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Unraveling a Tattered Genealogical Web Article posted: August 31, 2005 By Pat Marshall, Stirling-Rawdon Township, Ontario 
About eight years ago, as part of doing research on my husband's family, I decided to look into the family of his only sister's husband. The name I was searching for was POIZER and all the information I had was the brother-in-law's name (Richard) and birth date, plus the name of his father (Ernest) and mother (Mae) and their dates of birth as well as his grandparents' names (Richard and Maud); they had come to Canada from Manchester, England, around the early 1900s and settled in Mulvahill, Manitoba. Going by the birth date of Ernest Poizer in 1903 and his sister in 1901, I figured their parents, Richard and Maud, must have married around 1900, so I started looking for a marriage for them, which I eventually found. I ordered a certificate of marriage for them and from that, discovered some very important information. The full names of both and their ages, plus their residences at the time of the marriage, as well as the names and occupations of both of their fathers were all listed on the certificate. He was listed as Richard Poizer, 21, a furniture maker and she was listed as Maud Louise Walters Perry, also 21. His father was Richard Poizer, furniture maker and her father was Thomas Perry, blacksmith, deceased. Using this information, I then looked for and found, birth certificates for both Richard Poizer and Maud Louise Walters Perry. I found his relatively easy but hers was a bit of a problem. Since I was unable to find her birth, I checked the I wasn't able to find a birth for Janet L. Perry, but I did find one for a Maud L. WALTERS in the right time frame, so I took a chance and ordered the certificate of birth. It turned out that this was indeed the right person and her mother was Sarah Louisa Walters. I then looked for a birth for this Sarah Louisa Walters and discovered that her parents were Thomas Walters and Louisa Perry. After some digging, I found a marriage for Thomas and Louisa and then tried to find them on the 1881 census with no luck. I was conducting all these searches in the Manchester area, since that is where I found the marriage and the births of both Sarah Louisa and her daughter Maud Louise, although the Perry line was in Cheshire. Since I was unable to find any of them anywhere in Lancashire (which is where Manchester is located), I assumed they must have all died and that the Uncle and his wife raised Maud Louise and sort of stopped that line of research there. I then started a search of the He was born right around the time that civil registration became compulsory in England so I expected I would find either his baptism or a registration for his birth but no luck! At this point I was becoming very frustrated! After all, he married, had children, his first wife died, he married a second time and died himself, so he had to have been born! Then about two months ago, I received, out of the blue, an e-mail from a young lady from Calgary, who was at the time, living in Manchester and attending Manchester University, completing her Masters. She had come across a posting I had made to one of the many genealogy mail lists I subscribe to, concerning the Poizer family. She was looking for information on her grandfather George Poizer, whose father was Richard Poizer who had immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. It turns out that this George was Ernest Poizer's brother, another son of Richard and Maud. How wonderful, having someone right in Manchester who had some time to spare from her studies to do some on-site research! Armed with the info I gave her she was finally able to locate the birth of Richard Poizer senior, as well as the marriage of his grandparents and thereby obtain her maiden name, allowing me to get back another generation. I was elated to say the least. Not long after all these wonderful discoveries, the 1861 census for England became Using that information, I then searched When Richard and Maud Louise married in 1900, one of the people who was a witness to that marriage was a John James Barff (imagine having that for a surname!). I often wondered how he fit in the picture since most of the folks who were listed as witnesses were usually family members. Since I was looking at census data anyway, I decided to look for this John James Barff and did find him in 1891, with a wife, Matilda, and in 1901, living with him and his wife is a Sarah L. Bayley. I then looked for a marriage for John James Barff and lo and behold, his bride was none other than Matilda Walters, sister of Sarah Louisa. So, it turns out he is a family member after all. I then decided to look for this Sarah L. Bayley on the 1891 census and found her with husband John, which then led me to look for a marriage for John Bayley and a Sarah L. and you guessed it, she turned out to be Sarah Louisa Walters! All of which goes to prove, never give up, especially in genealogy research. Now, can you picture this? Sarah Louisa is living with John James Barff in 1901, so do you suppose she might have attended her own biological daughter's wedding where her brother in law John James Barff was a witness? Do you suppose Maud knew this woman was actually her mother? Another note, Thomas Perry died late 1890s and when I found his wife Mary Ann, then living in Shropshire, where she was born, living with her was her "adopted" daughter Maud Louise Perry! All of which reminded me of that old adage my mother used to use, "Oh what a tattered web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"! The More Genealogy Puzzles You Unravel, The More You Find! After I had successfully solved my Poizer/Walters/Perry mystery, I sent a note by e-mail to the lady who had so kindly given me the original information on my Thomas Perry, adoptive father and uncle to Maud Louise Walters to update her on my findings. She writes back, informing me that there is another lady in Canada researching the same family and asks if she could put this lady in touch with me. I told her she could definitely do that. The next day, I receive an e-mail from this woman (Esther) who tells me she is indeed researching the family of Thomas Perry & Sarah Griffiths, the very couple I suspect of being the parents of my Thomas! She informs me that Thomas Perry & Sarah Griffiths had several children (all of whom I have information on), including a son Thomas who married" Alice Johnson Such" and a daughter Louisa who married "Henry Small". Suddenly I am in a state of flux because my Thomas married "Mary Ann Jarrett" and his sister Louisa married my "Thomas Walters" as I stated earlier! So, I have spent the past two days trying to validate my information on this family. Part of what made it so difficult was that I had been unable to find my Thomas Perry on either the 1861 or 1871 census reports. I knew he was still alive and that he wasn't with his parents in 1861. Using a little ingenuity, my sister looked for him using just his first name and the place the 1881 census stated he was born (Winsford, Cheshire) and his approximate age in 1861, and she found him listed as Thomas Peron. I never thought about doing that, although I had in the past for other searches! Grey matter definitely lacking at that point! When I checked the actual census image, he was definitely Thomas Perry and was listed as a 21-year-old Blacksmith, born Winsford, Cheshire, living with Isaac Hatton & wife Elizabeth (born Liverpool) as a "nephew". At first I thought perhaps this Isaac Hatton had married Thomas Perry's elder sister Elizabeth, but then realized that would not make him a nephew but rather a brother in law to Isaac. Besides which she (Thomas's sister Elizabeth) had been born in Winsford, Cheshire. A quick check of the Free BMD site and I found a marriage in 1852, in Liverpool for Isaac Hatton & on the same age is an Elizabeth Griffiths! I then check the LDS web page and find a marriage between these two at St. Nicholas, Liverpool. At this point I figure that Isaac's wife Elizabeth Griffiths is probably the sister to Sarah Griffiths, mother of my Thomas. Ordering the marriage certificate will indeed tell me if Isaac Hatton's wife was a Griffiths but not if she was the sister to Sarah Griffiths/Perry because she & Thomas Perry Sr. married before civil registration came into effect. That will require finding a church record of the marriage of Thomas & Sarah which I shall endeavor to do. In 1864, Thomas Perry Jr. married Mary Ann Jarrett and in 1865 they had son REUBEN and were living in Poulton cum Seacombe, Cheshire, where both they & the Hatton family are found living in 1871. (Thomas is now indexed as Thomas Pavey, but checking the image it appears to be Parry). Thomas is once again listed as a Blacksmith on the 1871 census as well as on the birth certificate for son Reuben. An interesting aside to that is that in 1861, Thomas Perry Sr. & wife Sarah have living with them a boarder by name of Reuben Perry, age 36. Considering the fact that Thomas Jr. named his only son Reuben, perhaps he is a brother to Thomas Perry Jr. or even Thomas Perry Sr.? I might even think this Reuben was actually his father, if it wasn't for the fact that on all the documentation I have on Thomas Perry Jr., it lists his father as Thomas Perry, Flatman. There are by the way, no Reuben names on Mary Ann's side of the family. I think it safe to assume at this point, until I am able to gather further acts, that the evidence points to the fact that the Thomas & Louisa Perry that Esther has, are not the children of Thomas Perry & Sarah Griffiths but rather another Thomas & Sarah Perry. I have suggested that she order marriage certificates for both so we can see what their father's occupation was at the time. 
So, we are presented with another genealogy mystery to continue to unravel! Stay tuned, I hope I shall shortly be able to update my findings and report them to you! If this kind of genealogical detective work has you itching to catch the genealogy bug, check out the annual Stirling-Rawdon Genealogy Fair that is held in the Stirling Senior School in late August each year. We can all learn new strategies from feautured speakers. There are historical society displays, vendors selling all kinds of genealogy related material and the fabulous display of reference materials only Global Genealogy, the major attraction for the day, can put together. For more information contact Pat Marshall, 209 William Street, Stirling, Ontario, K0K 3E0; (613) 395-6243; or send an E-mail. We'll be happy to fill you in on all the details. Visit the Stirling-Rawdon web site to learn all about this beautiful part of Ontario. England & Wales Genealogy & History Resources
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