The early years of Henry Turle and Jane Hobbs

This update will look at the early years of Henry Turle and his wife Jane Hobbs before they married in Cannington, Somerset, in 1844. 

Starting with Henry Turle, we can learn from the marriage document (see post) that he was living in Taunton at the time of his union, was a Grocer, and that his father was Richard Turle, also a Grocer. Using this as my starting point, I searched the 1841 England Census on Ancestry for Henry. We find him living on Fore Street in Taunton, Somerset, England [1]:

Henry is living with his father, Richard, a Tea Dealer, Sarah, who was most likely his mother or could possibly be a younger sister of Richard, his elder brother, John, along with Eliza Turle, a younger sister or maybe the wife of John, and a baby, Ellen. His occupation is given as a Draper. His age is probably not accurate as the ages of those older than 15 years rounded down to a lower multiple of 5. If we look at the ages given on the other census records for Henry (see post), it would seem that his year of birth was about 1816/7, rather than around 1821. 

Next, I searched the Somerset Baptism records for Henry on Ancestry, born around 1816/7, and find records for him, an elder brother and sister, who are baptised on the same day at St Mary Magdelene Church in Taunton in 1818 [2]:

I would surmise that Sarah on the 1841 England Census is the wife of Richard Turle based on the information so far. I could not find a Baptism record for Eliza Turle +/- 5 years around 1821 that complemented the information already collected. I did though find a Baptism record for Ellen Turle [3] and an associated General Register Office (GRO) entry [4]:

As we now know Eliza's maiden name was Mercer, I searched the FreeBMD website and found a record for the union of John Turle and Eliza Mercer in 1838 in Battle, Sussex [5].

Looking further back, I searched for marriage documents on Ancestry relating to Richard Turle marrying Sarah in about 1810, +/- 5 years. Only one match was returned [6] for a marriage by licence at St Mary Magdalene Church in Taunton, Somerset, between Richard Turle, a Bachelor, and Sarah Davey, a Spinster, both of the parish, on 11 February 1806. 

I then turned to finding out more about Jane Hobbs, born in Cannington, Somerset, England, in about 1821. I was unable to find a 1841 England Census record that was definitively Jane. So I searched the baptism records for St Mary's Church in Cannington on Ancestry to see if I could find her, which was located [7]:

With a name for her parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth, I returned to searching the 1841 England Census and found Jane was living with them in Cannington [8]:

Next, I searched for the baptisms of the other children of Benjamin and Elizabeth Hobbs, finding their entries in the baptism records for St Mary's Church in Cannington on Ancestry:

I have searched the marriages on Ancestry for a union of Benjamin Hobbs and an Elizabeth in Cannington and more widely to cover Somerset but could not find a definitive answer with three possible matches being returned. I will leave this mystery to one side for now.

As we know, Henry Turle married Jane Hobbs on 27 August 1844 and was living on The Crescent at the time of the 1861 and 1871 England Census' (see post). On the next update I will look into the Turle family beyond the 1871 England Census as part of my One Place Study of The Crescent, Taunton. In the meantime, I hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog much as I have enjoyed researching this family for my One Place Study. 

It would be wonderful to hear from you via the comments section on this blog or via my Facebook page. If you would like to see the tree that I have been building for my One Place Study for each individual house, it is on Ancestry under 1 The Crescent Taunton One Place Study. This study is also part of the Society of One Place Studies. 

[1] Ancestry.com 1841 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1841 England Census; Class: HO107; Piece: 72; Book: 3; Civil Parish: St Mary Magdalen; County: Somerset; Enumeration District: 1; Folio: 7; Page: 7; Line: 6; GSU roll: 474611

[2] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\tau.m/2/1/5 page 84

[3] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\tau.m/2/1/7 page 56

[4] General Register Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/) - Births GRO Reference: 1840 S Quarter in Taunton, Volume 10, Page 415

[5] FreeBMD (https://www.freebmd.org.uk/) - Marriages GRO Reference: 1838 M Quarter in Battle, Volume 7, Page 242

[6] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\tau.m/2/1/18 page 275

[7] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\can/2/1/7 page 36

[8] Ancestry.com 1841 England Census - The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1841 England Census; Class: HO107; Piece: 935; Book: 2; Civil Parish: Cannington; County: Somerset; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 27; Page: 5; Line: 1; GSU roll: 474594

[9] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\can/2/1/7 page 15

[10] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\can/2/1/7 page 65

[11] Ancestry.com. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 ~ Somerset Heritage Service; Taunton, Somerset, England; Reference Number: D\P\can/2/1/7 page 65