Mary Bacon, Suffolk 1569 - baptism needed [closed]

Question

OK brains trust, I have a challenge for you. I need a baptism record for Mary Bacon because the incumbent PM denies her very existence on the basis of not being mentioned in her father's will.

This will go a long way towards finishing a link to her husband, Thomas Bloomfield and end a mystery that has been driving me nuts for a few weeks. Although some may say that's more of a short putt than a drive. :-)

Answer 1

On the website suffolkarchives.co.uk you find information about ordering a copy of a baptism record if you can't visit the Suffolk archives (Ipswich  branch for a baptism on 8 October 1569 in Helmingham). A copy is expensive but it would probably prove Mary is a daughter of Michael Bacon and Elizabeth.

Comments

I have a full set of Phillimores on the way to avoid such expenses so I'll wait, but if it doesn't show up in there then the Suffolk archives is my last hope. I've tried everywhere else.

Answer 2

Robert I can see you're frustrated on this but the only evidence for Mary Bacon's existence seems to be her marriage to Thomas Bloomfield.

Interestingly, FreeReg has her name transcribed as Mary Baker - although I don't regard this as definitive. The name seems to have been read as Bacon over a long period of time. It would be useful to check an image of the Mickfield register though.

Suffolk : Mickfield : St Andrew : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5818553ee93790eb7f9aacad : viewed 2 Jun 2023) marriage Thomas Blomefyld to Mary Baker * Feb 1602/3

Even if her name was Bacon there's no evidence that she was the daughter of Michael Bacon and some strong evidence that she wasn't. Yes, I'm aware that married daughters were sometimes omitted from wills due to them having received money in the form of a dowry. However, Michael does mention his married daughter Sarah in his will rather weakening this argument.

Comments

Hi Matthew,

Nice of you to pipe in. You seems to be ignoring the fact that Mary and Joanna were published in 1936 in the New England Historic Genealogical Register, 90:300-302 as having existed, and neither of them was mentioned in the will. Did Joanna die before it was proved?

As I've already pointed out, you're relying far too heavily on one document that no-one can verify for your entire tree.

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And by the way, thanks for that FreeReg link, that certainly gives me some pause. I'll need to see the darned register, there's conflicting information here.

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OK, here's your reference:

Thomas Blomefyld & Mary Bacon ... 4 Feb. 1602
Mickfield Marriages, ''Suffolk Parish Registers - Marriages Vol. IV'', Edited by Thomas M. Blagg FSA, Phillimores, London, [1931], p. 141.

I'd trust that over FreeReg any day of the week..

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Hi Matthew, Yesterday I beat this one to pieces and discovered a few things. The DOB, DOD and parentage that had been posted for Thomas Blomefyld were incorrect, which has now been rectified. With his new DOB as 1580 it is VERY unlikely that he married Mary Bacon (b. 1569) even if she does exist.

I had pursued this vigorously because I found land transactions between the two families going back two or three generations so they certainly knew each other, being a mere 4 miles apart.

However, the new marriage data (viz. Mary Baker) from FreeREG may indeed be correct, which means that an error in Phillimores may have been uncovered here. I thank you for your insistence on records to validate or negate the union and WikiTree remains a place where truth can be found.