I was contemplating the next set of records I was going to
send for from the General Registry Office in England, and I thought about
obtaining my great grandfather Joseph Marlow’s birth record. I noticed that I
did not have the reference for it yet, so I searched again on Ancestry and
discovered (once again) that I could not find a “Joseph Marlow” who fit the
data. I did find a “Joseph Marley”. I had to consider that this was possibly my
guy. I went back and looked into his father, William Marlow, and discovered
that he was married under the name “Marley”, although he was christened under “Marlow”.
Joseph’s siblings, Mary Jane, Benjamin,
and Maria were registered under “Marlow” at birth, but Elizabeth, who was born
after Mary Jane, was registered as “Marley”. The “Marley” clue was therefore relevant,
and the Joseph Marley that I found
was looking more likely to be my great grandfather.
I decided to go to Family Search to see if I could find a
baptism record for Joseph under “Marley”. Sure enough, I found it. He was
baptised in Whitby, Yorkshire on August 25, 1853 nine days after his birth. His
parents are “William Marley” and “Elizabeth”, as expected. I then found baptism
records for some of his siblings: Elizabeth was baptised under “Marley”, Mary
Jane under “Marlow”, and Benjamin’s surname was transcribed as “Morley” on his
baptism record. I could not find Maria’s record. I did, however, find another
sibling who does not appear with the family on the census records I was able to
find: “George Marley”, baptised on July 19, 1855. He is also registered under “Marley”
on his birth registration. I could not find any other records which I could be
sure applied to him.
It is interesting to note that the Haviland Marlow described
in Ruth Peacock’s story, whom I mentioned in my posting about William Marlow, and
who came to town resembling the Marlows to a striking degree, was taken aback
when he saw and heard Joseph’s son George Marlow. He said that it was as if his
uncle “George Marlow” had come back to life. Curiouser and curiouser. This is
all very intriguing, and I hope to find more data about the Georges and
Haviland as I go along.
The most exciting outcome of this investigation, was that
when I looked for a baptism record for William’s father George under “Marley”, I found it, with of course the names of his parents! This meant
that I was able to take the family back another generation, which is always a
thrill when I am able to do this. George Marley, my three times great
grandfather, was baptised on February 3, 1795 in Fylingdales, Yorkshire with
the parents “George Marley” and “Mary”, my four times great grandparents. I
have not yet been able to find a marriage record for the couple, which may have
provided me with Mary’s maiden name. I was able to find three siblings for William's father George, who were Jane, Margaret and Mary, all baptised in Fylingdales with the same parents, in 1792, 1797, and 1799 respectively.
So far, it looks as if the family was using the names “Marlow”
and “Marley” almost interchangeably, at least beginning with the George Marlow
who was my three times great grandfather, as he was married under “Marlow”. “Morley”
appears to be another name which could apply to this family, judging by Uncle Benjamin’s
baptism record. Right now, it appears that the original family name could have
been “Marley”. I will keep looking, and keep you, gentle reader, apprised.
These additional surnames may help me find homesteading, passenger and naval
records for Joseph. We shall see. My next step will be to order Joseph Marley's
birth record.
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