Ken, Happy to help, and hope you both have a great visit to the UK. I have been tracing your Pearce family since you e-mailed the list and I was interested in your Watts connection, Is it the fact that Charles was with a Watts family of husband William and wife Sarah in 1861 at Little Row Bray, Berks where the wife comes from Highclere? I wonder if the Watts wife might have been born a Pearce. I have traced Charles' grandmother (Elizabeth Day nee Talbot ) via the 1851 census at East Woodhay and have an idea of who his parents might have been but without a birth certificate to check it cannot be sure. Do you have a copy of his birth certificate and what does it say if you do? As to Methodist records I think (but if somebody on the list knows better please do correct me quick so Ken gets accurate information), they are part of the Newbury circuit and therefore to be found in the Berkshire Record Office at Reading, the Baughurst and Tadley Church of England PRs are at Winchester in Hampshire. Both county record offices have web sites so you can plan visits before you travel. I have also traced Elizabeth Elliott with strong but not total confidence back into her large Elliott family tree. You have a lot of distant relatives still in the same area. Regards, Nigel

thank you nigel for the interest. Charles PEARCE b 1855 @ Burghclere married Elizabeth ELLIOTT b 1855 @ Tadley Charles mother is listed on his birth certificate as Maria PEARCE. no father is shown. I had found a Charles PEARCE listed with his grandmother Elizabeth DAY @ East Woodhay on the 1861 census but i am not sure if this is the right Charles. Charles and Elizabeth had at least 10 children that i have found, they are: Sarah PEARCE born abt 1876 @ Tadley George PEARCE born abt 1879 @ Kingsclere (do not know wifes name but did have children Thirza PEARCE born abt 1880 @ Baughurst married Ted MERRICK and had children Lillie Maria PEARCE born abt 1884 @ Baughurst married Frank William WATTS and had 2 children Arthur N PEARCE born abt 1886 @ Baughurst married Rose ?? Garnet Charles PEARCE (my grandfather) born 1887 @ Baughurst married Sarah Ann CROOK John PEARCE born abt 1890 @ Baughurst Bertha PEARCE married Len MONGER Florence Rose PEARCE married John Walter ROBICHEAU Jack PEARCE married Penny ?? I sent for a birth certificate for Elizabeth ELLIOTT but do not know if I have the right one as it says her mother is Harriet and I was expecting one with Hannah ELLIOTT to tie her into the Gideon ELLIOTT family. Sorry about the long winded reply ...ken On Tue, 4 May 2010 19:41:02 +0100, Nigel St C Gerdes <nigel.gerdes@milnet.uk.net> wrote: I was interested in > your Watts connection, Is it the fact that Charles was with a Watts family of > husband William and wife Sarah in 1861 at Little Row Bray, Berks where the > wife comes from Highclere? I wonder if the Watts wife might have been born a > Pearce. I have traced Charles' grandmother (Elizabeth Day nee Talbot ) via the > 1851 census at East Woodhay and have an idea of who his parents might have > been but without a birth certificate to check it cannot be sure. Do you have a > copy of his birth certificate and what does it say if you do? > As to Methodist records I think (but if somebody on the list knows better > please do correct me quick so Ken gets accurate information), they are part of > the Newbury circuit and therefore to be found in the Berkshire Record Office > at Reading, the Baughurst and Tadley Church of England PRs are at Winchester > in Hampshire. Both county record offices have web sites so you can plan > visits before you travel. > I have also traced Elizabeth Elliott with strong but not total confidence back > into her large Elliott family tree. You have a lot of distant relatives still > in the same area. > Regards, > Nigel

On Tue, 04 May 2010 19:59:43 -0700 "kweber@smartt.com" <kweber@smartt.com> wrote: > Lillie Maria PEARCE born abt 1884 @ Baughurst > married Frank William WATTS and had 2 children according to the 1911 Census Frank William Watts was born in Berwick Basset Wilts in 1882 Births Mar 1882: Watts Frank William, Marlbro' 5a 89 In 1891 he was recorded as Francis Watts: 1891 Census, Berwick Bassett, Wilts: Thomas Watts, head, 36, ag lab, Axford Mary Watts, wife, 37, -, Avebury George Watts, son, 15, ag lab , Axford Emily Watts, dau, 12, scholar, Axford Francis Watts, son, 9, scholar, Berwick Basset Lilly Rebecca Watts, dau, 6, scholar, Berwick Basset Alice Mary Ann Watts, dau, 2, -, Berwick Basset Marriages Dec 1874: Geddings Mary & WATTS Thomas, Hungerford 2c 607 but there were two Thomas Watts born in Axford in 1855/6, one with father Phillip and the other with father William. So it needs access to marriage records for the area to establish father's name - unless of course someone already has this family on record. Mary Geddings is I think Births Mar 1855: Giddings Mary, Marlbro 5a 81 and in 1861: 1861 Census, Glory Ann 4, Prshure, Wilts: George Giddings, head, 31, ag lab, Avebury Jane -do-, wife, 27, -, -do- Mary -do-, dau, 6, scholar, -do- Emily A -do-, dau, 3, -, -do- John -do-, son, 1, -, Preshute -- John Lewis Debian & the GeneWeb genealogical data server

On Tue, 04 May 2010 19:59:43 -0700 "kweber@smartt.com" <kweber@smartt.com> wrote: > Charles PEARCE b 1855 @ Burghclere > married Elizabeth ELLIOTT b 1855 @ Tadley > > > > > I sent for a birth certificate for Elizabeth ELLIOTT but do not > know if I have the > right one as it says her mother is Harriet and I was expecting one > with Hannah ELLIOTT > to tie her into the Gideon ELLIOTT family. Further correspondence has confirmed that the Birth Certificate Ken obtained is for the wrong Elizabeth. It was that of Elizabeth, dau of William Elliott and Harriet Bond of Swan Street, Kingsclere. There is only one Elizabeth Elliott in FreeBMD born in Kingsclere RD 1854-1856 and none born Newbury/Reading areas. It seems likely that Elizabeth's mother was either Hannah or Jane, both daus of Gideon & Hannah Elliott. Jane was still living at home in 1861 when Elizabeth was recorded in household of Gideon & Hannah as a grand-dau age 6. I can find no trace of her after 1861 and no marriages or deaths I can identify as being hers. In 1851 Hannah was a house servant age 19 at Hannington in household of William & Sophia Webb. (William had a 17 year old son William who could be the father!) In 1861 Hannah was in Hammersmith and in 1871 she was in Taplow, Bucks, a servant in both places. I cannot find her after 1871 and like Jane no marriages or deaths. I think the only possible source of a solution to this question are the Tadley Baptism Registers. If anyone is visiting Hants RO in the near future would they take a look at Tadley baptisms around 1855 for an Elizabeth Elliott, please. -- John Lewis Debian & the GeneWeb genealogical data server