Matchmaker?

[dothawkes31]

eh up this is abit unusual! I've been dotting the 'i' s on my family tree on me dad's side, and I've been tracing all the siblings in each generation including the females, and i've just plotted the life of one of the daughters through the census, she was born in 1825 but never married, she was on the 1841 with her parents, who both lived into their late 80s actually, but their eldest daughter Margaret, was at a different address on each return from 1851 through to 1891, and at each address she was a 'visitor' or 'sister-in-law, and every household was of a family that her brothers, sisters, nephews or nieces married into. I think she must have been a bit of a matchmaker! Ok yes I know, it's not that interesting, but they didn;t have facebook, discos or match.com then did they?

[Rose Maybud]

I have found similar, but not quite such a serial visitor as your Margaret. Could be that she was helping with the housekeeping at the latest birth in the family? Or was she disabled? Usually the transcription process blots out the last column, but one instance where it didn't, revealed that the youngest son in a particular family was born an 'imbecile'. In that case it seems as if the unfortunate person was passed around the wider family to share the burden of care. Hadn't thought of matchmaking :)

[dothawkes31]

She was a housekeeper rose and lived to a good age, she seems to have lived with a family shortly before one of the siblings marries into ours!!! funny thing indeed, she never married herself, they were a baptist family too, I wonder if that is a relevent point?

[dothawkes31]

sorry I meant she was a housekeeper and dressmaker on each cenus whilst an adult.,

[Rose Maybud]

Not sure of the Baptists' views on these matters, but perhaps having done the matchmaking she was stationed with the fiance(e) as a chaperone to prevent hanky-panky!!
I now look for the birth of a first child from the same quarter as the marriage...

[dothawkes31]

Rose it's always wise to do that or even check the quarter before! Certainly in our Hawkes/Haddock lines that happened!

[Rose Maybud]

You are, as ever, quite correct! I have found that occurrence only once but the gap involved was getting on for a year. Something fishy going on there, but as the person concerned is the ancestor's sister I haven't bought the certificates. I am doing as you are - chasing up siblings - would cost a fortune :(