Thread: Suffolk - Please help

For the past two years I have been researching the Fenning/Fennings family who I have managed to track back in time to Suffolk circa 1804.

Unfortunately I have come to a full stop as one of the key players, my great, great grandfather seems to have no record of his birth.

The various census records from 1841 onwards indicates that he was born in Nacton between 1804 and 1806 and married Eliza Friston on the 11th of May 1826 in Sutton. So far, despite extensive research I have not managed to find any other documentary evidence to substantiate his birth date/place or, most importantly who his parents were.

He may have been born in the Naction Union Workhouse but records there are so sparse that I have once again met a dead end.

If there is no other documentary evidence of his birth then it may well be worth skipping that and concentrating on trying to find his parents.

In the absence of birth documentation it crossed my mind whether it was worth trying to get hold of a transcript of his marriage as that might show who George's parents were.

I live in North Lincolnshire which is a long way from Suffolk and I wondered whether among the members of and contributors to this forum there is anyone who regularly visits Ipswich RO?

If there is please let me know.

This may help you George Fenning 1803-1895



Father-James Fenning b.1773 Blakenham Suffolk



Mother -elizabeth Fish b1775 Alderburgh Suffolk

Both married -Nacton 1797

Father remarries 1808 to a rebecca garrad at nacton





1841 CENSUS OF jAMES HO107 / 1021 / 7 FOLIO 6 page 4

Thanks for that Chris, but where did that information come from?

The only reason that I ask this is because some time ago I gave access to my provisional tree to a number of people so that they could compare notes. James and Elizabeth were on that tree as potential (but not confirmed) parents.

Unfortunately a number of people copied the information without authority and without referring back to me, meaning that they assumed the information was firm when it was not. They then published their information on Ancestry.co.uk leading to many problems.

I have still not managed to firm-up the data.

I understand as my own tree with some has gone that way but i like to confirm mine . This was from public tree , the way to find his parents will be by baptism as marriages before 1837 didnt have parents just wittness as far as ive found . I will be going to suffolk but not untill march , as i too need some research .

Then I've got a real problem because I cannot find any record of George's birth anywhere apart from the Census records, which does not mean a lot.

Asking for a tanscription of the marriage between George and Eliza 11th May 1826 Sutton was a last resort in the hope that they may have entered that information on the Parish register.

I will have to change my user name to 'Stumped'.

Dont give up , i have searched for 6 yrs just on one grt. grandfather bit by bit things pop up . Each small piece of info is fantastic , some member here may be able to help you still.

Pre-1837 marriages don't have father's names or occupations on them, but you may find valuable clues in the witnesses, who are often parents or siblings. If you can't find a record for George you might find one for a sibling. Sometimes siblings marry later or more than once and if they marry after 1837 you can get their father's name from the marriage cert.



If the Nacton registers don't help, I'd do a search round the surrounding areas. George may have been born or baptised elsewhere, but brought up in Nacton and assumed that's where he was born.



Or he might have been baptised privately and the event not recorded in the registers.

Thanks to all who are trying to help on this one, it is much appreciated.

The problem with trying to find siblings married after 1837 is that if I do not know who the parents where then finding George Fening's siblings is problematic.

Clearly George was born between 1803 and 1806 so unless his siblings (whoever they were) were born before him or married 11 years after George, the same case scenario will exist in that it is unlikely a record of their parents will have been taken.

The point concerning witnesses is a good one. Maybe one of them was a relative, but with my luck I will probably find that he will have pulled someone in from the streets.

Don't be so defeatist.



I don't think many people did pull witnesses off the streets. They were usually relatives or friends, and often the best man or bridesmaid.



have you looked at all Fennings on the census who say they were born in Nacton? That's how I would set about tracing siblings/other relatives. It's a start...

Thanks for that input Helen.

I did some census research covering the Nacton area but with the Fenning family in in mind and no other family. I also purchased transcripts of all the parish BDMs covering the period mid sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century for the Nacton area. It was in those documents, and later confirmed on the LDS website that I discovered a James Fenning who married Elizabeth Fish in 1797 at Nacton. The problem is that of the 4 children who are listed as having come out of that marriage none were named George. The only one child listed born in the early nineteenth century was called Charles who was born on the 1st April 1803 and died on the 11th August 1803. Elizabeth Fish died on the on the 27th April 1803, probably as a result of childbirth. It of course possible that George was the surviving twin of Charles, but there is no record of that.

In 1808 James married Rebecca Garrard in Nacton and had three children with her. The first child was Charles who was born on the 13th Jan 1809 and died on the 22nd November 1809. The second child was Charlotte who was born on the 16th December 1811, and the third child William was born in 1824.

I also found a Robert Fenning who was born in Otley, Suffolk in 1767 who married a Rebecca Garrard in 1794 in Otley. They had seven children, Elizabeth born 1795 Nacton, Sarah born 1796 Nacton, Izilliza born 1798 Nacton, Samuel born 1799 Nacton, Robert born 1800 Nacton(died 1801), Charlotte born 1802 Nacton (died 1803) and Charlotte born 10th March 1806 Nacton - sadly again no child by the name of George.