Elusive Marriage & Birth details for Osborn

[Mich]

Hello there,

I am having a big problem with one of my ancestors, KEELY OSBORN - various spellings have been seen Keeley, Osborne etc. On all his census forms he stated he was born in Chatteris, Cambs c 1848 but I haven't been able to track down a birth or bap. for him never mind a marriage. The only other detail I have about him is his death cert. He died on 10 May 1917 supposedly aged 69

However, I did find an Osborn Keely from Burnham Sutton cum Ulph in Norfolk (b approx 1845). I have lots of details (family, marriages and births etc.) for this person but the only thing that made me wonder if this was the same person was the fact that his occupation was a bricklayer journeyman and this was the same profession as Keely Osborn a bricklayer. Plus I cannot find Osborn from Norfolk after 1871 not even death records. 1881 sees the appearance of Keely who states he was born in Chatteris. It just struck me as odd that when one guy disappears the other one emerges, could they be the same person??

My ancestor Keely Osborn was "married" to Elizabeth b1840/1 and I think her name was Bower nee Stapleton (widow) they went on to have a few children. I have loads of information on her background and family etc. However, I cannot find a marriage record for this couple. Maybe they never did get married because for one reason if Keely was Osborn then he was already married! His wife died approx. 1880, Hannah nee Goddard from Kings Lynn.

Basically can someone give me some advice or assistance in finding proof of birth/bap/christening for Keely Osborn from Chatteris (1842 - 1848) or proof of his marriage to Elizabeth (1872 - onwards).

Any ideas anyone? I honestly don't know where to go next as he was the direct link down to my grandmother.

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Mich,


A possibility for Hannah Keelys death, seeing that she and Osborn were in Spalding Lincolnshire in 1871.

Death 1880

Hannah Keeley
Born abt 1849
Apr/May/Jun 1/4
District Spalding
County Lincolnshire

 

[Mich]

Thanks Juliejtb for that.

I do have a lot of info. regarding him and Hannah however, I am trying to ascertain if they are the same person. That's why I am trying to trace either Keely Osborn's marriage to Elizabeth plus his birth in Chatteris. If neither of these can be found then it looks even more likely they could be the same guy.

I think I will have to try the Cambs. Record Office but I don't have any substantiated date of birth for him. From all the census and family info. I have any time between 1840 and 1850 for his birth! Thought his marriage cert. might turn up a name of his father or something.

Can someone please return the crystal ball to it's rightful place? :2fun:

 

[Robesur]

I have had a look at this and followed your line of research and cannot come up with any new theory. My immiediate opinion is that the coincidences are so great that it must be the same person. As you say he was already married so he could not marry again. My only worry is what is the connection between Burnham Norfolk and Chatteris Cambridge, nothing geographically but he appeared to be a nomadic type of person so perhaps he had spent time working in Chatteris and when he went to Derby gave that as his place of birth to keep attention away from his marriage in Norfolk.
Did you notice that there was a 1 year old Osborn Keely in Burnham in 1841, as well as the 5 year old in 1851, I wonder what happenned to him.

 

[gortonboy]

hi,,,having looked at the 1911 census,,,,his birthplace is given as Lieth in Scotland !!!! maybe you could try looking for a birth/marriage in Scotland.

 

[nainmaddie]

Hi,

I have tried the Scottish site with no births between1835 and 1854 for either name.

Maddie

 

[Mich]

Thank you Robesur, gortonboy and Maddie for your contributions.

Yes Robesur, I did find 2 other Osborn Keely's in Norfolk. I think one of them was an illeg.child to one of Osborn's sisters. I haven't been able to prove this so far. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this if he wasn't the chap I was looking for. I don't know what happened to either of them except I think one may have ended up for a short while at least in a workhouse but I don't have my notes to hand at the moment so I can't be sure.

I did find it interesting that gortonboy has mentioned Scotland. This is the first time it has been definitely mentioned on any documents. My Gran told me (many years ago) that at one time all 4 grandparents were made up of the British Isles with one being Scottish, one Welsh etc. However, I haven't found any of this so far.

Pity though that Maddie couldn't find anything in Scotland but thanks for trying.

Thank you very much for your help. I will discuss your findings with my cousin who is also helping with the family tree.