Some mysteries are difficult to solve, others are much easier, but they can be painful for a Yorkshireman as they involve spending money! I recently resorted to buying 2 certificates, which enabled me to solve 2 mysteries and join 2 of the unconnected recent branches into the main branches.
Fred Micklethwaite married Theresa Beresford in Sheffield in 1912. The problem was that 2 brothers, Thomas and Henry, both named sons Fred, both were born about 1888, both in the Ecclesfield area. Without inside knowledge, it was impossible to work out which one had married Theresa. The marriage certificate says that Fred’s father was Henry. So I’ve linked Fred and Theresa’s family, much of it in Southern England, into the branch of John of Penistone (m2600) born about 1693.
The other large unconnected branch was headed by Harry, who married Mary Roebuck in Leeds in 1935. The name Harry was popular in the early 1900s, so it was difficult to work out which Harry this might be. One of the difficulties was explained by the certificate – Harry didn’t marry till he was 33, quite a bit older than the usual marrying age. Harry’s father is shown as Henry (deceased) – that’s a different Henry from Fred’s father. Harry’s family now form part of the branch headed by Samuel of Penistone (m2598) born about 1689, and it will push that branch’s tree on to a second page. This also means Samuel has living male descendants, although there appears to be an illegitimate event in the line ruling out YDNA testing for this branch.
I wish all the mysteries were this easy to solve!
Andy Micklethwaite's Family History Blog 