* Novice needs help with Brick Wall

[peebee44]

I am currently researching my Great (x3) Grandmother named Ann FRENCH.
information suggested that she was born in Eye, Suffolk around 1804.
I have searched the Parish Registers and found two baptisms for the name Ann FRENCH in 1803 and 1807 with different parent details.

I know she was married to my Great (x3) Grandfather James SPURDENS in 1826 but the record of this does not help re FRENCH.

I have no other FRENCH family details with which to cross reference and at the risk of sounding a bit dense, I cannot think
how I might go about identifying which is my Grandmother.

Any suggestions welcomed.

[AnneEast]

One way would be to follow BOTH the Ann Frenchs and see what happens to them.
Is there a burial record for one of them?
Are their parents names different? If not the younger one might be a later child of the same set of parents.
Do they both have siblings? They might witness marriages.
Do both of them appear on censuses? With luck their ages are sufficiently different to distinguish between them.
Do the names given to the children of your ancestor match either the parents or the siblings of either of the Ann Frenchs?

Anne (sorry, you already said the parents names were different)

[peebee44]

Thanks Anne

Some very useful tips, first born son of my Great (x3) Grandmother is named William French SPURDENS. William is the father of 1803 Ann French ( 1807 is Samuel which does not feature in this line at all), a good starter for ten but I have already learned to my cost not to jump too soon. Thanks again.

[Jane]

Have you checked the Bann's records for the marriage, in some registers the vicars record the female's Father as well, but only on the Banns records pre-1837 as you have no doubt found.

[mezentia]

Have you tried putting a post on Rootschat? They are a brilliant community and have helped me break down several brick walls.

[peebee44]

Thank you for your very helpful advice, I am pretty confident I have eliminated the 1807 Anne now but I will check Banns records as well.
And Rootschat sounds right up my street as I am fairly confident this will not be my last plea for help.

thanks to all.

[Jessie 888]

I'm so glad somebody asked that question because I keep getting stumped with similar problems and dead-ends! Thanks for the helpful suggestions ... I shall go back to the drawing-board, too, and never surrender!

[Chakoteya]

Have you looked to see if the Guild of One Name Studies has anyone researching that surname?
(They have - try contacting Alizon Holland french@one-name.org)

No guarantee that their studies have got you your brick wall yet, but they might have something helpful, and could be a useful future contact for sharing information on that side of your family.

[Valkrider]

Also check out http://surname-society.org to see if someone has registered it there.

Also take a look on the RootsChat Surname studies forum http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=691133.0