Family Historian User Group

Just wondering if anybody can throw some light on the note made at the bottom of a Marriage record in Uffculme, Devon where there is an asterisk against the date and the note at the bottom - Henry Tapscott to Martha Gollop on June 25, 1863. I'm guessing the first word is "Edited" but I can't for the life of me work out what the other words are!. The handwriting on the note looks, to me, to be completely different than the record itself.

It's all in greek letters. I think it says "Eloped + ??? of ???" but I can't make out two of the words.
Looks like there may be a scandal involved

Looks like Greek.

Must admit, I hadn't thought of Greek words, which is really stupid as I'm living in Greece at the moment!!. I will have to take a copy of this out with me and see if I can get some Greek friends to translate for me. Thank you both.

Agree with 'eloped'. The words aren't Greek, but English written in Greek letters. For the moment, can't quite work out the other words. Will have a think.

eloped + ganger of railway?

Agreed, but the last three words don't seem to fit with 'eloped'. Definitely 'something' of 'something'.

Another 'layer' of code?

Jean001 wrote: ↑

09 May 2023 16:56

Agreed, but the last three words don't seem to fit with 'eloped'. Definitely 'something' of 'something'.

Might it be 'something without something'?

Edited to add: At school years ago, our classics teacher taught us ωφ as shorthand for 'without'.

Could the '+' mean with?
Eloped with ganger of railway

Does this tie in with Henry's occupation, and Martha being under Age.

Where did the marriage take place, 'Gretna Green' by any chance (didn't see Uffculme )

I noticed that Martha is shown as 'Under Age', so could it be something to do with her not having parental consent?

As far as I can ascertain, Henry was a "Shoe Maker" (based on the next 2 Census records) - there are a couple of Henry Tapscott's born in the same village around the same time, but I'm pretty sure (largely based on his father's name) that I have the census records for the right one!. Similarly there are a couple of Martha Gollops born in the village, but based on the fathers name on the wedding and baptism records, I believe she was born in March 1844, so would have been 19 at the time of the marriage.

I have also found a Banns record that ties in with the names and marriage date, and a GRO Index record in 1863 Q2 for the Tapscott / Gollop marriage.

I'll have a chat with some of the locals here this evening and see if they can translate the "note".

It is very interesting and mysterious! I wonder if any of the other marriage records in the register have similar coded messages?

Not found any so far Nick - there are 250+ pages in the register, so haven't gone through them all. It does seem strange, I would almost say, "modern" given the way the words in the note are written and how the writing is so dissimilar to anything else in the register.

As well as the mystery of what the note says, there are the mysteries of when it was written, why it was written, and why in Greek letters. Agatha Chrisitie could have built a whole novel round it.

From what you have said the couple were both from the village where the marriage took place, so it wasn't a case of eloping to get married. Did Henry and Martha remain together? I wonder if Martha eloped with someone else later, and Henry wanted to re-marry? Maybe someone was checking the register to see whether the original marriage was valid.

LornaCraig wrote: ↑

10 May 2023 14:58

From what you have said the couple were both from the village where the marriage took place, so it wasn't a case of eloping to get married. Did Henry and Martha remain together? I wonder if Martha eloped with someone else later, and Henry wanted to re-marry? Maybe someone was checking the register to see whether the original marriage was valid.

I just came here to write much the same, but Lorna got here first!

Do we know exactly what the source in question is?

Is it the original church register, a copy from the local Register Office or a copy from the GRO? Knowing at which point in the chain the text was added would be interesting.

Answering my own question, it looks to be the original Parish Register.

The transcript of the image describes the source as Devon Marriages And Banns / Parish Marriages, so I also believe it is the Parish Register - front page from the document set is shown below: I have this afternoon found some references to a Henry Tapscott marrying another Martha when he was in his 60's although in this case Martha was her third name - I am now pursuing this avenue to establish if it the same Henry (especially as he has the same occupation and an age that would match with the original Henry). As with many families around this period, multiple children born in the village with the same name around the same period. Who says life isn't interesting!!

You say he was a shoemaker according to the census, but what was actually written on the parish register entry?

The Vicar is quite interesting. George Townsend MARKER, an alumni of Balliol College, Oxford. Vicar of Uffculme from 1833 until his death on 4th December 1874. He apparently assumed the surname of SMITH in lieu of MARKER at some stage. Both names can be found in the same register as the marriage under discussion. He may well have been familiar with the Greek alphabet?

Devon Heritage Centre list a marriage licence dated 14th April 1834 in their catalogue, between George Townsend SMITH of Uffculme and Margaret Frances MARKER of Aylesbeare, which suggests that he may have taken his wife's name.

The marriage record also shows his occupation as Shoemaker.

Talking with some Greek friends last night, they got as far as "Eloped + Younger of .... " but couldn't work out what the last word was. I might have to try visiting other bars here over the next few nights to see if anybody can get the last word!!

There is a divorce record on FMP. Might it be 'your' Martha?

Jean001 wrote: ↑

11 May 2023 19:21

There is a divorce record on FMP. Might it be 'your' Martha?

I'm guessing that the word after Martha Tapscott's name is her maiden name (Talbot) but according to the various records I've seen (multiple Marriage record transcripts, and the Banns) all have her as Gollop, so it is unlikely but certainly an avenue to investigate as time permits - it wouldn't be the first time a wrong name has been recorded!

The record in FMP is merely an index of names so whilst I was using Ancestry last night I checked their records. The divorce papers do refer to Martha (Gollop, as was). Ancestry has the copy of the affidavit. Henry filed against Martha. Talbot is the man he accuses Martha of being adulterous with. I am not proficient with divorce papers but there seems to not have been a divorce from that affidavit.

I agree with Mike Loney, read the plus sign on the marriage record as 'with'. The 'Greek' text tells part of the story.

Have you been able to track Martha over the years, or the daughter she and Henry had?

Haven't started tracking Martha yet, but Henry & Martha's daughter Bessie was baptised in 1873, and in the 1881 Census was living at a hotel in Epsom with two of Henry's sister's. By 1891 she had moved on to Croydon (per Census for that year) and shortly after a person of the same name was married in Merton, Croydon (per GRO Index). Still some more work to do!