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Monday, June 30, 2014

Was Edmund Belys the father of Lydia Bailey?

It's difficult to track the parents of Charles Elliot or his wife, Lydia Bayley/Bailey.  I have a possible candidate for the parents of Lydia, but the evidence is not yet conclusive.

The strongest documentary evidence for Lydia's parentage is her marriage bond.  Generally the parents are not named on the bond, but as Lydia was apparently a minor at the time of her marriage (eg. under 21 years) her father signed the contract.  He is described as Edmund Bailey, a farmer in Hillingdon.  This document was dated December 1756.  Both men signed their names.



We know that Charles and Lydia were married from Hillingdon Parish on February 5, 1757.  Lydia is described here as being from Hayes parish, while Charles is from Hillingdon.  I don't recognize the names of either witness. Notice the fluidity of spelling of the Bailey last name:  the body of the document, written by the parish clergyman, writes "Bayley" but Lydia herself signs "Bailey".




We can also approximate a birth year for Lydia from her two obituaries.  Lydia died on January 8, 1827, and was buried in Hayes on January 13th.



 The Examiner of London, on Sunday January 14, 1827, published this death notice:

"On Monday, Mrs. Elliot, of Hayes, Middlesex,  aged 90."  

The Morning Chronicle on Monday January 15, 1827,  said:

"On the 8th inst., Mrs. Elliot, of Hayes, aged 90.  She has left to bewail her loss, nine children, fifty-eight grandchildren, and forty-three great-grandchildren..."

If she was 90 in 1827, she must have been born in 1737.  That would make her 19 years old in 1756, which would make her a minor for the purposes of marriage, so the age fits her marriage bond.

Edmund was a fairly common name in England at the time, but Lydia was more uncommon.  I have found a baptismal record for a Lydia Baylis, born September 30, 1737 to "Edmund Baylis, Carpenter, and Mary". The baptismal record is from St. Martin's Church in West Drayton, Hillingdon, also part of Middlesex.



There is another baptismal record from the same church, for a Mary Baylis, also a daughter to Edmund and Mary Baylis, baptized on March 5, 1739.



And finally, there is a burial record for Mary Belys on October 9, 1743, in the St. Martin West Drayton parish records.  If Mary Belys is the same person as Mary Baylis, the record does not indicate whether this is the parent or child of Edmund.


So far those are the only records relating to the Baylis or Belys family that I have found at the St. Martin church. Unfortunately, the records I have access to are missing some years.  The church obviously had a modest congregation, as the records do not show many births, marriages or deaths in any one year.  Interestingly, this was the church which the servants of the Earl of Uxbridge attended, and the Earl himself was eventually buried there.  If Charles and Lydia attended the same church, that would have  provided an opportunity for them to meet and get to know each other.

The History of the Ancient Town and Borough of Uxbridge by George Redford and Thomas Hurry Riches (William Lake, Uxbridge, 1813), which was, incidentally, subscribed to by Josiah Elliot, mentions the connection of the Earl of Uxbridge's estate to Hillingdon:

From pages 150-152:



I have been unable to find a will for Edmund Baylis, Belys, Bayley, Bayly or Bailey from Middlesex, excepting for an Edmund Bailey in Hayes who lived next door to Charles and Lydia Elliot.  This Edmund was a carpenter, but was probably Lydia's brother, not her father, as she is not named in the will.

Another issue is Edmund's occupation.  The marriage bond states that he is a farmer;  the birth records state he is a carpenter.  The Edmund Bailey in Hayes, presumably Lydia's brother, is also a carpenter;  a family occupation?

Here is an earlier researcher's work on the Bailey family.  No sources are named.  Neither Lydia nor her sister Mary Bailey appear, although Edmund Jr. does. Notice that there are three Edmund Baileys, one in each generation. Lydia would presumably fit into the second generation.  This is from the Pedigree Register, Vol. II,  London, 1910-13, edited by George Sherwood.  The Pedigree Register is "the official organ of the Society of Genealogists in London".   Whoever the researcher was, he or she obviously knew that their work was incomplete, as they ask for more information.  Note that this document places the elder Edmund Bailey in Hayes as well as Hillingdon.





Marriage record for John Reynolds and Martha Bailey, 1770, St. Mary's, Hayes.  Is she a relative of Lydia?

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