For a recent visit to the searchroom, we produced this photograph of Mrs Waygood, postmistress of Glanvilles Wootton. The inscription on the back proudly proclaims her ‘The oldest postmistress in England, probably’.
Colour us intrigued! As we took a closer look at her life in our records, a tangled knot began to reveal itself…
Simple beginnings
Jane Anne Waygood was baptised on 20th February 1831 in Glanvilles Wootton, the fifth child of John and Harriett Waygood. We can find 11-year-old Jane on the 1841 census, living in Glanvilles Wootton with her parents, brothers and sisters, and a niece and nephew. She remains living with her family in the 1851 and 1861 censuses, listed as either a glover or as “sub post mistress”.
In the 1891 census Jane is married to a Charles Waygood and living at the Post Office. It was not unusual for first cousins to get married at this time, so we searched up their marriage and were met with a further surprise: it turns out that Jane didn’t marry one Charles Waygood, but two!
Time to get the comb out
To help untangle the mess, we turned to the lauded and time-honoured tradition used by all genealogists in their hour of need…
…scraps of paper on the dining table.
Let’s start with the first Charles, henceforth known as Charles #1. We can use the census to work out his age and the marriage record to find his father’s name. This lets us find Charles #1’s baptism – on 16th April 1824, to James and Fanny Waygood.
Jane’s parents are John and Harriet Waygood, and when we investigate this previous generation, we find that Charles #1 and Jane’s fathers are brothers – both sons of Thomas and Mary Waygood. Aha! Our postmistress Jane and her first husband are first cousins, as suspected.
Brick walls
Charles #2 proves to be more of a challenge. It’s likely that he and Jane – both living in the same area with the same surname, are related somewhere in their ancestry but proof has eluded us. According to the 1891 census, Charles #2 was about 23 years older than Jane, and we can find his baptism on 18th December 1808 to James and Maria Waygood. Whilst we can find James and Maria House’s marriage in 1802, that’s where we hit a wall.
Can you find the missing link in this mystery? Or have you already detangled a genealogical knot? Let us know in the comments below!