Mary Ann Fox (nee Green) - a Quaker question

[PeeGee]

I have been in contact with a descendant Mary Ann Fox (b.1883) who was (probably) the daughter of Mary Ann Green and Henry Hibbett Fox - the complicated story is here: http://www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk/y...ad.php?t=13229

From this contact, I have been told that Mary Ann Green was a "strict Quaker"; the information coming from the daughter of Mary Ann Fox (1883) - the Gt Aunt of my contact. However, the circumstances do not fit my perception of Quakers because:

- there is no record of a marriage between the death of Henry's first wife and his marriage to his "third" wife;
- the children born during this time were baptised in St Augustine's, Paddington.

As Henry was not, to my knowledge, a Quaker, both of the above seem incompatible with the Quaker philosophy.

Additionally, Henry's first wife, Sarah Treadway, died 1885 and there is no birth index record for Mary Ann Fox (1883) - though there is for a Mary Ann Treadway (no record found thereafter) and Sarah's brother, Thomas, married a Mary Ann Green in 1882

I would appreciate comments on the probability of Mary Ann (Green) being a strict Quaker.

Phil

[ciderdrinker]

I agree with you Pee Wee.
The children of a strict quaker would not have been baptised in an Anglican church.Quakers go for adult membership of their church and would have kept a birth register of their own.
You don't say where the marriages took place but quakers would very rarely marry someone from a different denomination and are against marrying before a clergyman.By this date they would either have married in their own Meeting House or before a none religous ceremony at the local Registrars.
It's possible that Mary Ann converted latter in life but the only way to prove that would be to look at records of her local meeting.
Ciderdrinker

[PeeGee]

Thanks ciderdrinker, that supports what I thought.

Regarding marriages, I'm a bit "over-cautious" with certificate purchases - trying to avoid speculative purchases as much as possible (ie more to confirm what appears correct ). However, I have not found a record of Henry and Mary Ann being married (Henry is a widower on the 1891 census), though she was a witness at the wedding of Mary Ann (1883) in 1906, and Henry married Amelia Jeffryes in St Michael & All Angels, Kensington in 1893.

Much as it pains me, I may have to get some "speculative" certificates .

Phil

[ciderdrinker]

Hi there Peewee
What certificates are you going to buy? Perhaps you could track down the church copy at the London Metropoliton archives instead and save some money.
I assmue you've seen that Henry Hibbets Fox's third marraige to Amelia Jeffryes is on Ancestry(filed under Henry Hibbett).
Always worth a look on there first.
Ciderdrinker

[PeeGee]

Originally Posted by ciderdrinker

Hi there Peewee
What certificates are you going to buy? Perhaps you could track down the church copy at the London Metropolitan archives instead and save some money.
I assume you've seen that Henry Hibbets Fox's third marriage to Amelia Jeffryes is on Ancestry(filed under Henry Hibbett).
Always worth a look on there first.
Ciderdrinker

Hi,

Yes, I've been through the Ancestry collection and found that record, plus that of Mary Ann (1883) to Albert Richards in 1906, plus sundry baptisms. Henry's first marriage to Sarah Treadway doesn't come up (St George Hanover Sq registration - 1865). I now make it a "first look" for marriages and possible baptisms in the London area - Paddington seems popular with many branches of my different family sets

Thanks for the suggestion, anyway - and it may help someone else, indirectly.

Regarding a cert, I feel the need to see if Mary Ann Treadway, registered 1883Q4 and not seen thereafter, could be Mary Ann Fox (7 Nov 1883) for whom there is no index entry The link being the brother of Henry's wife, Sarah Treadway, married a Mary Ann Green in 1882 and they are living with Henry in 1891 - Thomas Treadway being a Furniture Porter to Henry's Master Cabinet Maker.

Phil