One of the Marys

There's a thing in family history research called the GPS and it doesn't have anything to do with location. The letters stand for Genealogical Proof Standard and one of the tenets of the standard is to conduct a reasonably exhaustive search of the available resources. Why? One reason is that our ancestors were, shall we say, conservative in choosing given names for their children. Deciding who is who becomes even more difficult with a common surname. For instance, I'm currently communicating with someone who has a John Smith in her family (as do I). There are at least two John Smiths christened on the exact same day, although, fortunately in different places. It requires more research to figure out which John Smith is related to who. Just finding "John Smith" in a document does not mean he is related to us!

The other challenge is the desire of some to paint a picture of the entire landscape of our ancestors while looking through an embrasure. The picture becomes so much clearer if you can knock some more holes in the wall, or even leave the fort and walk around outside for awhile. Going to England is like that field trip for me!

So we come to one of the most common given name in England: Mary. George Norman was married to two women named Mary (not at the same time, but close). The second Mary was Mary Radley, who is my second great grandmother.

Mary Radley was christened 16 August 1812 in the parish of East Buckland, Devon. I have a life sketch, the author of which is unknown, who says: "[Mary] was an educated young lady and a devout member of the Presbyterian church...  There was but one church in Combe Martin at that time." Well, that one church was certainly not Presbyterian!

The sketch goes on to say that: "Mary was the presber's right hand girl. She was not only a servant to his household, where she lived, she kept the church records in order and took care of the minister's correspondence. . . All her life she was a devout church worker. . .respected by everyone."

It is true that Mary is listed in the 1841 census as a servant in the "parsonage." The Old Rectory in Combe Martin is an historic building to this day. But I don't know how the rest of the information in this sketch was obtained. Was it something told to our grandparents when they visited England in the 70's? While a lovely portrait, is it accurate?

We can say that Mary had her share of challenges. Having married a much older man, she was a widow for many years. We know from the censuses that she supported herself as a "market gardener" through the years of her widowhood, probably until she couldn't physically do the work anymore. Two of her sons, George and Richard, went to America, but son James stayed close. There is a story that son Richard visited Combe Martin years later but his mother didn't recognize him. She didn't believe he was her son until he showed her a scar on his leg from an accident with a scythe in his youth.

Remind you of anyone?

 Mary's death certificate says she died in 1901 of "senile decay" and "exhaustion." The life sketch said that she is buried on the grounds of the church where she spent much of her time as a young woman. I don't recall finding her grave marker there, but we'll certainly take a closer look on our field trip!