Research Forum

I commend you on your thorough research.  I was interested to note that Betty PARKER appears to have been buried on the same day that she died unless there is an error in the Burial Register.  You have her death certificate and the same date is given in a newspaper announcement of her death.  But the burial Register of Weston Cemetery gives the same date for her burial.  Possible but unusual.

I would go along with your reasoning about the parentage of Betty SALVIDGE.  it was not unusual for a child to privately christened at birth and then formally presented to the congregation at a later date.  If, as you say her parents died not long after her birth then it is entirely possible that this second ceremony was overlooked.

I'm not so sure about Betty's mother.  There is a Will of Samuel TUTTON who died in Bleadon in 1771 available on the National Archives which at the moment you can download free of charge.  It is very long and difficult to read but I can see the name James SAVAGE [sic] mentioned several times.  It also includes a statement that James SAVAGE should take the surname TUTTON by Act of Parliament.  As James SALVIDGE died shortly after Samuel TUTTON this is probably why his son took the name TUTTON.  On a quick perusal of the Will I cannot see any mention of a wife or children for Samuel TUTTON -  but as I said the writing is difficult - I hope you will have better luck. Perhaps Sarah TUTTON was his niece?

Do let us know what you can decipher from the Will.  There are several items relating to SALVIDGE in the Somerset Archives, including this one which may be of help to you when they are open again.

Good Luck with your research!

Hello, Pat.  Thank you so much for your reply, that's very kind.  Yes, I am trying to be as thorough as I can.  The information about the Will is great, so I'll follow it up.  I have been trying to sort out all the connections of the Salvidges and now the Tuttons, because there are a lot of them and with a lot of the same first names(!).  There did seem to be quite a lot of movement in the Salvidge family along the Mendips, between all the different villages especially the north side.  At one time I thought that if I searched and listed all the baptisms and then listed all the marriages and burials I could work out the tree, but soon found that many marriages appeared of those for whom I couldn't find a baptism and many baptisms of children from those for whom I couldn't find a marriage..!!!!  I'll post a further note when I've had time to study - I'm off down another line today

Thanks again, Chris Martin

Hello Pat,

Still digesting the information you sent.  On a couple of things you raised I can definitely confirm that Elizabeth ('Betty') PARKER (nee SALVIDGE) died on 20th July 1868 at Weston-super-Mare. This is from the death certificate I have that is certainly for her.  I haven't been able to find any date or location of burial?

On the question of private baptism and then the public presentation and formal recording of a baptism in church at a later date, I actually found from another search for a potential ancestor that the gap in time can be significant.  In the Pawlett, Somerset, Parish Register for 11th September 1774 it says "James, the son of Mr John Parker and Elizabeth his wife was baptised the 5th January 1769 and received into the church the 11th September 1774".  So a gap of five years between private baptism and the public event!

Chris Martin

Betty PARKER was buried in Milton Road Cemetery in Weston - see our transcriptions on this site.  As a full member of the society you have access to these records.

Pat, Thanks very much.  That's excellent!  As a new member I'm still getting to grips with all the useful resources on the web-site!

Pat, I've looked at the will of Samuel Tutton that you referred me to.  It IS very long (I wonder if the lawyers were paid by the word!).  I have managed to read about 95% of the words.  If anything the will makes things even more complicated.  I know from the Bleadon burial records that Samuel Tutton was buried on 29 March 1771 and that would be only a month after he had prepared the will and its two codicils.  I also know that his wife, Mary, had been buried at Bleadon on 6 April 1769.  That squares with the content of the will in which Samuel asks to be buried in the vault in which she is already buried. I also know from the Bleadon baptisms that I can't see any children from Samuel and Mary.  Maybe this explains why the beneficiaries of the will are not obviously his children (and I agree with you, this applies to Sarah too - I can't see that she is his daughter.....).  Incidentally his will is peppered with annuities for widows and other people's wives - not sure what to make of that!  I can see reference to James Savage in the will (who should be my ancestor) and the need for him to adopt the Tutton surname and I know from the Bleadon Parish Register and will that he was indeed Samuel Tutton's executor.  However, I am confused because I have James married to Sarah Tutton... but oddly this can't be the same Sarah Tutton as mentioned in Samuel Tutton's will because the will refers to that Sarah as being 'of Wrington' and not Bleadon....All this is very complicated and maybe there are other contemporary James Salvidges/Salvages and Sarah Tuttons that I have mixed up.  Just to add another level of complexity I see reference to a Samuel Parker of Bleadon in the Will and I am also descended from one Samuel Parker of Bleadon..... I need some strong coffee!!!!