Brick wall. Mary Ellen Burrell's mother and father's names.

Question

Hi,

I've been working on profile for my great great grandmother and I must say, I'm a little stuck. There is a lot of information available about her, but not a lot about her parents.

Mother's name was Elizabeth. Step-father's name was John Whitmore.

Elizabeth was married twice and if you look at my research notes, you'll see I haven't added parents because I don't want to add an Elizabeth Unknown, or an Elizabeth incorrect! There are too many unknowns around and I don't want to have to merge something later. Comments, ideas and assistance would be welcomed. This was one of the girls on the first four ships (The Cressy) to Canterbury.

I guess one could say I'm scared of messing this one up.

She had a sister that was born 3 weeks after they landed in Lyttleton (a note in my family tree indicates this might have been the first baby girl born in this settlement colony) and two siblings that came with her on the trip from England. Samuel Burrell was one of them.

Comments

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who answered my question. All your answers were helpful. One prompted me (very subtly I might add) to finally add the marriage source for the profile! I have been looking at things for a while, but sometimes collaboration can either help you confirm or dismiss something and I actually find sometimes it's easier to work on a stranger's profile because I don't have any history to go by - just the facts. When you're working with familial history, sometimes 'lore' over facts can get in the way. So, I appreciate the clarity everyone has given me!

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Raewyn, did you have Elizabeth's birth date before. I found two with father Thomas in 1813. How do you know which is correct?

Just curious,

Dawn

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Hi Dawn,

I based her date of birth by how old she was when she arrived in NZ. She was 38 when the ship landed.

The record with Mary as her mother is most likely correct. But it's purely educated guess work at present!

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Elizabeth Burrell
England Births and Christenings
Name    Elizabeth Burrell
Gender    Female
Christening Date    21 Mar 1813
Christening Date (Original)    21 MAR 1813
Christening Place    NORTH COLLINGHAM,NOTTINGHAM,ENGLAND
Father's Name    Thomas Burrell
Mother's Name    Elizabeth
Citing this Record
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NGJ4-PF2 : 30 December 2014, Elizabeth Burrell, 21 Mar 1813); citing NORTH COLLINGHAM,NOTTINGHAM,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 503,484, 504,061, 504,069, 504,089.

OR

Elizabeth Burrell
England Births and Christenings
Name    Elizabeth Burrell
Gender    Female
Christening Date    03 Sep 1813
Christening Date (Original)    03 SEP 1813
Christening Place    GOSBERTON,LINCOLN,ENGLAND
Father's Name    Thomas Burrell
Mother's Name    Mary
Citing this Record
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JMZZ-KFQ : 6 December 2014, Elizabeth Burrell, 03 Sep 1813); citing GOSBERTON,LINCOLN,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 432,505, 432,506.

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Yes, I know...it's a quandary. At the moment, I'm going to be looking at the locations in relation to the census records because I am considering that travel wasn't as easy back then. I have also just purchased a book and am waiting on it (on old English place names and I think it has a bunch of other places aside from England). The more I dig, the more I want to understand.

Answer 1

Raewyn ~

The corresponding records for Elizabeth Burrell and John Whitmore's marriage on Ancestry lists Elizabeth's father as Thomas Burrell.  I haven't seen the original, but there are two records with film numbers that would indicate that Burrell is Elizabeth's surname.

Name:	Elizabeth Burrell
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	1845
Marriage Place:	Croydon, Surrey, England
Father:	Thomas Burrell
Spouse:	John Whitmore
FHL Film Number:	994335
Reference ID:	2:3FKS6VG

Comments

Are they attached to trees? I'll kick myself if they are (because they could be mine). Thanks! I don't use Ancestry much these days as it's so corrupted with a lot of nonsense.

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You're welcome!  Here is one from FamilySearch with both of their father's name listed. 

"England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJGT-6H8 : 10 December 2014), John Whitmore and Elizabeth Burrell, 1845; citing Croydon, Surrey, England, reference 2:3FKS6VG, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 994,335.

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Oh that is fantastic! At least when I add him (because I'm pretty sure I know when he died)...I won't be adding a single person. I hate it when there's one person out on the proverbial limb! Thanks again, Mary! I've now finally completed Mary Ellen's profile (at least until I can obtain a copy of a photo my aunt has). I may add more of what she had to say later. Research notes for her parents stay put until I get that taken care of later today!

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If I see anything on who Mary's bio father was I will post it here.

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Thanks Mary! I've started her mother's profile. I'm just concerned though that perhaps there may not be a legitimate record..after all...things happened, even back then (especially back then without reliable birth control)...but she had more than one child to him. Samuel Burrell was mentioned as well. And there's another, but I'll have to get back to you. I will start working the mother Elizabeth and then hopefully all will reveal itself!

 

The problem with the Cressy's ship's log was that it didn't state all the household members. It was vague. But thanks to the reporters at the Christchurch Star way back when, my family does know she was on that ship. Plus, she also kept a diary, which may possibly be held in the Canterbury History Museum. Next time I'm back in New Zealand, I will go and ask.

Answer 2

Name	John Vincent
Event Type	Marriage
Event Date	1856
Event Place	New Zealand
Gender	Male
Spouse's Name	Mary Ellen Burrell
Spouse's Gender	Female
Registration Number	1856/1653

Citing this Record

"New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1896," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24J-V63L : accessed 18 October 2017), John Vincent and Mary Ellen Burrell, 1856; citing Marriage, New Zealand, New Zealand, Wellington; registration number 1856/1653.

Comments

Thank you. Yes, I have the marriage (but naughty me hasn't entered the details because I already knew exactly where they were married. I should enter the 'source'!  It does support her maiden name.

Answer 3

I found an Ancestry tree. Said she was born in Surrey, England. If that is true this might be her family in England?

Name	Mary Burrel
Titles and Terms	NULL
Event Type	Census
Event Date	1841
Event Place	Lambeth, Surrey, England
Residence Note	Dorset Street Henry Street
Gender	Female
Age	5
Age (Original)	5
Occupation	Null
Birth Year (Estimated)	1836
Birthplace	Surrey
Registration District	Lambeth
Parish	Lambeth
County	Surrey
Page Number	6
Registration Number	HO107
Piece/Folio	1055/6
Affiliate Record Type	Institution

Household	Role	Sex	Age	Birthplace
Thos Burrel		M	40-44
Mary Burrel		F	35-39
Benjn Burrel		M	10
John Burrel		M	10
Thos Burrel		M	10	Surrey
Sarah Burrel		F	10	Surrey
Mary Burrel		F	5	Surrey
Robert Burrel		M	5	Surrey
George Burrel		M	2	Surrey

Citing this Record

"England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQKS-DGL : 4 September 2017), Mary Burrel in household of Thos Burrel, Lambeth, Surrey, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

Comments

I saw that record, but I wasn't sure because I couldn't see Elizabeth, her mother...unless Elizabeth was originally a middle name. I'm going to look more into this one. Thanks again!

Answer 4

The mother's remarriage:

This entry was created from the following transcriptions:

 

Surname	Given Name	District	Volume	Page	Transcribers
Marriages Jun 1845
Burrell	Elizabeth	Croydon	IV	71	Yinny
BURRELL	Elizabeth	Croydon	4	71	TAGD

This entry was created from the following transcriptions:

 

Surname	Given Name	District	Volume	Page	Transcribers
Marriages Jun 1845
WHITMORE	John	Croydon	4	71	TAGD
Whitmore	John	Croydon	IV	71	mcwmcg

The marriage was registered in the Jun 1845 Quarter (they were married before the end of June 1845 in Croydon. (https://www.freebmd.org.uk) I would order the certificate (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/Certificates.html)

Comments

Hey thank you! That's awesome! It seems like he was her 'Dad' for more of her life!

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Good idea. I will order the certificate. Thanks again! John appeared to be more of a "Dad" than her biological father.