Jennifer
Fragment of the wedding certificate of Curtis Garwen & Harriet Graham
Jennifer is descended from Francis BINGE(1799)and as yet is getting her story together for this page. Meanwhile the following will be of interest, from Australia:
Jenny is descended from James Binge and Harriett Clay (m 14 June 1904). They are her GGGgrandparents. James is brother to Sarah Ann Mortimer (nee Binge) Elizabeth T's GGGgrandmother. Now James and Harriett had a daughter Harriett (later Harriet) who DID marry a Douglas Grahame on August 17 1875 at the Registrar's Office Fitzroy Victoria. We have a marriage certificate. Her father James was a witness. So we assume she became Harriett Grahame. BUT Douglas seems to have disappeared. We have a handle on his Ancestry but as to his life after marrying Harriett not a thing. Subsequently Harriett Grahame (nee Binge) had 3 children - Charlotte Jessie GAWEN Born 16 Feb 1879 (Jenny's GGrandmother), Louise GAWEN (b&d 1884) and Harry Curtis Kirby GAWEN (b 1886, d circa 1950). On all these children's birth certs, the father is shown as Curtis Kirby Gawen and the marriage date for Harriett and Curtis GAWEN is listed as the exact same date she married Douglas Grahame. Furthermore Victorian Birth Deaths and Marriages Registry has no record for a marriage between Curtis and Harriett. Our puzzles are: 1. What could have happened to Douglas Grahame? He is not registered as dying in Victoia, NSW, Western Australia or Tasmania. Maybe he left for the Mother Country after some sort of fall out with Harriett. We have not checked all outbound shipping records yet? 2. Did Douglas and Harriett parent any children? Harriett had male child born June 5 1874 in Brunswick Victoria before she married any one (that we know of!!). His name (on birth cert) is Robert Binge. His father is listed as Unknown. Harriett's age is listed as 18 but we do NOT have a handle on her exact birthplace or date. Her death cert lists her as 68 when she died on 14th August 1925. That would have her born before Aug in 1857. She may actually have been 16 or 17, if my arith is correct. Robert died in 1875. Certs for his birth and death are available. Interestingly Robert's birth registry entry was altered by the Registrar on 28/10/1874 to list Harriett's name as Harriet? Wonder why...? 3. Did Harriett really marry Curtis Gawen? Probably not - as there is no BDM registry entry. Why would she declare at the birth of Charlotte GAWEN that she married Curtis GAWEN on the day she actually married Douglas Grahame? Our feeling is the marriage to Douglas did not last long. He may have left... She may have dropped out for a while... Later she may have resurfaced "married" to Curtis GAWEN and had the 3 children by him. (But that's all speculation at the moment.) Jenny has what appears to be a small fragment of a "marriage cert" (bit like a fragment of a Dead Sea scroll). The fragment states: "This Marriage was celebrated between us" (no date, no place record, no witness info) and signed by Curtis Gawen and Harriet Graham (n.b. the change in spelling of both her given and Surnames.) The signatures on the fragment would appear to be Curtis' and Harriet's - but why such an "amazing" scrap without key details and unknown to the DBM registry??
Jenny is descended from James Binge and Harriett Clay (m 14 June 1904). They are her GGGgrandparents. James is brother to Sarah Ann Mortimer (nee Binge) Elizabeth T's GGGgrandmother. Now James and Harriett had a daughter Harriett (later Harriet) who DID marry a Douglas Grahame on August 17 1875 at the Registrar's Office Fitzroy Victoria. We have a marriage certificate. Her father James was a witness. So we assume she became Harriett Grahame. BUT Douglas seems to have disappeared. We have a handle on his Ancestry but as to his life after marrying Harriett not a thing. Subsequently Harriett Grahame (nee Binge) had 3 children - Charlotte Jessie GAWEN Born 16 Feb 1879 (Jenny's GGrandmother), Louise GAWEN (b&d 1884) and Harry Curtis Kirby GAWEN (b 1886, d circa 1950). On all these children's birth certs, the father is shown as Curtis Kirby Gawen and the marriage date for Harriett and Curtis GAWEN is listed as the exact same date she married Douglas Grahame. Furthermore Victorian Birth Deaths and Marriages Registry has no record for a marriage between Curtis and Harriett. Our puzzles are: 1. What could have happened to Douglas Grahame? He is not registered as dying in Victoia, NSW, Western Australia or Tasmania. Maybe he left for the Mother Country after some sort of fall out with Harriett. We have not checked all outbound shipping records yet? 2. Did Douglas and Harriett parent any children? Harriett had male child born June 5 1874 in Brunswick Victoria before she married any one (that we know of!!). His name (on birth cert) is Robert Binge. His father is listed as Unknown. Harriett's age is listed as 18 but we do NOT have a handle on her exact birthplace or date. Her death cert lists her as 68 when she died on 14th August 1925. That would have her born before Aug in 1857. She may actually have been 16 or 17, if my arith is correct. Robert died in 1875. Certs for his birth and death are available. Interestingly Robert's birth registry entry was altered by the Registrar on 28/10/1874 to list Harriett's name as Harriet? Wonder why...? 3. Did Harriett really marry Curtis Gawen? Probably not - as there is no BDM registry entry. Why would she declare at the birth of Charlotte GAWEN that she married Curtis GAWEN on the day she actually married Douglas Grahame? Our feeling is the marriage to Douglas did not last long. He may have left... She may have dropped out for a while... Later she may have resurfaced "married" to Curtis GAWEN and had the 3 children by him. (But that's all speculation at the moment.) Jenny has what appears to be a small fragment of a "marriage cert" (bit like a fragment of a Dead Sea scroll). The fragment states: "This Marriage was celebrated between us" (no date, no place record, no witness info) and signed by Curtis Gawen and Harriet Graham (n.b. the change in spelling of both her given and Surnames.) The signatures on the fragment would appear to be Curtis' and Harriet's - but why such an "amazing" scrap without key details and unknown to the DBM registry??
