X00370 & X00371 Nancy Rothwell Birth info - Solved!

Nancy Rothwell appears in the 1841 census living with the rest of the Rothwell family, aged 13 (implying a birth year of about 1828). Unfortunately, she doesn't appear in any later census records with the family that I could find.

This information created a few questions as described in previous posts:

• X00370 - Birth information for Nancy Rothwell
• X00371 - When did Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking get married?

I have found a marriage record for Henry and Alice in 1833

A marriage in 1833 implies that Nancy was likely born before the marriage. And sure enough I found an interesting baptism record:

It's a baptism record for a Nancy Rothwell, baptised 21 May 1841 and the parents are Henry and Alice Rothwell. And Henry is listed as a carter which matches. The actual date of birth however is given as 2 April 1828, which would match. So, it's a definite possibility that Nancy was born 2 April 1828 out of wedlock, but was baptised later in life (at age 13) when the parents were married.

So this fits. I did however, find a baptism record dated 11 Oct 1829 for a Nanny Hacking, born to an Alice Hacking, with no father listed:

This could be an original baptism record, but the date and location don't match and there's not enough other information to tell for sure.

I did also look into the possibility that Alice Hacking as married previously and found a marriage record between an Alice Strong and a James Hacking on 28 November 1828.

But this seems unlikely. For one thing, Alice is listed as a spinster in the 1833 marriage record, and the name Hacking appears as a middle name for one of her children. Also, the marriage would have taken place after Nancy was born, according to her later baptism. So, it would seem that this is more of a coincidence than anything else. I have also found James and Alice Hacking in later census records.

After considering the evidence and timing, it would appear that the 1841 baptism record for Nancy Rothwell and the 1833 marriage record for Henry Rothwell and Alice Hacking are the correct records.