Who was Eliza Cross?

I am trying to figure out where Eliza Cross fits into my 2nd great-grandparents' family. In the 1861 census she is listed as mother-in-law, but in the 1871 and 1881 census, she is listed as mother. My great grandfather was William Walker Bowyer and his wife was Elizabeth Jones. William W.'s baptismal record lists his parents as William and Elizabeth Bowyer. Elizabeth Jones' baptismal record lists her parents as Isaac and Eliza Jones.

I have no little green leaves beside either Isaac's or Eliza's names and just looking for them on Ancestry was no help as to dates of birth or death. William W.'s father apparently died in 1873 so Eliza Cross, having been in the 1861 census, is probably not his mother. Obviously, two different people filled out the 1861 and 1871 census. Should I assume that Isaac died before 1861 and Eliza re-married, only to have her second husband also die before then? I looked for marriages for Eliza Jones but did not find any that fit. I also thought maybe Eliza was a Cross before she married Isaac Jones, but if so, why is she then a Cross in the census?

 

This certainly looks likely. I notice the family are living in Horse St, Chipping Sodbury in 1861. In the 1851 census, in the same street, there is an Eliza Cross of the same age and birthplace as your Eliza Cross in 1861, wife of Thomas Cross, a groom (an appropriate occupation for someone living in Horse St!)

I don't know if you found a marriage of Isaac Jones and Eliza Young in Bristol in April 1825 - could they be your ancestors?

EDIT: And it looks like Eliza may have married 3 times in all. There is a marriage of Thomas Cross to Eliza Carodine in 1848 in Chipping Sodbury. And in 1833 a marriage of Eliza Jones to John Caradine in Bristol. A complicated web indeed! Looks like Isaac died when his daughter Elizabeth was a young girl.

 

The marriage between Isaac Jones and Eliza Young could be the one, as their daughter Elizabeth was born in 1826. But I cannot find any record of a marriage between Eliza Jones and Thomas Cross. I did find one for Thomas marrying Eliza Caradine, widow, in 1848, and Eliza Jones marrying John Caradine in 1833. Just the transcript, so nothing to state her age or marital status. So - Isaac died before 1833, Eliza married John, who then died before 1848, at which point she married Thomas.

I looked at the 1841 census and there is only one Caradine, and it does not fit.

 

I just saw your EDIT: it was not there when I started typing I have been back and forth looking up this information with the page open and never noticed your edit. We seem to have come to the same conclusion.

 

I notice that Elizabeth (Isaac and Eliza's daughter) was born in Bitton, Gloucestershire, and there is a burial of Isaac Jones in Bitton on 26 Dec 1832, aged 33, so born around 1799.

 

And on the same page Jane, age 2 and William, age 1 at the same abode (address?). Some sort of sickness took them all? Leaving Eliza alone with six-year-old Elizabeth. I found a burial for John Caradine in March 1841 in Chipping Sodbury, so probably the correct one, although he was 30 years Eliza's senior. And possibly a widower as I found a marriage in 1802 also in Chipping Sodbury. A marriage of convenience, perhaps? And one for Thomas Cross in 1852, born about 1803, so closer to her age. Although I could not find them in the 1851 census. I assume that Bitton and Chipping Sodbury are not that far apart?

Thanks for your help. Your knowledge of English geography is most appreciated. At least now I know where Eliza fits.

 

About 10 miles as the crow flies.

 

See my post #2. Thomas and Eliza are in Horse St, Chipping Sodbury. Census ref HO107, piece 1956, folio 114, page 3. Thomas is about 10 years younger than Eliza. (Ancestry have transcribed the surname as Owss - FMP have it correct).

I think the Thomas Cross death in Chipping Sodbury, last qtr of 1860, aged 47 is more likely.

 

Well, that would explain why I could not find them in the 1851 census - I was using Ancestry. It is difficult to actually see Thomas' age since there is a line through it, but FMP says he was born in 1818. And Eliza in 1808, however, I found her baptism as 19 May 1805 and that would fit with the age given in later census'. The death record for 1860 states his age as 47, which would make him born in 1813. I have to wonder if folks back then knew how old they actually were. I think I will just leave his date of death the way I had entered it - bef. 1861 since Eliza is in that census with her daughter and son-in-law.