Thanks for your thoughtful reply, John. I suppose I’m rather naive when it comes to what these documents contain, taking them at face value.
Regards,
Julie
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On Aug 25, 2024, at 9:58?PM, John Hanson <john.hanson@...> wrote:
Julie
Just because Joseph says that his father was Jonathan doesn’t mean to say that it was.?
At that time, you didn’t need to provide any proof
He would simply have been asked – who was your father – he might have just answered “Jonathan” and the clerk assumed Bentley
Also, there is a possibility that if he was illegitimate and his mother married just after he was born to a Jonathan Bentley then he was possibly brought up thinking that his father the Jonathan.
Whilst he died have been buried in the Wesleyan cemetery, he is not likely to have been a Wesleyan in 1853 when he married, or he would not have married by Banns
There never was a legal requirement for non-conformist registers to be deposited so many may still be with the church – but which church at the time.
Also, they could have been kept by the person performing which ever service and taking with him to the next church!
CAN I suspect is going to point you more in the right direction?
The problem then might be trying to find the paper trail to match the DNA
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Regards
John Hanson FSG?
Researching the Halstead/Holstead/Alstead names
Researcher, the Halsted Trust -?
Research website -?
And my own study of FOSKER
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I'm trying to determine who the parents of Joseph BENTLEY (1814-1874) are. He was buried at Morley Wesleyan 13 Mar 1874.
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He married Ann ELLIS 1 Feb 1835 in Batley and had two children. She died in 1841. He married Mary WESTERMAN (1820-1851) in 1843, had two children and Esther BROWN (1825-1905) in 1853 and had six more children. In the 1851 census he is married to Mary with their daughter and son and his two children from his marriage with Ann. Lidian (Lydia Ann BENTLEY) is my ancestor.
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I've always thought that Joseph's parents were Jonathan BENTLEY (1787-1859) who married Mary RHODES 14 Feb 1806 in Batley. Certainly his marriages to both Mary WESTERMAN and Esther BROWN indicate Jonathan being his father.?
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What makes me wonder if this is wrong is not having dna matches with others further back when there should be a match. I must have made an error somewhere.
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There are many other families with parents Joseph BENTLEY and Martha FIELD but I'm the only one with Jonathan and Mary. I would appreciate some other eyes looking at this and telling me what they think.
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Julie Kane
