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I have recently restarted my genealogy research and have started to transfer all our previous research into Gramps. I also plan to ensure that all our sources are cited properly.

Today I had my first upset, reminding me that nothing is simple in genealogy. I had ordered the Marriage Certificate for Mary Jane Palmer and Alfred Harvey in 1888. I had assumed this was Jenny Palmer, whose 3 daughters I had visited with Jeff back in 1987. During that visit we saw and transcribed the family bible and in the past few weeks I have found the Harvey family in the 1901 and 1911 censuses, with children exactly corresponding to the family bible.

However, it seems that the marriage certificate is the wrong Jane Palmer

Marriage of Alfred Harvey and Mary Jane Palmer on 4th September 1888 at the Register Office in Newport, Monmouthshire. He was a bachelor aged 24 working as an engine­ stoker. He lived in Cross Keys, Risca and his father was Alfred Harvey, an engine driver. She was a spinster aged 20, with no occupation. She also lived in Cross Keys, Risca and her father was George Palmer (deceased), a coal miner. Alfred could sign his name but Mary Jane could not. The witnesses were Thomas Alsop and Annie Harvey who could both sign their names.

I was expecting her father’s name to be Daniel Palmer.

Why did I believe that Jenny was known as Mary Jane? It’s because I found a record of her baptism in the St. Mary’s RC church parish registers from 1868 (Page 593; Folio d):

Mary Jane Palmer, father Daniel, mother Bridget formerly Deneen, born 11/10/1868, baptised 4/12/1868 [C0167]

She was also listed as Mary Jane in the 1891 census where she was living with Alfred [C0086]. However in 1881 she was just called Jane [C0073] but her surname was listed as Emms (i.e. Hemmings).

I need to go and look for another marriage….

After looking, the news is disappointing. There appear to be no other Alfred Harveys getting married in Monmouthshire around that time. The FreeBMD search is limited to what has been transcribed however and frustratingly you can’t tell if the years you are searching have been transcribed. It is possible to browse the digital images of the pages though, so perhaps I wil try that.

Another thing I will try is to find a Mary Jane Palmer with father George in the 1881 census. If find her then I’ll be pretty sure that this is not our Jane Palmer. If not, then it keeps open the possibility that she did not kow her father’s name or it was written wrongly on the certificate – both conjectures are pretty tenuous to be honest. I find it hard to believe that she did not know her father’s name, even though he died before she was 4 years old. She retained contact with her mother until at least 1881 and almost certainly after that too, so she had every opportunity to learn his name.

Another possibility is that Jane was actually known as Hemmings by this time and I should look for marriages under that name. The 1881 census listing her as Hemmings could be a clue here.

Here are the interesting Hemmings and Palmer marriages in monmouthshire for years around 1888:

After a bit more searching, I found something interesting:

At first I thought this was it, then I realised I was being stupid and I was looking for Alfred Harvey not Alfred Palmer! However, it did make me think that perhaps Jane was known as Jones by the time she was married (Bridget married John Jones in 1889). Unsurprisingly there are a lot of Jones marriages in south wales at that time. I scanned through a load of them but none were marrying an Alfred Harvey.

I checked the 1881 census for a Jane Palmer born around 1868 with a father called George. I would expect her to be 13. I found:

Mary E(?) Palmer, age 17, born in Bath, father was a Tram Car Driver in St. Woolos area of Newport (Class: RG11; Piece: 5265; Folio: 75; Page: 26; GSU roll: 1342266)

But no others of interest.

This is not a great situation. If I had linked the marriage certificate to another Mary Jane Palmer in the census then it would have been a big shakeup in the family history but at least I would be more certain. Right now I am left with a new mystery and very few options to resolve it.

Annoyingly everything about this marriage certificate fits existing evidence except the name of her father. She is the right age, lives in the right place and is marrying the right man. I am 99% certain that this Alfred and Mary Jane are the parents of the 3 ladies we met in 1987 and the originators of the family bible, but the question remains: are they related to me and my family after all?

Another possibility springs to mind: perhaps George was her father’s middle name? Or he was known as Daniel sometimes and George at other times. We have never found a record of his birth, death or family so perhaps this fits.