How do you make a decision between two seemingly equal options?

[cfbandit]

My second great aunt, Mary Needham (Bembridge) Bennett, lived with her sister in law in Dover, Kent, England after her husband's untimely death in 1901. He was a Baptist minister and teacher, so I am sure they were not well to do. Her son was in France for WWI, and her daughter lived in Dover and after her marriage moved to Bridgwater, Somerset, England.

Mary was born in 1853 in Audlem, Cheshire, England, and since I have the history of her living in Dover, I looked for her death there.

I found two options for her - both reflecting that she was the right age to be born in 1853. One I could get as a digital image and one I had to order a copy of the certificate. I had thought that one would help me rule out the other to figure out which one was her. Problem is, both of them turned out to be seemingly equal in clues. Both spinsters - one in the workhouse, one in the asylum. Both equally born in 1853. Both without any family noted.

So how does one figure out between two seemingly equal options, which one is my second great aunt's death?

 

[jorghes]

Did she remarry late in life?

Her death record should note that she was a widow, not a spinster, which would suggest neither of those death records were correct.

When you say she was with her sister, is that the 1901 Census or the 1911? Have you checked to see if she appears somewhere on the 1921 census or are you completely certain she died prior to that?

 

[peter]

Did she remarry late in life?

Her death record should note that she was a widow, not a spinster, which would suggest neither of those death records were correct.

Good point. Another reason that they're unlikely to be correct is because her son William Bembridge Bennett gave his next of kin as Mrs Mary Bennett when joining up on 14th September 1914, which is after the date of both deaths.

William sadly died in France of dysentry, in August 1916, and I came across a note dated September 1916 which indicates that his mother, Mary Bennett, was living at 18 Agnes Road, Northampton.

A later file note dated June 1917 and relating to William's medals indicates that they should be sent to his sister, Mrs Florence Mary Young of 145 Clarence Avenue, Northampton. This hints that his mother had passed away in the intervening months.

This is the index entry for the daughter's birth (note the misspelling of the mother's maiden name):



I then discovered that Mary Needham's birth was registered in Q3 1852, not 1853:



Taking all of this into account this looks much more likely to be the correct death (and it IS available as a digital image):

 

[Stuart]

The answer to the question you asked - in effect, how do you decide which records to accept as applying to someone - is (at least in the first instance) to keep looking for other pieces of information about them, wherever you can. As Peter's example shows, service records of a son are a good place to look, as you never know what might be there. Newspapers is another, and in this case there is a good obituary of Rev. George H Bennett from Louth, despite his dying in Kent. His widow's death might be reported too, but Mary's was not; I think the family had moved about so much that the link with Bourne and Louth was lost.

Probate records can also help to make links with family members. Here's is Mary's - in 1917, as she died so late in 1916 - on Christmas day. This confirms the death Peter found as the right one.

 

[Stuart]

I've just spotted that William's probate was also in 1917. Florence and Sydney Young married that quarter, though I don't know on what date. The "administration with will" presumably happened because he made his mother his executrix and, as she had died, an administration order was needed replace her with his sister. The record you get by ordering the "will" should contain the will and the court order (grant), though I have had problems in the past getting more than one page delivered.

 

[cfbandit]

Argh, you are absolutely right Peter. That is Mary's birth and death there. I definitely didn't have that note about Florence Young - I've got to follow up on that because the records I found indicated a different husband for her, so it needs some digging.

Now I'm really mystified as to what she was doing in Northamptonshire. The family or her adopted family has no connections there and she would have gone there from living with the sister in law in Kent in 1901. But its definitely her, states that Florence was present and everything. I'm going to look at Florence some more and find more census info for her as Florence Young, husband Sydney.

One missing piece of information really helps lead in the right direction!

Good point. Another reason that they're unlikely to be correct is because her son William Bembridge Bennett gave his next of kin as Mrs Mary Bennett when joining up on 14th September 1914, which is after the date of both deaths.

A later file note dated June 1917 and relating to William's medals indicates that they should be sent to his sister, Mrs Florence Mary Young of 145 Clarence Avenue, Northampton. This hints that his mother had passed away in the intervening months.

I then discovered that Mary Needham's birth was registered in Q3 1852, not 1853:
View attachment 2612

Taking all of this into account this looks much more likely to be the correct death (and it IS available as a digital image):

View attachment 2613

 

[cfbandit]

More to order for sure, as that might have some key information to look at in the probate. He does have a nice obituary in Louth - he was heavily involved in the free church association there so it makes sense to be there to me, as more people would mourn him in that area than in Kent. I was impressed when I read it that it named both Mary's father and her adopted father so people could put them together.

I would have never found the probate with the clues leading me in the wrong direction to a death in Kent. This makes total sense putting it all together now, once I figure out why Mary was in Northampton.

The answer to the question you asked - in effect, how do you decide which records to accept as applying to someone - is (at least in the first instance) to keep looking for other pieces of information about them, wherever you can. As Peter's example shows, service records of a son are a good place to look, as you never know what might be there. Newspapers is another, and in this case there is a good obituary of Rev. George H Bennett from Louth, despite his dying in Kent. His widow's death might be reported too, but Mary's was not; I think the family had moved about so much that the link with Bourne and Louth was lost.

Probate records can also help to make links with family members. Here's is Mary's - in 1917, as she died so late in 1916 - on Christmas day. This confirms the death Peter found as the right one.
View attachment 2615