentice and was born Foreign and the surname certainly looks very similar to Soutry. Remember that in 1841 census ages were rounded to down to nearest 5 years of all those aged 15 and over, so ages end in either 0 or 5, Born F signifies Born in Foreign Parts, not necessarily France. Could this man be the one thought to be the father of your Gt. Grandmother? I think Jan is on the right track. Looking at the image of the original GRO index page of that FreeBMD entry, it does look like Mary Ellen Sowry SOWRY, note 2 Sowry names, registered at Falmouth volume (illegible** Roman numerals were used at this time). The page number looks like 76 but I can't be sure. Note that Mary Ellen has the name Sowry as one of her middle names too, as well as her surname. Maybe the middle name Sowry should read Sontrin or Soutry?, but as it was perhaps a foreign name has been mis-transcribed too?. (** The volume number is too hard to read, but looking at the list of registration district numbers the volume number for Cornwall would have been IX at that time) Beneath is Hannah Penley Sowes(?) registered Tynemouth volume XXX? page hard to read but ends in a figure 4 and freeBMD have it as 414. (According to the listing on FreeBMD of the volume numbers for Counties, the volume number for Northumberland at this time should read XXV). I agree with Jan, in that the places of Registration have perhaps been tranposed by whoever made out that page of the GRO index and that Mary Ellen Sowry Sowry should be shown as registered in Tynemouth and Hannah Penley Sowes as registered in Falmouth, which is in Cornwall. At that time Tynemouth Registration District took in Blyth. All the names on that GRO index page begin with S so would not contain the surname Lowry anyway, as shown on FreeBMD. FreeBMD also seem to have taken the middle name of Hannah Penely Sowes, the name Penley, and given it to Mary Ellen Sowry Sowry. It's a proper muddle! If I were you I would contact the relevant local Registrars offices and ask each of them in turn about the entry for Mary Ellen Sowry Sowry registred in June Quarter of 1845 at Tynemouth. Tell them that the surname has other spellings including possibly Soutry and Sontrin, quote those other spellings in your e.mail and give the year and quarter as shown in the GRO index, and give her mothers name and any maiden name you have for her. Begin with the Northumberland Central office at Morpeth, then try North Tyneside at North Shields. You will find contact details of these offices, including e.mail addresses, by finding the entry of birth on FreeBMD for Mary Ellen and then clicking on the word Tynemouth that is hightlighted in blue in the result. At the bottom of the subsequent page are links to the different offices. These offices will not give you details of the entry, but they may clear up the problem of the spelling of the surname for you as there seems to be something odd about the GRO index entry. Failing that contact the office currently holding the ancient registers for Falmouth Cornwall. If you ask you may find that the offices will take credit card payment by telephone or letter, not usually on line. Hope this helps Regards Jenny DeAngelis Doris wrote in the first instance:- << Her name was Mary Ellen Southry ,but many spellings on this name Father to Mary Ellen was a French man ,one Henry Sontrin a boat builder Acoording to census she was born in Blyth Northumberland, date of > birth about 1845>> Jan wrote in reply:- <<I've found this on Freebmd site which could be a possibility. Births Jun 1845 LOWRY Mary Ellen Penley Tynemouth 25 414 Have a look on the site at the name, then click on the spectacles at the right hand side of the entry. I'm only going to type their christian names Mary Ellen Sowry - says she is registered at Falmouth. Then underneath her is Hannah Penley - says she is registered at Tynemouth As you can see above, at the transcription, it says that Mary Ellen Penley LOWRY was registered at Tynemouth. I think the transcriber has mixed the two girls up, and that Mary Ellen, should really be Mary Ellen LOWRY>>

I looked on findmypast and agree with Jenny. I did not see another given name on 1841, mind you. He appears with a family who seems totally unrelated - a boarder perhaps, or maybe Mr Brown is who he is apprenticed to? and the 20 years old bit is probably wrong, given he is over 15 and they rounded ages in the 1841 census. Maybe you could research apprentice records of the period and area, IF they exist. I did not find him in the 1851 census though suspecting the name may be wrong in 1841 does not help! Dawn (Melbourne Australia) -----Original Message----- From: dur-nbl-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:dur-nbl-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jenny De Angelis Sent: Sunday, 20 February 2011 11:49 PM To: Jan Boyes; john harker; DUR-NBL@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [DUR-NBL] birth (Made a poss. breakthrough) Hi Doris, Apologies for the length of this message but I wanted it to make some sort of sense. I have just made a possible breakthrough that might be of use to you. I looked at the 1841 census and found the following entry. Reg. HO107 piece 296 book 2 folio 1 page 6 Morpeth North Blyth. Auster Soutry age 20 occ. Boat Bdr. Ap. born F. The first name of this man looks like Austin to me but could be something else. Aristin/on, for example, or even Cristi(a)n or something similar. Auster is how Ancestry have the name transcribed in their index. Perhaps Henry was his middle name and he preferred to use it. Maybe ancestry have the first name completely wrong, though on the image it doesn't look anything like Henry. But this man in 1841 has the occupation of Boat Builder, apprentice and was born Foreign and the surname certainly looks very similar to Soutry. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5890 (20110220) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com

HI Dawn & Doris, I tried to find the same man called Soutry in 1851 too, I tried all sorts of spellings and used the Soundex button on the Ancestry site but the only entry I found for this man was the 1841 census entry. I even looked on FreeBMD for a death and a marriage of the surname, using all the variant spellings I could think of for just the surname, but nothing came up that seemed likely. I tried searching FreeBMD for the first name Auster/Austin and anything else I thought likely as an alternative, then looked at the resultant surnames to see if any were anything like Soutry, but nothing came up that looked promising. Soutry as spelt in that 1841 entry does seem very like the Southry that Doris says was the name of her Mary Ellen. If Mr. Soutry was French then given that the French do not pronounce the letter H, at least I don't think they do, so maybe Soutry was how the name sounded to the person filling out that 1841 census schedule. But then there is the question of the first name Auster, or something similar, in the 1841 entry, and what Doris says was the man's first name of Henry. If Doris can sort out those two birth entries that have been found on FreeBMD and get the certificate copy maybe that will throw more light on things, but if Mary Ellen was born illegitimately then it very likely will not. It is a puzzle. Regards Jenny DeAngelis <<I looked on findmypast and agree with Jenny. I did not see another given name on 1841, mind you. He appears with a family who seems totally unrelated - a boarder perhaps, or maybe Mr Brown is who he is apprenticed to? and the 20 years old bit is probably wrong, given he is over 15 and they rounded ages in the 1841 census. I did not find him in the 1851 census though suspecting the name may be wrong in 1841 does not help!>>

On 19 February 2011 21:08, Jan Boyes <markandjanboyes@ntlworld.com> wrote: > Hi Doris, > I've found this on Freebmd site which could be a possibility. > > Births Jun 1845 > LOWRY Mary Ellen Penley Tynemouth 25 414 > > Have a look on the site at the name, then click on the spectacles at the > right hand side of the entry. > Click on "View the orignal" then all the names come up. > > Have a look at two girls names on the image - I'm only going to type their > christian names > Mary Ellen Sowry - says she is registered at Falmouth. > Then underneath her is > Hannah Penley - says she is registered at Tynemouth > > As you can see above, at the transcription, it says that Mary Ellen Penley > LOWRY was registered at Tynemouth. > I think the transcriber has mixed the two girls up, and that Mary Ellen, > should really be Mary Ellen LOWRY > (SOWRY - maybe a corruption of SOUTHRY?) > > I might well be barking up the wrong tree. > Would appreciate it if other listers would have a look please, and see what > you think. > > Don't forget to notify FreeBMD so that they can consider making a correction to help other researchers! Karen