Analyzing a Complex Challenge on the FamilySearch Family Tree: Part Five

 

In the last post in this series, I listed all 11 men named Richard Boorman (Boreman etc.) I have found so far who lived in the same part of England. Many of these people are connected as father and son. Eight of them, including those in my own family line, are shown as related to each other. Questions remain as to which of these Richard Boormans have records documenting their parent/child relationship. 

This is the real issue with all of the entries in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree: how many of the entries have cited documentary support for their child/parent pedigree generational extensions? If no record is cited, no real genealogical connect exists. The records I am looking at are in the 1600s and 1700s, well before any census or civil registration records existed. For parent/child relationships, we have to primarily rely on church records and sometimes. probate records. We also have to be careful not to fall into the same name/same person fallacy. A careful consideration of the places where these people are reported to have been living from a marriage or death record may provide some insight but absent a parent/child record, conclusions based on other records such as marriage are insufficient to support a final conclusion. Even if the records show that there is only one person with a certain name in the area being searched, this may mean that the records are missing and therefore no firm conclusion can be formed. 

How does all this apply to the 11 Richard Boormans? How many of them am I really related to?

My Boorman line begins with Mary Boorman C. 1744, d. 1777) LKKM-3GH. Her father is listed as Richard Boorman (C. 1707, d. 1771) LH1G-W2D. Her christening record indicates she was christened on 9 September 1744 in Headcorn, Kent, England and the daughter of Richard Boreman and Mary Boreman. She is listed as married to William Tarbutt (C. 1743, d. 1825) LZN9-DYR in Goudhurst, Kent, England. All of her children are listed as christened in Cranbrook, Kent, England. Cranbrook is about 8 miles south of Headcorn and about 5 miles east of Goudhurst. These are the three places that show up in the records of all 11 of the Richard Boormans. 

There are 477 records on Findmypast.com for women with the name of Mary Boorman including alternate spellings and plus or minus 2 years from 1744. The record cited on the Family Tree is from FamilySearch.org. Here is the record.

"England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRG8-PTG?cc=1952887&wc=M629-JTL%3A252597701%2C253103401%2C253103402 : 16 December 2015), Kent > Headcorn > Baptisms 1717-1776 > image 13 of 40; Kent Archives Office, Maidstone.

Richard and Mary are shown to be married in Headcorn, Kent, England on 12 October 1741. Richard Boreman has a christening record showing he was christened in Headcorn, Kent, England and his parents were Richard Boreman and Amy Boreman, but the names are indistinct. The attached marriage record is a Bishop's transcript that gives the date and the names of the bride and groom but not the place. The family seems to be solidly in Headcorn except Mary Boreman LKKM-3GH is said to be buried in Cranbrook in 1777 and all her children are christened in Cranbrook. This creates a problem. Is the Mary Boreman shown as christened in Headcorn really the same person who is married to William Tarbutt in Goudhurst?

There is another Mary Boreman christened in Cranbrook, Kent, England on 20 May 1750 and her father's name is John and her mother's name was Elizabeth. Wouldn't it be more logical to assume that the Mary Boreman born in Cranbrook was the one who married William Tarbutt and had all her children in Cranbrook and not one of her children were named Richard and one was named John? In short, it looks like to me that all 11 of the Richard Boreman names are not related to me. Mary Boreman's father's name was more likely John.

Now there is another problem. The marriage record for William Tarbut shows that marriage took place in Goudhurst, Kent, England. Hmm. Maybe not only are the parents of Mary Boreman wrong in the Family Tree, they have her married to the wrong person. However, the children's record from Cranbrook show their father as William Tarbutt. So is there a William Tarbut christened in Cranbrook?

There are marriage and burial records for William Tarbutt in Cranbrook but no record of a christening. That leaves the question of who is William Tarbutt and where was he christened? By the way, it does not look like I am related to any of the Richard Boremans. 

Here are the previous posts in this series:

Part One: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2021/07/analyzing-complex-challenge-on.html

Part Two: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2021/07/analyzing-complex-challenge-on_9.html

Part Three: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2021/07/analyzing-complex-challenge-on_10.html

Part Four: https://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2021/07/analyzing-complex-challenge-on_16.html