Mary Saunders/Sanders b c 1781

[Phoenix]

Mary Saunders otp married John Underwood in Findeon, Northants 12 November 1805:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/9198/images/007581053_00185?pId=5113387


There is sadly, only this BT on Ancestry, so I do not know who the witnesses might have been.


Their known children are:
John Sanders b 1807 Gretton

James b 1810 Yardley Hastings

William b 1813 Yardley Hastings

Charles b 1817 Yardley Hastings
George b 1819 Yardley Hastings


Life then gets complicated, because another John Underwood marries a Mary Johnson on 13 Feb 1821 in Yardley Hastings and both women are having children at the same time


Shadrach bp Jan 22 1822
Isaac bp Jul 27 1823
Jonathan bp 25 Dec 1823 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/9200/images/42672_340261__0001-00034?pId=127822


John Emmanuel bp Feb 1 1826
Bertha Sophia bp Nov 2 1828
Rosannah bp Oct 30 1831


Here are John and Mary in 1841 (bottom of right hand page:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/8978/images/NTHHO107_813_814-0285?pId=8851886


Their ages are seriously understated, but they have Charles and George under the same roof, and Marianne is their granddaughter, daughter of John Sanders Underwood.


Tis is the other John Underwood in 1841, with children John, Bertha and Rosanna:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/8851902:8978?tid=&pid=&queryId=46a1476421e816379cac0800ce8b3f0a&_phsrc=nUX1044&_phstart=successSource


Of the three children, who could be sons of either Mary Saunders or Mary Johnson, Isaac died young.
Shadrach in 1841 is newly married and living under his father-in-law's roof.
Jonathan is a male servant, just over the border, in Wymington, Beds:
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/4699520:8978?tid=&pid=&queryId=1f8c5fe0225ac4bf980d0d52f6e3d5b5&_phsrc=nUX1041&_phstart=successSource


Mary was buried 0ct 24 1844, aged 63, so she was born c 1781.


Deep breath.


Saunders/Sanders is a common name, but I note that there are Saunders/Sanders in Wymington, which is a similar distance from Wellingborough to Finedon. Is it feasible that Jonathan went to work where his mother had kin?


I don't think I really hold out any hope of discovering who Mary Saunders/Sanders was, but any suggestions welcome. DNA, btw, is no use since everyone bred like rabbits and married their cousins.

[kiterunner]

It's possible that Jonathan went to work for relatives but I think you would need more to prove the connection. Have you looked for wills?

[Phoenix]

I think it's the wrong period for wills. They were all labourers, with the women helping out by being lace makers. The way they packed the generations into the houses suggests they were only just the right side of poverty.

If I could find the actual marriage, that might provide clues - though they probably used serial witnesses.

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch doesn't even have Finedon PR's in its catalogue, only BT's. I can't get anywhere trying to search Northamptonshire Archives' catalogue, but GENUKI says under Church Records for Finedon: The Northamptonshire Archives hold copies of Bishop's Transcripts of Church of England parish records from 1706-1890.

You could try contacting Finedon church to ask where the parish registers are? You might be surprised to see who the vicar is.

[Phoenix]

Good gracious! He probably hasn't had the time to deposit them!

[Phoenix]

While Wymington is not necessarily a dead end, Best Mate has a DNA Match to someone with Saunders/Sanders in Wymington, with the only relevant Mary born too late to marry in 1805, and anyway accounted for.