Picking up the Silk trail

This month, I’ve had a breakthrough with my paternal Silk line thanks to a visit to a family history fair!

I’d done a bit of research into my Silk line two years ago and had managed to trace the family back to the 1840s.

Back then, I discovered that my great-great-great-great-grandfather’s name was Robert Silk and that he’d died of consumption in 1840 at the age of 46. I also knew that he left behind a widow called Charlotte. Here she is with her children in the 1851 census:

Charlotte Silk in the 1851 census – please click to enlarge

While attending the West Surrey Family History Fair a few weeks ago, I spoke to the Huntingdonshire Family History Society who pointed me in the direction of what could be Robert and Charlotte Silk’s marriage record.

I got in touch with Huntingdonshire Archives and Local Studies and they sent me a copy of the marriage register. I can’t put the image on my blog because of copyright reasons, but the archives have kindly let me reproduce my own transcription of the record. Here it is:

Offord D’Arcy marriage register transcript – please click to enlarge

I feel pretty confident that this does indeed record the marriage of my great-great-great-great-grandparents. The names are right, the date seems logical as Charlotte and Robert would have been in their 20s and Charlotte’s birth place was listed as being Offord D’Arcy in the 1851 census.

I think I need to plan a trip to Huntingdonshire to see what else I can find in the archives’ parish registers!