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From: Alison Causton <>
Subject: John Huggins m. Margaret Burke, c.1838/1839
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 07:45:58 -0300


Hello: I am a new subscriber and trying to puzzle my way through
"where to start" with finding this marriage. I have not found an
index entry (all surname variants considered, hopefully!) for a civil
registration of the marriage.

John Joseph Huggins [1816-1876] and Margaret Jane Burke [1823-1898]
had their first child, Mary Ann, on 14 June 1839. Mary Ann was born
at Windsor Barracks, Berkshire. The mother -Margaret- was just
sixteen when Mary Ann was born.

John was then a corporal in the 45th Regiment of Foot. According to
the pay lists, he was posted as follows:

-- March to December 1838: at Canterbury
-- December 1 - 24: on pass to Chatham
-- January to March 1839: Canterbury and Windsor
-- April to October 1839: Windsor

John was born at Caledon, County Tyrone and raised a Presbyterian; he
continued to serve in the British Army until 1855 and as a drill
instructor in the Hampshire militia until 1874 when most of the
family emigrated to Canada. Margaret was born in County Kerry and
raised a Roman Catholic. All the children were baptised R.C. John's
death certificate (d. in Ontario, Canada) states that he was a Roman
Catholic. I don't know Margaret's father's forename (which, of
course, I hope to learn one day), but according to the 1861 census,
Margaret's mother (Mary) was a pensioner's widow. Margaret's mother
was born in County Mayo, Ireland.

From the above, it would appear that John converted to the Catholic
faith. My understanding is that he would have been required to
undertake this conversion prior to marrying Margaret.

One of my questions is, does it seem likely/probable that the 24-day
pass issued to John in December 1838 was for this purpose? and for
the marriage?

Having been issued a pass to Chatham, does this mean that John was
restricted to staying at Chatham during his leave pass? Or could he
have travelled elsewhere (Ireland?) for the religious conversion and,
perhaps, the marriage?

Does it seem odd that there is no civil registration of this marriage?

Any advice or pointers as to where to start would be very much
appreciated ... I cannot determine whether I'm looking for a needle
in a haystack or whether there is an obviously Really Big Clue here.

Many thanks in advance,

Alison Causton
Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia







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