Family Jigsaw

The Family Tree Jigsaw - how apparently

unconnected information can suddenly

come together

Putting together a Family Tree is, in many ways, like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle. Often there are pieces that do not appear to fit and only when other pieces are discovered do the originals finally take their place. Let me give you an example to illustrate the point.

If you have already read the ‘1881 Census’ article on this website you will be aware that our surname has been transcribed/spelt in many and various ways. One of the varied spellings that I reviewed closely was Kervell. One particular entry intrigued me.

Harriet Kervell aged 20 Birthplace stated as Sheen Berkshire

A housemaid in the service of Alderman, J P and Banker Charles Halsted from Chichester Sussex.

Nothing unusual in that you may think. Kervells do exist in the south of England and they are not all related to us. However I had never come across them in Berkshire. Also I was certain that there was no place called Sheen in Berkshire. Could the entries have been transcribed/spelt incorrectly? Could Kervell really be Kearvell? Could Sheen really be Speen Berkshire? I knew of Speen. It is a village on the north west outskirts of Newbury. I also remembered that William Kearvell (1840-1915) from West Stoke Sussex had married Amelia Parsons, who had been born at Shaw-cum-Donnington Berkshire. Like Speen, Shaw is a village on the northern outskirts of Newbury. However, no Harriets matched on our Family Tree and with nothing further to connect this Harriet, the information went on to the "back burner".

Then when researching the GRO (General Register Office) Index I came across the marriage in 1888 of a Harriet Kearvell to Frederick Arthur Peskett at Funtington Sussex, the place where William and Amelia Kearvell were living at the 1881 Census. I obtained a copy of the marriage certificate and this showed that Harriet was 28 years old and her father was stated as William Kearvell. However, Harriet’s age put her birthdate some 5 years before William had married Amelia Parsons. Maybe one or more of the dates were incorrect or could Harriet actually be Amelia’s child?

A search on the IGI (International Genealogical Index) revealed the christening of a Harriet Parsons at
Winterbourne Berkshire in February 1861. Winterbourne is near Newbury and little more than a mile from Speen.
The entry showed no father’s name but a mother’s name, also, of Harriet Parsons. Names transcribed on the IGI
can be notoriously unreliable and, by now, my hunch was that Harriet Parsons was the illegitimate child of
Amelia Parsons and the same person as the Harriet Kervell, on the 1881 Census, and Harriet Kearvell who
married Frederick Peskett.

I sent for a copy of Harriet Parson’s birth certificate and this confirmed that she
had been born on 18 December 1860 at Winterbourne Berkshire, which is in the
Speen Sub-Registration District. No father was shown on the certificate but her
mother was ……Amelia Parsons!

Bingo! An intriguing entry on the 1881 Census had now finally turned into the
step-daughter of William Kearvell. By the 1881 Census Harriet was using her
step-father’s surname but, as yet, I do not know if and when Harriet was
formerly adopted (unlikely as Adoption Laws did not come until 1929).

St James Winterbourne Berkshire