Which Peter Keam married Mary Jane (Body) Bayley? And who was his father?

Research Note by Wesley Johnston, begun 11 Sep 2014, last updated 7 Nov 2014

Overview

The civil marriage of Peter Keam and Mary Jane, widow Bayley, in the October-December 1866 quarter in the St Austell, Cornwall, registration district (volume 5, page 235). The grave stone of this couple at St Mewan, Cornwall, shows Peter, aged 66 years, died at Sticker in St Mewan parish 13 Oct 1883. (Mary Jane died at age 76 18 Nov 1905.) Thus he was born about 1816-1817.

There were two baptisms of a Peter Keam that match this grave stone, both at St Mewan:

- 1816 Apr 15 - son of Peter and Jane (Crossman) Keame

- 1816 Jun 2 - son of William and Mary (apparently Williams or Marshall) Keame - this leads to another problem, since there are multiple Williams to consider

The St Mewan baptismal registers for 1816 are not online at FamilySearch. The Cornwall Family History Society research database shows no other Peter Keam* baptisms in the period 1791 to 1833. So one of these two Peters married Mary Jane. Which one?

I could order the civil record of the marriage, since this will answer the question. But I think there is strong enough evidence to proceed without that record. So I will gather the relevant information here.

Burials

There are no burials of either Peter Keam in the CFHS DB.

Marriages

There was a Peter Keam marriage 12 Nov 1842 at St Mewan with Elizabeth Blight. This Peter was the son of William Keam, miner, and resided at Trewoon-vean. The image of this marriage is online at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/DGS-004764191_00020

Several trees on Ancestry carry this Peter as the husband of Mary Jane and thus the Peter of the grave stone. They show that Elizabeth died in the January-March quarter of 1866 in the St Austell registration district (volume 5c, page 109). And her burial 12 Feb 1866 at age 47 at St Mewan can be seen at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11119-41841-50

So there is a strong case for the Peter Keam who married Elizabeth Blight being the same Peter who married Mary Jane later that same year. And I am carrying it that way in my database.

Which William was the father of Peter and husband of Mary?

The only marriage of a William Keam and a Mary for children born in 1816 found in the CFHS DB (and Cornwall OPC) was at Mylor 20 Nov 1810 between William Keam and Mary Williams. The image of this marriage is at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11031-136527-13

Both are identified as "of this parish", and he is identified as a widower. Both made their sign and did not sign their own names.

There are two candidate prior William Keam marriages, both in 1803:

- 1803 Apr 16 at St Austell with Elizabeth Chesterfield (he a "Batchelor" of this parish: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11110-175750-98)

- 1803 Apr 11 at St Mewan with Jenifer Jenkyn

I do not find any burials for either Jenifer or Elizabeth. I do not find any baptisms for children of William and J*n*. In fact, the only baptisms that I find in the 1800-1809 period for children of any William Keam are those of William and Elizabeth. And the locations of the baptisms show the family was highly mobile -- if there was only one William-Elizabeth couple:

- 1801 Nov 8 - Charlotte at Perranarworthal

- 1804 Jun 3 - Mary at St Austell

- 1806 Oct 5 - William at St Austell

- 1808 Jun 12 - Jane at Perranarworthal

- 1809 Sep 17 - Jane at Perranarworthal

And there are no more baptisms after 1809, which is consistent with William being a widower in 1810.

And the baptisms of his children with Mary show them also mobile and at some of the same locations as in his first marriage -- if there was only one William-Mary couple:

- 1812 Nov 26 - Robert at Truo-St Mary's

- 1815 Mar 19 - Thomas at Perranarworthal

- 1816 Jun 2 - Peter at St Mewan

- 1820 Jul 30 - Charles and Elizabeth at Perranarworthal

- 1823 Nov 16 - Betsy and Mary at St Mewan

- 1824 Mar 28 - Mary at St Mewan

But, thanks to Helen Sage of Australia, I now know that there was another William-Mary couple. William Keam, son of James and Anna (Jenken) Keam, married Mary Marshall 27 Oct 1807. He was a Private in the 11th Regiment of Foot, and Helen Sage says that they married just before he sailed from Plymouth to participate in the Napoleonic wars in Portugal and Spain, where their first two children were born. After the wars, this William and Mary returned to his home at St Mewan, so that the three baptisms above at St Mewan were for this William-Mary couple and not for the Perranarworthal couple. The Peter Keam who married Mary Marshall had previously married Jenifer Jenkyn (the 11 Apr 1803 St Mewan marriage above), who had died 29 Apr 1805 (according to Helen Sage but for whom I can find no burial record), having borne no children.

I think the two marriages (William Keam and Elizabeth Chesterfield; William Keam and Mary Williams) are the same William, of Perranarworthal. But this William was not the father of the Peter on the grave stone who married Mary Jane.

The parents of the Peter Keam on the grave stone, husband of Mary Jane Body were, I believe, William Keam (son of James and Anna (Jenken) Keam) and Mary Marshall.

There are still some loose ends revealed by this -- questions that for which I would like answers, which I will address in the following sections.

Who are the Perranarworthal William's parents?

Marrying in 1803 as a bachelor, he was probably born about 1780. There are these candidate baptisms:

- 1769 Jul 23 at St Mewan to Thomas and Grace

- 1770 Jun 10 at Luxulyan to Humphrey and Jane - this one married Frances Pollard in 1811 and then Blanch Thomas in 1815, both at St Blazey

- 1777 Feb 19 at St Austell to William and Martha

- 1786 Jan 29 at Luxulyan to Robert and Mary - this one never married and died 1866 as a shoemaker at St Blazey

At this point, I cannot say who the Perranarworthal William's parents were, although there does seem to be a connection in the baptisms of his children with St Austell. So I am carrying him without parents in my database.

What became of the Peter, son of Peter and Jane?

While I have tentatively ruled out Peter and Jane (Crossman) Keam's son Peter as the husband of Mary Jane (Body) Bayley, I still want to know what happened to that Peter. There are no candidate burials in the CFHS DB nor in Cornwall OPC.

There is a widower Peter Keam who married 1 Mar 1844 with Elizabeth Hobba at St Austell. And their daughter Elizabeth Hobba Keam was baptized 1 Jun 1850. And there is a 28 year old Elizabeth Keam who was buried the same day, 1 Jun 1850.

At this point, I am not yet confident enough in the evidence to make any conclusions about the Peter Keam who was baptized 15 Apr 1816 at St Mewan, son of Peter and Jane (Crossman) Keam.