Week Five: Help Required

There is nothing more frustrating than a brick wall when researching your family tree.  I am at my wits end and ready to pull out my hair!!!!

Where does James Palin that married Sarah Plant in 1817 fit in the tree?

According to the marriage certificate James was of Barthomely, Cheshire.  We all know that does not mean he was born there, just living there at the time.  No parent’s names were given on that document and no other document found.

According the 1841 census James and family were living in Ettiley Heath, Sandbach.  James’s age is listed as 45 and his occupation is agricultural labourer.

According to the 1851 census James and family are still living in Ettiley Heath.  James’s age is now showing as 60 and his occupation given is labourer.

So when was James really born?  In 1841 he is listed as 45 so that would make the year of birth as 1796.  In the 1851 census his age was given as 60 and that would make the date of birth as 1791.  We just found the grave for James and he died in 1853 and the grave states that he was 62 years of age and that would mean he was born circa 1791.

When I search Ancestry.com, FindmyPast and FamilySearch there is no James Palin born in 1791 in Cheshire.  So then I decided to get creative and search for any James born in Cheshire from 1790-1792.   There were 577 of them – and none seem to fit.

So back to basics and I pull up the parish transcripts done by my “Palin Guru” years ago.  I see the marriage listed for James Palin and Sarah Plant in 1817 in Warmingham and the extra note is James of Barthomley. 

But what is this – just a few lines above is James Palin of Barthomely wed Mary Buckley in 1808.  I already have that marriage in the tree – time for further investigation.  When I pull up that marriage there is no mention of Barthomely.  And that would not fit anyways because James and Mary had a child in 1820 so he could not have married Sarah Plant in 1817.

I also noticed that James gave his place of birth as Coppenhall in the 1851 census.  So I pulled up the original document for baptisms in Coppenhall in 1791 - no James Palin listed.  I checked 1790 and 1792 - nothing, nada, zip!

I know in my bones that this James Palin is in the tree, I just can’t find him or the proof.  If any kind soul out there can prove his parentage – please,  please let me know!

Click here to see the Sarah Palin nee Plant

**UPDATE**  Sarah Plant's grandson Albert Harrison marries back into the Palin line