Was
Robert Alway married to Ann Smith, Ann Graham, or both?
(Robert is the 3rd son of Robert Alway and Ann Rodway. See the second generation in the report on the
‘Descendents of Robert Alway and Ann Rodway’.)
Robert was born in Tytherington in1761. He emigrated to Ontario,
Canada in about
1815 and died there in 1836. The 1795 will of Mary Smith refers to her three
daughters as Dianna the wife of John Alway, Celia the wife of James Alway, and
Ann the wife of Robert Alway (John and James are Robert’s older brothers). The
parish records of Tytherington contain a record of a
marriage between Robert Alway and Ann Smith on Feb. 16, 1785. Reference has
also been found to 12 children baptised between 1786
and 1807 whose father was named as ‘Robert Alway’ and, when the mother’s name
was mentioned, it was said to be ‘Ann’.
Recently I learned that Robert’s Canadian descendents believe that his
wife’s name was Ann Graham however I have been unable to determine the source
of this belief.
Are Robert’s
descendents mistaken? If so, what would cause them to believe that Ann Graham
was Robert’s wife?
It is possible that Robert married
twice. Perhaps Ann Smith Alway died before he left for Canada. (This may have
prompted his decision to emigrate.) Ann Graham could have been a second wife,
married in England or Canada. At this
point, this is just a theory as I have not located a record of the death of Ann
Smith Alway (I have not had the opportunity to search the relevant section of
the Tytherington parish records.) and, to my
knowledge, no record of the marriage of Robert Alway and Ann Graham has been
found.
If you can help solve this mystery,
email me at durlene@mts.net
Home