No great surprises with this marriage certificate:

William BELLAMY age 23 years married Emma BRADSHAW age 20 years at Sheffield on the 11th of September, 1846.

I cannot say with absolute certainty which church they were married at, the entry appears to say 'par church'; is this meant to be an abbreviation of 'parish church'? If so this would have been what is now Sheffield Cathedral

View my transcription of the marriage certificate for William BELLAMY and Emma BRADSHAW.

My research proved correct and I can now concentrate on going back another generation.

Today I posted a request to Sheffield Register Office for the Marriage Certificates of:

William Henry ASHFORTH and Ellen PASLEY - abt 1867

William BELLAMY and Emma BRADSHAW - abt 1846

Once again I hope these certificates will provide a few clues which may help in my research.

Emily BELLAMY (née ELLIS) 1883-1978

Another family photograph which my mother has identified.

This photograph has a date stamp on the reverse of "23 Apr 1", exasperatingly the year falls off the edge of the photograph! Did photographic studios purposely do this knowing it would drive future researchers insane!

Emily BELLAMY (née ELLIS) 1883-1978 was my last surviving maternal great grandparent. She was born on the 23rd of July, 1883 and lived well into her nineties, passing away on the 2nd of October, 1978 at Middlewood Hospital, Sheffield.

Previous research revealed my 2nd great grand aunt, Alice TURNER, the daughter of Mary Ann TURNER (née JENNINGS) and Edwin TURNER residing at King Street, Nether Hallam, Sheffield, Yorkshire was baptised on September 10, 1864, by John Livesey at St Philip's Church, Shalesmoor, Sheffield.

I expected her date of birth to be about June, 1863 but her birth certificate records the date as 13th August, 1862 at 99 King Street, Nether Hallam, Sheffield, Yorkshire.

The primary reason for obtaining this certificate was to help to establish my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Ann TURNER's maiden name; this is recorded as Mary Ann JENNINGS. This information provides the key to another branch of the family and hopefully some online research may provide a few clues.

A previous attempt by the Registry Office at Sheffield to locate a birth certificate for my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Ann BELLAMY (née TURNER) abt1861 was unproductive, so I am hoping this additional information may be of help in obtaining this certificate.

As soon as time allows I will post a full transcript of Alice TURNER's birth certificate and update my GEDCOM.

Owlerton, Burton Street, Cuthbert Bank, Roscoe Bank, Shalesmoor and St Philip's Road are districts and streets in the north-west of Sheffield where ancestors from my ASHFORTH line were born; most lived and died there too.

As a very young child I remember being dragged off to these far away places in order to visit the 'rellies', and how one felt like an explorer, cautiously examining an alien environment. During these visits we children would be quickly ushered out to play, usually into the backyard or street, which of course were virtually devoid of motor vehicles and quite safe.

I was born at Hawksley Road, just off Owlerton Green, though I don't recall there being a great deal of 'green' other than that of Hillsborough Park. I was christened at the church of St John the Baptist, Owlerton which remarkably, is still in service as a church, despite the dire developments which have taken place all around.

I remember there were 3 cul-de-sacs: Hawksley Road at the end of which were the gates leading into the southern section of Hillsborough Park, Cheadle Street and I think Cannock Street. What I do remember quite clearly is that for some considerable time only one family owned a motor vehicle. I think this family, a retired man and wife, were named Mr and Mrs Thurlin. I recall they hated us using the gable end of their house for football, tennis and cricket practice, and the risks we took when the inevitable happened and we had to recover the ball from their backyard.

In the midst of row after row of terraced houses, Hillsborough Park was our saviour. We would spend most of our days playing football or cricket, until just before dusk when the toll of the bell would signify the gates would be locked shortly. Not that this mattered much, since as soon as the 'parky' had carried out his duties and was out of sight, we merely scrambled over the park gates and carried on playing until hunger finally drove us home.

Four generations lived in a 3 bedroom terraced house with the ubiquitous outside toilet. My great grandmother Florence ASHFORTH (née Florence FLOWERS), her son and daugher-in-law (my grandfather and grandmother) Ernest ASHFORTH and Emily ASHFORTH (née Emily BELLAMY), my mother and father and me. When my younger sister was born some six years later I guess we were probably officially classed as 'overcrowded'. So at the age of 7 years my family left the ASHFORTH household and moved approximately 3 miles to a newly built house at School Lane, Stannington, Sheffield, Yorkshire.

In the mid 1950's Stannington was still just a village, with a handful of shops, little new development and lots of wide open spaces. A totally alien environment to a young lad from the inner city.

I have spent a great deal of time trying to establish a maiden name for Mary Ann TURNER abt1860. I have a copy of the marriage certificate recording her marriage to Joseph BELLAMY b1857 but Sheffield Register Office could not retrieve a birth certificate. I find this rather puzzling since FreeBMD records a birth during 1860, at Sheffield, of a Mary Anne TURNER. So in order to proceed further I have turned my attention to Mary Ann's siblings.

Originally I had planned to try and retrieve a birth certificate for Edwin TURNER abt1859 but further research has produced a christening record for Alice TURNER abt1864. If my findings are correct she was baptised on the 10th of September, 1864 at St Philip's Church, Shalesmoor, Sheffield.

I have posted a request for a Birth Certificate to Sheffield Register Office and hopefully this time I will get a result.

Notes: This is definitely the correct area of Sheffield since as a young child in the 1950's I remember my visits to the St Philips road area of Sheffield and in particular to my uncle Edwin BELLAMY and aunt Peggy BELLAMY (née Peggy KETTLEWELL) and their only son and my cousin Philip BELLAMY, sadly Philip died in his early twenties. The family lived in a terrace house on a cul-de-sac behind the Roscoe Cinema, though the whole of this area was later cleared to make way for road improvements and the new tram system. One of my earliest memories is attending a 5th of November bonfire night party. This was a communal event with the bonfire built in the middle of the cobbled street and the neighbours contributing baked potatoes, hot chestnuts, slabs of black toffee and toffee apples.

Here are the details from the Marriage Certificate of Jospeh BELLAMY and Mary Ann TURNER.

Marriage Certificate

Registration District: Sheffield
Date: 1879
Marriage solemnized at: St Stephens Church in the Parish of St Stephens, Sheffield in the County of York
No.: 329
When Married: December 1st 1879
Name and Surname: Joseph Bellamy, Mary Ann Turner
Age: 23, 20
Condition: Batchelor, Spinster
Rank or Profession: File Cutter, _____
Residence at the time of Marriage: Bond Street, Bellefield Lane
Father's Name and Surname: William Bellamy, Edwin Turner
Rank or Profession of Father: File Cutter, Spring Knife Cutler
Married in the: Church of St Stephen according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Established Church, by____or
after Banns by me J N? Scholefield

The birth certificate I obtained for Jospeh BELLAMY helped me confirm his mother to be one Emma BRADSHAW, born circa 1830 and at the time of Joseph's birth in 1857, living at Castle Yard, Sheffield, Yorkshire.

The 1841 Census of England and Wales returns an 11 year old Emma BRADSHAW living with her parents William and Elizabeth BRADSHAW in the Walkley district of Sheffield. William and Elizabeth were both born circa 1801.

Though I am once again in the realms of conjecture, my research does have an air of authority that is worth pursuing.

William BELLAMY has proved a little more difficult. My research has revealed several BELLAMYs whom are worth researching further, though at this time I cannot even propose a convincing hypothesis.

I happened to be in Sheffield today so I took the opportunity to call at the register office to check if the certificates I had requested were ready for collection.

The staff had retrieved the birth certificate of Joseph BELLAMY and the marriage certificate of Joseph BELLAMY and Mary Ann TURNER, but had not been able to locate a birth certificate for Mary Ann TURNER. The Deputy Registrar very kindly showed the number of searches his staff had carried out without yielding a useful result. They had obviously spent some considerable time on these searches for which I am very grateful and once again I express my appreciation of the registry office staff.

Having analysed the data from these certificates I have corroborated most of the findings from my original research. I have also established the maiden name of William BELLAMY's wife Emma; Emma BRADSHAW. The marriage certificate confirmed Edwin TURNER as Mary Ann's father.

Sheffield Register Office confirmed they have found a marriage certificate for Joseph BELLAMY and Mary Ann TURNER, and a birth certificate for Joseph BELLAMY. They are carrying out a broader search for a birth certificate for Mary Ann TURNER.

I must also mention the staff at the register office, they have been very polite and helpful, advising me it would be better to wait for the results of the search for Mary Ann TURNER's birth certificate before collecting the other two.

So it looks as though it will be early in the new year before I can collect.

Today I phoned Sheffield Register Office to check if the certificates I had ordered were ready for collection. The lady I spoke to took some details and said she would call back later. I was out of the office when she called but a colleague conveyed a message which advised a birth certificate for Mary Ann TURNER could not be found but a 5 year search would now be carried out.

With no information forthcoming regarding the other 2 certificates (Joseph BELLAMY's birth certificate and Joseph and Mary Ann's marriage certificate) I am a little in the dark as to the status of all 3 certificates. I will call again Thursday, though I will probably not have time to collect until the after the Christmas break.

Realising I have been researching the wrong line of BELLAMY, and having taken a fresh look at my notes, I decided to spend time researching Mary Ann BELLAMY, Joseph BELLAMY's wife.

My notes show I had already established a marriage in 1879 between one Joseph BELLAMY and one Mary Ann TURNER, and I have no reason to doubt the cogency of this.

A search of FreeBMD shows a birth for a Mary Ann TURNER in September 1861. This corresponds with the census information. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the FreeBMD database holds very few records of birth for the year 1857. This could be why after many hours searching, trying variations of spelling and several districts I have yet to find a record of birth for Joseph BELLAMY.

A search of the 1871 British Census reveals this household:

TURNER Edwin, 44, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Mary Ann, 43, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Elizabeth, 20, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Edwin, 12, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Mary Ann, 10, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Alice, 8, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER William M J ,5, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Anne, 3, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
TURNER Lilly, 1, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam

The date of birth for the younger Mary Ann TURNER concurs with my findings.

Likewise a search for BELLAMY households returns the following:

BELLAMY Sarah, 67, Ecclesall Bierlow, Upper Hallam
BELLAMY William, 47, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
BELLAMY Emma, 41, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
BELLAMY William, 19, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
BELLAMY Joseph, 14, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam
BELLAMY Wilhemina, 3, Ecclesall Bierlow, Nether Hallam

The date of birth for Joseph BELLAMY also concurs with my findings.

Not wishing to make the same mistake twice, and since I had planned to visit Sheffield today, I called at the register office and ordered the following certificates:

Joseph BELLAMY and Mary Ann TURNER - Marriage Certificate
Joseph BELLAMY - Birth Certificate
Mary Ann TURNER - Birth Certificate

These should be available in a few days time and hopefully will confirm the results of my research.

Earlier this year I obtained the 1901 British Census return for the household of Joseph BELLAMY. This is an outline of my transcription:

Address: 156 Martin St
Civil Parish: Nether Hallam
Town or Village or Hamlet: Sheffield
Parliamentary Borough or Division: Hallam
Eccleslastical Parish: St Philips
Administrative County: Sheffield

BELLAMY Joseph, Head, M, 44, M, File Cutter, Worker, Sheffield, Yorkshire
BELLAMY Mary Ann, Wife, M, 40, F,, Undefined, Sheffield, Yorkshire
BELLAMY George Albert, Son, S, 21, M, File Cutter, Worker, Sheffield, Yorkshire
BELLAMY Mary Alice, Daughter, S, 16, F,, Undefined, Sheffield, Yorkshire
BELLAMY Edith, Daughter, S, 11, F,, Undefined, Sheffield, Yorkshire
BELLAMY Edward, Son, S, 2, M,, Undefined, Sheffield, Yorkshire

Studying in more detail this information, I realise my previous research is probably flawed. Read my earlier post... I have a copy of the marriage certificate for George Albert BELLAMY and Emily ELLIS so I can validate George Alberts's father being recorded as Joseph BELLAMY and his mother as Mary Ann.

Searching the 1881 census I realise the problem is quite simple; BELLAMY is now BELLARMY.

Dwelling: 89 Martin St
Census Place: Nether Hallam, Yorkshire, England
PRO: RG11
Piece/Folio: 4621/43
Page Number: 25

BELLARMY Joseph, Head, M, Male, 24, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, File Cutter, Unemployed
BELLARMY Mary Ann, Wife, M, Female, 20, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
BELLARMY George Albert, Son, U, Male, 1, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Searches on FreeCEN returns zero results.

I will add a note to my earlier posts expressing my doubts as to the accuracy of the data.

How ironic. While searching for the birth of Ivy DXON, my paternal grandmother. What should I find but an entry for a Sarah Ann BELLAMY!

Births Dec 1901
BELLAMY Sarah Ann, Gainsbro'
DIXON Ivy, Gainsbro'

Just to confuse matters, another Sarah Anne BELLAMY, by marriage. Though I note 'Anne' with an 'e'.

Marriages Dec 1888
BELLAMY William Henry, Ecclesall B
HILLMAN Sarah Anne, Ecclesall B

Update: 2005-12-15 Further research has shown this data is probably not linked to my family. This data may prove useful to other researchers so I will retain it.