Hi, I am having trouble untangling the life of my husbands GGGUncle Edwin FREEMAN. Edwin's baptism has eluded me but would be around 1831 either in Surry or Middlesex the son of John FREEMAN and Ann HAINES - John being a hatter. I have the baptisms for all or at least most of his siblings. Edwin is a plasterer and he is in the 1851 census with a wife Amelia and subsequent marriage appears to be Jun qrt 1850. Amelia Hannah Walters BISHOP to Edwin FREEMAN Stepney 2 559. The 1861 census has him with wife Mary A and four children and his mother. Details of life in Australia (they emigrated between 1861-1863) have his wife as Mary Ann EDWARDS. His first two children appear to have been named with his second wife in mind i.e. Edwin Edwards FREEMAN 1854 and Mary Ann FREEMAN 1856 but the only possible death of Amelia Hannah FREEMAN is registered in Dec qrt 1858. To confuse me more it is possible that he married a Mary Ann HOWARD nee EDWARDS in the December quarter of 1859 (Mary Ann Edwards married a John Howard in the Sep quarter 1852 Liverpool 8b 255) BUT there is also a marriage in Victoria Australia for Edwin FREEMAN and Mary Ann EDWARDS in 1881 (4112) Even if he did marry Mary Ann Howard nee Edwards it is still after the birth of the two children that appear to be named after her and then if that is the case why remarry her in Australian some 27 years after the first child was born??? Am I missing something or just getting too much information?? :-) Thank you Pat

Hi Pat You seem to have it mostly sorted already, but I wonder if there is more information on any of the certificates which might add to the picture. The death of Amelia Freeman in 1858: Is her age consistent with the 1851 cenus record and/or the age at marriage in 1850? Who reported it? If it was not Edwin, that would lend support to the theory that he was no longer living with her. The 1861 census: what does it give for the ages of Edwin and Mary Ann? Do they accord with the ages on the marriage certificate of 1859? Is Mary Ann shown as a spinster, a widow or what? Where does it show Mary Ann being born? Does that Mary Ann have any connection to Liverpool, where Mary Ann Edwards married in 1852? Is her age consistent with the Mary Ann who married in 1852? Is there any more detail in any of the Australian records (censuses, birth or death certificates?) that helps to confirm their identities or relate them to the people recorded in England? It seems to me most probable that Edwin left his first wife some time after 1851, and took up with Mary Ann, by whom he had 2 children out of wedlock (by no means uncommon, even in Victorian times), although he he was calling her his wife on their birth certificates (I am guessing that bit as I assume from what you say that the children were registered under the name Freeman). He subsequently married her in 1859 after his first wife had died in 1858. Quite why they re-married in Australia in 1881 is another matter - perhaps to get an Australian wedding certificate? Or to renew their vows? Lawrence Pearse > From: pmwade@optusnet.com.au > To: eng-surrey@rootsweb.com > Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:36:45 +1100 > Subject: [SRY] Bring home the lost and strayed. > > Hi, > > I am having trouble untangling the life of my > husbands GGGUncle Edwin FREEMAN. Edwin's baptism > has eluded me but would be around 1831 either in > Surry or Middlesex the son of John FREEMAN and Ann > HAINES - John being a hatter. I have the baptisms > for all or at least most of his siblings. > > Edwin is a plasterer and he is in the 1851 census > with a wife Amelia and subsequent marriage appears > to be Jun qrt 1850. Amelia Hannah Walters BISHOP > to Edwin FREEMAN Stepney 2 559. > > The 1861 census has him with wife Mary A and four > children and his mother. Details of life in > Australia (they emigrated between 1861-1863) have > his wife as Mary Ann EDWARDS. His first two > children appear to have been named with his second > wife in mind i.e. Edwin Edwards FREEMAN 1854 and > Mary Ann FREEMAN 1856 but the only possible death > of Amelia Hannah FREEMAN is registered in Dec qrt > 1858. > > > To confuse me more it is possible that he married > a Mary Ann HOWARD nee EDWARDS in the December > quarter of 1859 (Mary Ann Edwards married a John > Howard in the Sep quarter 1852 Liverpool 8b 255) > BUT there is also a marriage in Victoria Australia > for Edwin FREEMAN and Mary Ann EDWARDS in 1881 > (4112) > > Even if he did marry Mary Ann Howard nee Edwards > it is still after the birth of the two children > that appear to be named after her and then if that > is the case why remarry her in Australian some 27 > years after the first child was born??? > > Am I missing something or just getting too much > information?? :-) > > Thank you > Pat > > > . > *************************************** > Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** superfluous old messages in replies. > > List Admin can be contacted at: Eng-Surrey-admin@rootsweb.com > . > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-SURREY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message