Was
Hester Alway the daughter of Ann (Smith) Alway and Ann (Rodway)
Alway?
(Hester can be found in the third generation
in the report on the ‘Descendents of Robert Alway and Ann Rodway’)
Several years ago, I searched the parish
records for Tytherington and found several baptisms
where the parents were named as Robert and Ann Alway. There were five between
1770 and 1776 – these appear to be the children of Robert Alway and Ann Rodway.
The next one was almost 10 years later –
Hester Alway, baptized in Dec 1786. I didn’t find any more baptisms of children
of Robert and Ann until 1797 but other researchers have reported that four
other children were baptised between 1788 and 1795
which would fill this gap.
I also found a marriage of Robert Alway and
Ann Smith in Feb 1785 – less than 2 years before Hester’s baptism.
At the time of Hester’s baptism, Ann (Rodway) Alway was about 56 years old and she had not given
birth for over ten years. I therefore concluded that Hester was the daughter of
the younger Robert and
Ann (Smith) Alway, as were the children who were baptised
after her.
I subsequently learned, however, that Hester’s descendents appear to be convinced that she was the daughter of Ann (Rodway) Alway. I assumed that they would have some concrete support for this so I changed my records accordingly. Recently I obtained a copy of a document entitled ‘The Alway Family’ written by Doris Strawhorn in which she states that she received information from Mr. Allen Baddeley of Tytherington showing that her “great great grandma (Hester) was the youngest of twelve children born to Robert and Ann Alway between 1758 and 1786”. This could only refer to Robert Alway and Ann Rodway. While there does not seem to have been any reason for Doris to have questioned this, I felt that, if Mr. Baddeley was the only source, it was insufficient to overcome the circumstantial evidence and I changed my records again - this time returning Hester to the family of Robert and Ann (Smith) Alway.
So which Robert and Ann Alway are Hester’s
parents? Although I have no doubt that her descendents have reason to believe
that she is the daughter of Ann (Rodway) Alway, I
find it very difficult to believe that, in 1786, a woman in her late fifties
who has not had a child for almost ten years could have given birth to a
healthy child and lived through it.
Is there any other evidence out there which
would resolve this difference of opinion? Email me at durlene@mts.net