Which Elizabeth Clymo married William Crapp 10 June 1828 at St Blazey, Cornwall?

Reseach Note for the St Blazey Families Project by Wesley Johnston, begun 20 Sep 2014, last updated 20 Sep 2014

Overview of the Problem

On 10 June 1828, William Crapp, of St Austell, and Elizabeth Clymo, of St Blazey, married at St Blazey, Cornwall. Both signed their own names. And so did all three of the witnesses: Peter Clymo, Nanny Clymo, and Eliza Vivian. The image of the record can be seen at:

    https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-22657-56180-43

In the 1851 census, Elizabeth gave Camborne as her birthplace. The original of this record can be seen on Ancestry.com at:

    http://interactive.ancestry.com/8860/CONHO107_1907_1907-0213/7096329

or on Ancestry.co.uk at:

    http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8860/CONHO107_1907_1907-0213/7096329

Her age in 1851 was 44, thus placing her birth at about 1807.

The problem is that, according to the Cornwall Family History Society research database, there were two Camborne Elizabeth Clymo baptisms that both would have been 44 in 1851:

• 1806 Jun 10 - daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Clymo
• 1807 Apr 11 - daughter of James and Anne Clymo

So which baptism was for the Elizabeth who later married William Crapp?

The Two Families

Peter and Elizabeth Clymo Family

The CFHS baptism DB identifies these children in the family of Peter and Elizabeth Clymo:

• 1800 Feb 23 at Camborne - James
• 1801 May 31 at Camborne - James
• 1803 Mar 20 at Camborne - Anne
• 1806 Jun 10 at Camborne - Elizabeth
• 1808 Jan 18 at Camborne - Mary
• 1811 Jun 8 at Camborne - Grace
• 1819 Feb 7 at St Blazey - Jane Vivian

The CFHS marriage DB has only one Peter-Elizabeth marriage:

• 1798 Nov 12 at Camborne - Peter Clymo and Elizabeth Vivian

The parents Peter ("Mine Agent in Copper") and Elizabeth can be seen in the 1841 St Blazey census of "Biscovene" (Biscovey) with the two youngest children. The image of this record is on Ancestry.com at:

    http://interactive.ancestry.com/8861/MONHO107_2446_2447-0303/15370765

So this family is documented at St Blazey in 1819 and 1841. And the fact that the mother was Elizabeth Vivian also resonates with the witnesses to the 1828 marriage including an Eliza Vivian.

James and Anne Clymo Family

The CFHS marriage DB lists only two James-Anne marriages:

• 1804 Apr 2 at Camborne - James Clymo and Anne Budge
• 1805 May 7 at Colan - James Clemow and Ann Benny

So there are two families to keep straight, one in western Cornwall and one in north central Cornwall. The CFHS baptism DB lists James-Ann/Anne children in this period from Camborne (1805-1815), Cubert (1810-1814), St Austell (1817) and St Columb Minor (1808-1821). Clearly the Camborne children and St Columb Minor children belong to the 1804 and 1805 couples, respectively.

The Cubert baptisms both appear to be of a Perranzabuloe couple, once the original images are seen. The 1814 record shows the father James as a Hubandman of the Parish of "Peran Zabuloe".

The father in the 1817 St Austell baptism is James, a Miner from Holms Bush. The 1815 Camborne image is not online, but Cornwall OPC shows the father James as a Miner. But the 1815 baptism at St Columb Minor shows that father James as a farmer. So it appears that the 1817 child was of the Camborne couple.

So it appears that these are the baptisms of the James Clymo and Ann Budge who married 2 Apr 1804 at Camborne (known only through the transcriptions of the Devon and Cornwall Record Society):

• 1805 Mar 30 at Camborne - John (Johnson) - transcription at https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11084-58529-97
• 1807 Apr 11 at Camborne - Eliza
• 1810 Sep 2 at Camborne - James
• 1815 Feb 4 at Camborne - Anne
• 1817 Nov 16 at St Austell - Mary Anne

I have not been able to find this family in the 1841 census. But the fact that they were at St Austell in 1817 does put them in the immediate vicinity of St Blazey, so that their Eliza cannot be ruled out as the one who married William Crapp.

Weighing the Evidence

The 1806 Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Vivian) Clymo, definitely has the most evidence for being the one who married William Crapp at St Blazey in 1828.

• The Vivian connection between her mother's maiden name and the Eliza Vivian who witnessed the 1828 marriage
• The witnesses Peter and Nanny Clymo to the 1828 marriage may correspond to Elizabeth's father and sister Anne
• They named their second son Edward Peter Clymo, which corresponds with the wife's father's given name as the middle name of the child
• The family was definitely living in St Blazey from at least 1819 to at least 1841, and the 1828 bride is documented as being of St Blazey

The only evidence favoring the 1807 Elizabeth is that her family were in St Austell in 1817. The only witness who corresponds to a family member is the 1815 Anne (as Nanny), but she was only 13 at the time of the marriage and thus not as likely to be the correct Anne, while the Anne of the Peter-Elizabeth family was then 25 and of the right age to be a witness.

Conclusion: The 1806 Elizabeth (daughter of Peter and Elizabeth) married William Crapp

The evidence weighs heavily in favor of Peter and Elizabeth (Vivian) Clymo's daughter Elizabeth Clymo, baptized at Camborne 10 Jun 1806 being the one who married William Crapp in St Blazey 10 Jun 1828 -- the same day as her baptism 22 years earlier.

And this is how I am carrying her in the database. If other documentation refutes this, I will gladly change the database. But in the absence of such evidence, the existing evidence is too strong to carry her any other way.