Margaret Hitchings ^{4 5}

  General Notes:

(The original of the photograph above was kindly provided by the Baptist Church Archives Qld and is from the July 1903 issue of Qld Baptist the article being in honour of the Golden Wedding of William and Margaret Moore.- it has been slightly digitally enhanced)

It is possible that although Margaret's parents had different surnames they might still have been married. The Welsh "son of" naming system seems to have been well and truly alive in this area until the early 1800s and it was common from women to retain their own surnames. All those with surname William that I found on IGI around the expected birth date for George William had fathers with given name William and something else as a surname. On the other hand Sarah is "U"nmarried on the 1851 census.

A possible origin of her name is Margaret wife of William Hitchings. This family lived next door to Sarah Hitchings in 1851 and a few doors away in 1841. William and Margaret married in 1821 shortly before the 1824 birth of this Margaret. It seems possible that William was the brother of Sarah and Mary although there are a few kilometres between their birthplaces.

  Chronology:

She worked as a Servant in 1843 and resided at Cresswell, Jeffreston, Pembroke, Wales. ⁹

Margaret had a relationship with Thomas Hutchins. (Thomas Hutchins was born before 1830.)

Margaret next married William Moore, son of Edward Moore and Fanny Pople, on 2 Jun 1853 in St Michael, Bristol.^{1 2 3} (William Moore was born on 7 Feb 1826 in Berrow, Somerset ¹⁰, christened on 12 Mar 1826 in Berrow Parish Church, Somerset ¹¹ and died on 23 Sep 1906 in Indooroopilly, Brisbane, Queensland.)

  Marriage Notes:

They were married by Curate Clement D Strong (at least it looks like that's the name and there is a Chaplain of the same name on the vessel "Glow Worm" docked at Bristol on the 1861 census who seems to have gone on to be the Vicar of All Saints Bristol by 1881).

The couple are both recorded as single of St Michael's Hill. Margaret's father's name does not appear. One must wonder what difficulties this and the existence of Margaret's daughter Sarah created for the couple. Also there is the question of why they were not married in a Baptist Church.

Of interest are the witnesses to William and Margaret's wedding, George and Mary Sanders. It seems they were brother and sister. If I have the right couple in 1861, George became a Railway Officer and Mary a Governess but in 1851 George is described as "Visitor for the Corporation of the Poor", an occupation I believe was related to the workhouse institutions. In what capacity were George and Mary acting at the wedding? If professional it might suggest continuing difficulty in William and Margaret's lives but if they were close friends it suggests a connection to the social welfare infratstructure of Bristol. All speculation of course!