I am trying to trace the birthplace of a William Straw born 1791.
In the 1851 Census he is living in Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire and the place of birth appears to say Wheatley, Northamptonshire (or Norway according to the transcriber!)
in 1861 he is still in Farnsfield but thye POB seems to say Whatley.
Does anyone know where he means?

Thanks
Pete Smee

Hi Pete ...

I don't know of any Wheatley (or similar) in Northamptonshire, but there is a Wheatley in Oxfordshire (just east of Oxford).

Interestingly, there's only one (male) STRAW marriage on the OFHS's Oxfordshire Marriage Index (1538-1837):

10 OCT 1791 - John STRAW to Mary HAYS at Chinnor

Chinner is approx. 12 miles from Wheatley, right on the county boundary. It may, therefore, be worth moving over to the Oxfordshire board to see if anyone has access to the Wheatley PRs!

Penny

Thanks Penny

I Know this John Straw married Mary Smedley in Farnsfield, Notts in 1816 and his DOB is believed to be 8 Jul 1791, but the Chinnor entry is intriguing.

I still wonder if he didn't mean North (or South) Wheatley in Notts. I'll try the Oxfordshire board but according to GenUKI the earliest PR for Wheatley is 1813 .....

You have me a little confused (very easily done these days!).

Is it your William (born c1791) who married Mary SMEDLEY, or another John?

My thoughts were that STRAW/HAYS marriage in 1791 in Chinnor could possibly be William's parents. It's very unsual to have only one instance of a particular surname on the marriage index, which could indicate that they were just "visitors" to the county.

You are correct in that Wheatley baptisms start at 1813 - earlier entries can be found in the Cuddesdon PRs.

Penny

Sorry, I was the one who was confused, ( I was in the middle of crosschecking against the William Straw (bpt 2 Dec 1792) who married Mary Betts (whose Father was John Straw)

I should have said William born 1791 (who married Mary Smedley).

Unless I have them the wrong way around.....

and we won't even think about the William Straw bt 25 Mar 1821 ,who was the son of (yet another?) William and Mary

Pete

Pete, this might be a census enumerator's hearing of Weekley which is a small village near Kettering. It might be worth checking baptisms there to rule out the possibility.

good luck
Stephen