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James Elkanah BOTHAMLEY did
at least have the decency to turn up for his 1843 marriage, even if he didn’t
notice that the register entry featured a different spelling of his name than
the one he used when signing it. Maybe he was distracted by the thought that
his bride, Eliza KELLEWAY, was due to have their first child in just over two
months time. And he and Eliza must have met up at least once after the
marriage, since a second child was born in 1846. But where on earth was he
the rest of the time? The marriage took place in
Eliza’s home parish of Hampreston in Dorset and the two children were both
born there. Eliza and the children were the only BOTHAMLEYs in Dorset in 1851
and James wasn’t with his family in 1861 either, but Eliza didn’t describe
herself as a widow until 1871. Curiouser and curiouser.... Now, I know from James’s
marriage certificate that his father was a farmer named Isaac. There are a
handful of possible baptisms ‘up north’, but it seems to me the most likely
one is that which took place in Ipswich in Suffolk in 1817. This James hasn’t
yet been found in the 1851 census, but I have recently found a burial for him
– at Long Melford in Suffolk in 1864, when he would have been only 47 years
old. Is this one mine, I wonder? But one mystery isn’t
enough for the BOTHAMLEYs, oh no! My ancestor was James’s daughter Mary but
I’m also interested in what became of her brother, Henry. Family legend has
it that he went off to work on Salisbury cathedral and the St Pauls in
London, before disappearing. I’ve found him, his wife and children in
Fisherton Anger in Wiltshire in 1881, which is circumstantial evidence in
favour of the story. But where did he go after that? I’m determined to get to the Botham(ley) of this one, so watch
this space .... If you have any comments to make on
the information of this page, please e-mail me by clicking here. © D. M. Watton, 2001 |
