Peter Moyle (abt. 1839)

Born about 1839 in Crowan, Cornwall, England [uncertain]

Biography

According to the baptism register of the parish of Crowan,^[1] Cornwall, a Peter Moyle whose parents were named Peter and Jane was baptized in Crowan on 2 February 1839. The father was a miner and the family lived in Crowan. The register is very untidy, and there are places where corrections have been made.^[2]

Since the baptism took place only two years and four months before the 1841 census, one might hope to find Peter and Jane Moyle and their son Peter in 1841 census records, but the search proved unsuccessful. Census records show that a Peter and Jane Moyle and family were living at Hendra^[3] in the parish of Wendron^[4] (adjacent to Crowan), but that Jane was 59 years old.^[5] If the present Peter were her son then he would have had to be at least eight years old at his baptism.

The Peter of this profile was formerly attached to a couple named Peter Moyle and Jane Perry, as their youngest child (born 1839), after John (born 1818), Edward (born 1820), Henry (born 1823) and Mary (born 1825). While it is of course possible for the youngest child of a family to be born 21 years after the first child, one would not then expect there to be a gap of fourteen years between the last two.

Looking back at the 1841 census record mentioned above, we see that the household includes Edward, Henry and Mary who match the children of Peter Moyle and Jane Perry just mentioned. It is just about conceivable that the present Peter was their son, born perhaps some time between 1827 and 1831 but not baptized until 1839, and that he died before the 1841 census. But no suitable death or burial records have been found.

A perhaps more likely explanation is that the baptism record has given the names of Peter's parents incorrectly, The only suitably aged Peter Moyle yet found in 1841 census records was the son of a William and Jane, not Peter and Jane.‍^[6]‍^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Crowan, Cornwall: information from GENUKI.
2. ↑ Peter Moyle, 1839: "England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010" database with images (FamilySearch, 2 February 2018), Cornwall > Crowan > Baptisms, 1824-1843 > image 169 of 207; Kresen Kernow, Redruth.
3. ↑ Hendra in Wendron, shown in the Cornwall Council Interactive Map (east of Trenear and South of Porkellis).
4. ↑ Wendron, Cornwall: information from GENUKI.
5. ↑ Peter and Jane Moyle and family at the 1841 census (piece 139, book 5, folio 32, page 2). FamilySearch film # 007763905, image 685 of 886.
6. ↑ William Moyle's household at the 1841 census (piece 141 book 6, folio 35, page 6), at Skewes in Crowan. FamilySearch film # 007763906, image 341 of 525.
7. ↑ William Moyle's household at the 1851 census (piece 1916, folio 288, page 12, schedule 198), at Beacon in Camborne. Free UK Genealogy "General Register Office: 1851 Census Returns database", FreeCEN (accessed 2 June 2021).