Help with cursive writing, English towns/villages search

Question

I have not yet created the Wikitree profiles for the people involved as I only just started researching them today and haven't decided who is the oldest ancestor to begin the family. However, I stumbled across a Rhode Island marriage record that provides both sets of parents names AND even more importantly original hometowns back in England for both spouses. An absolute goldmine, IF I can interpret it properly.

I'm specifically looking for help with the hometowns for Robert Downey and his wife Elizabeth Pattinson (yes I know the record has her name as Pettiman, but it appears to me that's incorrect indexing). They are 4th from the bottom of the double-page record, here: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G98W-157T?cc=2146229

The link directly to their record is here: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1N-G2WJ

It seems to me that Robert's hometown is possibly **ertlybridge or **atlybridge, but whether that's one letter or two at the beginning, I'm struggling to interpret.

Elizabeth's hometown is even more difficult for me to interpret so anything would be appreciated, but I believe the first three letters are "Lea" and that's a dot from an "i" almost touching the "y" in Robert's hometown.

While I'm confident in the rest of the record, here's what I believe it says, in case anyone wants to provide feedback on the full record:

May 14th - Robert Downey - Providence - 33 - labourer - **atlybridge, England - Thos + Betsey Downey - first - George Taft

blank space - Elizabeth Pattinson - N Providence - 24 - blank space - Lea**i**, England - Jos + Mary Pattinson - first - Rector of St Pauls Church

Edited to add: I've posted this question on the Wikitree FB group and was able to add a zoomed in screenshot of the towns in question. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10225725788882435

Edited again to add: Here are the profiles for [[Downey-3111|Robert R Downey (bef.1823-aft.1880)]] and [[Pattinson-402|Elizabeth (Pattinson) Downey (bef.1830-aft.1880)]]. I've been able to gather enough info to add Elizabeth's parents, but not Robert's just yet.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Downey-3111

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pattinson-402

Answer 1

Hi R. I see you have "Providence" already. The second town in England could be Carlisle. The first one looks to me like Statlybridge, which doesn't exist. Could it be an error for Stalybridge in Manchester?

Comments

When I googled possible towns, I got Stalybridge and Gatley Bridge, both of which are near Manchester.

Carlisle is a very interesting possibility for the second town... that would mostly fit, if the first letter is indeed a "C".

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Have a look at the second entry on the next image 163. The place of birth looks to me like Smithfield Saratoga. The S characters there are very like the first letter of the word that may be Sta[t]lybridge.

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Also, the "s" in Carlisle is silent. If spelt phonetically it would be "Carlile", which is what that word looks like assuming a rather curly "C".

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There's also an "S" for Staffordshire, two lines below this entry and a "G" for Germany in the last entry on the same page. Compare those and tell me what you think.

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"Also, the "s" in Carlisle is silent. If spelt phonetically it would be "Carlile", which is what that word looks like assuming a rather curly "C"."

I agree there's definitely an "r" after the "a" and I like your silent "s" theory. I'm going to look for another capital "C" for comparison.

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The Sta[t]lybridge initial looks much more like S for Staffordshire than G for Germany to me.

For reference the hi-res image is here.

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Bingo! The very first entry on the same page is for a "Margaret Collins" and the capitalized "C" is identical to this entry. I think you're right it's "Carlisle, England" spelled phonetically and without the "s".

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Great! Now you know where to research:-)

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"The Sta[t]lybridge initial looks much more like S for Staffordshire than G for Germany to me."

So almost like it's misspelled as Satlybridge, instead of Stalybridge?

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Great minds think alike! I'm stumped on Robert, but found:
Name:     Elizabeth Pattinson
Gender:     Female
Baptism Date:     14 Nov 1830
Baptism Place:     St. Mary's, Carlisle, Cumberland, England
Father:    
Joseph Pattinson
Mother:    
Mary
FHL Film Number:     90584

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Great minds think alike! I'm stumped on Robert, but found:
Name:     Elizabeth Pattinson
Gender:     Female
Baptism Date:     14 Nov 1830
Baptism Place:     St. Mary's, Carlisle, Cumberland, England
Father:    
Joseph Pattinson
Mother:    
Mary
FHL Film Number:     90584

Oh that's a great find! Thank you!!

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If it's Stalybridge, there's a possible marriage 10 Sep 1816 in Saddleworth of a Thomas Downey & Betty Hollingworth (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NVDD-MMX )

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Robert Downy 1850 census Providence RI https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDJ8-TYF

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well spotted - yes Carlile - check the C against the c in carpenter a few lines above

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The marriage that Corinne suggested looks very likely as Saddleworth is close to Stalybridge which is where I thought that first place was and agree that second one is Carlisle.