Robert Martin b 1817 Norfolk

[Phoenix]

appears on Ancestry (for which I don't have a sub) in 1851, married to Mary Ann. I cannot find him on FMP, so he's either mangled, or the entry has been omitted.

If he is right man, he should be a watchmaker (or similar).

Could someone give me the census reference? It's Mary Ann I'm actually interested in.

[Mary from Italy]

I don't think it's the right one - he's a printer compositor.

HO107; Piece: 1815; Folio: 302; Page: 26

[Mary from Italy]

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/CensusHouseholdSearchServlet?censusYear=1851&uir=ceb4395d1e55c4eb7817031c64b04a48&lineNo=4&lineNoSuffix=0&UIRStamp=b01c150ec87baaa896de603eaed6256feea0b491d b03610a58ec0160d6411bc75e5f8418f19b5123&pagetype=6&_zga_s=1

[Phoenix]

Thank you, Mary!

No, it doesn't look like the right one, with birthplaces way out. Though at least the occupation is better than ag lab!



I have just had a horrid thought. Mary Ann's father, William Benton, was supposed to be in America in 1842. (Small place, America!) What's the bet she and hubby went to join him? Probably just after the 1850 American census.

[borobabs]

Try looking under Murton or Morton as some of my Murton s have been transcribed as Marting

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch has the death of a Henry Martin 5 Aug 1909 Newport, Washington County, Ohio, dob 22 Nov 1856 Nebraska, parents Robert Martin and Mary Benton. I'll see if I can find anything more on the family.

[Phoenix]

Wow! Thank you, Kite!

[kiterunner]

It says Henry was married on the death cert, but it doesn't seem to give his wife's name. I haven't managed to find him on the censuses yet, and there don't seem to be many Nebraska births on FamilySearch or ancestry.

[kiterunner]

When was Mary Ann born, please, Phoenix?

[kiterunner]

Oh, I just noticed it says Nebraska for birthplace of father on Henry's death cert, so could be a red herring, though of course it might just be a mistake.

[Phoenix]

A good question, Kite. I'd hoped to find her on a census, so I could positively identify her family.

When she marries 21 October 1847, she is shown as being of full age. I know she is my family, because a witness is Elizabeth Lallam, her first cousin. The problem is that William Benton, her father is supposed to be in America by 1842 and I have no idea when he went. For all I know, she was born out there and came "home" to get married. The surname is not uncommon and all the William Bentons seem to be farmers/ag labs.

[Phoenix]

I've looked on Family Search, Freereg & FMP and cannot see a suitable candidate. The wider family were in Hillgay, Norfolk, Littleport, Cambs - and anywhere in between, basically any fenland parish.

[kiterunner]

Looks unlikely that Henry's father Robert would have been born in Nebraska, anyway, since Wikipedia says that "European-American settlement did not begin in any numbers until after 1848". So it could just be that the person who registered Henry's death didn't know where his father was born.

[Phoenix]

Thanks, Kite! When I get home tonight, I'll have a look on the Norfolk sites to see if I can find any suitable candidates for Robert. The whole family is a black hole, being no respecter of county boundaries. (let alone countries!)

[Phoenix]

Well, much good it did me! An entire evening didn't reveal a convincing Robert Martin. Fenland parishes were not deposited with the NRO, so they're not on FamilySearch, which only has images taken from there over two decades ago.

About the only thing I can say is that her father is definitely William, not Thomas (which I had wondered about) because I have now traced Thomas' daughter, another Mary Ann Benton, through her marriage to Robert Bates and on up to Grimsby.

[kiterunner]

I spent a while looking for them on the US censuses yesterday but came up with nothing. :(

[Phoenix]

Thank you, Kite! When I read Cold Mountain, I began to realise how people could completely slip under the radar if they weren't living in towns. And Martin, as Babs says, can be mangled in a lot of different ways.

[kiterunner]

You don't need to tell me how troublesome Martins are! My great-uncle married a Christina Annie Martin, or Anna Christina Martin, as she is in some records, and her father was Michael Martin, a farmer. With names like those, I have no idea what country she came from! Could be any. I'll need the 1921 census to get anywhere with her.