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John
Choice of Burton Hastings
The family of John Choice of Burton Hastings, is
well documented in the Burton Hastings, Warwickshire,
England, Parish Register, and again in the Bishops'
Transcripts for Burton Hastings, which is purported
to be a copy of the Parish Registers. These two
primary sources of documentation were meant to be
exact copies of vital statistics. Unfortunately,
this goal was not always met.
The resultant discrepancy of information
between these sources, has lead to some uncertainty
in establishing a pedigree for this family.
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ANN
(DURKIN) CHOYCE
Granddaughter
YVONNE DOROTHY CHOYCE, age 6
-
JOHN RICHARD DONALD CHOYCE, age 4
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The third source of information included in this
chapter is the International Genealogical Index,
known as the IGI, which includes transcriptions
of Parish Registers and Bishops' Transcripts by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
known more readily as the Mormons. These records
have also been known to contain some errors and
should always be checked against the original documents
from which they were derived.
Because of the uncertainty of the records to which
I have been limited, much of this chapter is built
upon speculation and must be confirmed by any serious
family researcher.
A search of the chapter in this book titled, CROSS
REFERENCE OF CHOICE/CHOYCE FAMILIES, may be of some
help in determining a starting place for further
research.
The Burton Hastings Parish Register includes a burial
for Mary Choyce in 1726. Could she have been John's
mother?
There is a 1770 baptismal record at Stretton Baskerville,
Warwickshire, for Joseph Hands. Joseph was identified
as the, "son of Moses Hands of Stretton Baskerville
and Sarah Hands, daughter of John Choice of Burton
Hastings, Warwickshire."
Considering these last two records, it would appear
that there was more than one John Choice or Choyce
living in Burton Hastings at the same time.
There is an also an entry in the 1851 Census for
Burbage, Leicestershire, about two-and-a-half miles
northeast of Burton Hastings, which is most interesting.
It reads, "John Choice, servant, age 22, unmarried,
Waggoner, born Burton Hastings." If this were
John's true age, he would have been too old to have
been the son of Mary (Matts) and Thomas Choice.In
addition, John in the Census was described as a
"waggoner", where we know that John, son
of Mary and Thomas, was a "furnace labourer".
It would appear that there was another Choice family
living in Burton Hastings at the same time as Mary
and Thomas. Perhaps Thomas's Uncle John may have
had a family.
JOHN CHOICE of BURTON HASTINGS
The names of the parents of John Choice have
not yet come to light. Neither has his date and
place of birth. We are introduced to John Choice
as a married man with five children. John's wife
is named Mary, her parentage is not known. The children
of Mary and John were either born or baptized, at
Burton Hastings: Elizabeth was baptized in 1743;
John was baptized in 1745, or 1746; Catartna, (or
Catherine), was baptized in 1745 (or 1746); Mary
was born in 1754; and William Choice was born in
1763.
The entries in the Parish Register spell the surname
for John and Catartna (later referred to as Catherine)
as Chice. However, the Bishop's; Transcripts spell
the surname for the same records as Choice, but
give different dates of baptism. (See the Family
Charts at the end of this chapter.) They also say
that John and Catherine were baptized on the same
date, 19 Sep 1746.
Note that the entries for the first three children,
Elizabeth, John, and Catherine, are all baptismal
dates, while the entries for Mary and William are
dates of birth. Perhaps John and Mary had moved
to Burton Hastings after their first three children
were born. Or, perhaps I am combining two different
sets of children who each had parents named Mary
and John Choice. The nine-year gap between the baptism
of Catherine in 1745, or 1746, and the birth of
Mary in 1754 is enough to harbor some doubts, as
well as the nine year gap between Mary and William.
Another possibility could be that John had his first
three children by one wife, and then married Mary
and had another child. The fact that his fourth
child was named Mary could lend some support to
that speculation. It is possible that a third wife
also named Mary, could have been William's mother.
William is the only child for whom I have detailed
genealogical information.
WILLIAM CHOICE OF BURTON HASTINGS
William Choice, son of Mary and John Choice,
was born 17 Jul 1763, at Burton Hastings. William
married Susannah Jarvis 6 Feb 1785, according to
the Burton Hastings Parish Register. Susannah (Jarvis)
and William Choice, had three children, all baptized
at Burton Hastings: Elizabeth, 4 Jun 1786; Thomas,
in 1791; and Maria, 29 Dec 1793. I have no information
concerning Elizabeth or Maria. No dates of death
have been found for Susannah or William.
MARY (MATTS) AND THOMAS CHOICE, LABOURER, OF
BURTON HASTINGS
Thomas Choice, son of Susannah (Jarvis) and
William Choice, was baptized 2 Jan 1791, at Burton
Hastings. No record has yet been found for a marriage
for Thomas. However, family records show that Thomas
Choice married Mary Matts, daughter of John Matts,
at a time and place not specified. Mary's lineage
was not recorded.
From Bishops' Transcripts and Parish Registers,
we know that Mary (Matts) and Thomas Choice had
eleven children, born or baptized at Burton Hastings:
William in 1818; William, 1821; Thomas, 1824; John,
1826; John, 1827; Charles, 1830; Sarah Collins,
1834; James, 1836; Timothy,(speculation) 1837; Hannah,
1840; and Edward Choice, born and baptized in 1843.
I presume the first William and John did not survive
infancy. I have no information concerning William
Choice who was baptized 22 Jul 1821.
There is a record of death for one Thomas Choice,
laborer, who died 25 Mar 1851, at Burton Hastings.
There is also a death record for a Mary Choice,
aged 83 years, who died in 1884, at Burton Hastings.
Perhaps these records pertain to Mary and Thomas.
After a day of searching in the Burton Hastings
Parish Registers, Colin Arthur Choyce, great-great-grandson
of Mary (Matts) and Thomas Choice, raised an important
question which must be considered:
Incidentally, how sure are you of MATTS? I have
seen today quite a few WATTS, and the way it's
written, to a blind man on a galloping horse,
who is to say which (or mich) - if you see what
I mean.
The information I received concerning Mary Matts,
came to me from the American branch of the family,
the children of Edward Choice, youngest child
of Mary (Matts) and Thomas Choice. Their family
will be considered later in this chapter.
MARGARET (STURGIS) AND THOMAS CHOICE, PUBLICAN
AND BEERHOUSE KEEPER, OF BURTON HASTINGS AND OVERSEAL
Thomas Choice, son of Mary (Matts) and Thomas
Choice, was baptized 1 Feb 1824, at Burton Hastings.
His date of birth has not been found. Thomas Choice
appears to have married Margaret Sturgis, based
on the following information taken from the 1851
Census for Overseal, Derbyshire: "Thomas
Choice, age 26, Publican and Beerhouse Keeper,
born Burton Hastings." That same record identifies
Thomas's wife as, "Margaret Choice, age 31,
born Overseal." The census record for that
address continues, "Henry Sturgis, age 26,
Road Labourer,born Overseal...Thomas Sturgis,
age 21, Road Labourer, born Overseal." These
Sturgis men were identified as brothers-in-law
to Thomas Choice, "Head of the Household."
It would
appear that Margaret's maiden name was Sturgis.
Thomas's age of 26 years would agree with the
baptismal record for the son of Mary and Thomas.
The December 1847 Marriage Index at St. Catherine's
House, London, shows a marriage for Thomas Choice
within the Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire,
Registration District, which may include Overseal.
Ashby is about six miles east of Overseal, Derbyshire,
which is about 20 miles northwest of Burton Hastings,
Warwickshire. Perhaps the Overseal Parish Register
would be a good place to begin a search for a
marriage record for Margaret and Thomas. There
were no children listed for them in the 1851 Census.
MARY (ATWOOD) AND JOHN CHOICE, FURNACE LABOURER,
OF BURTON HASTINGS
John Choice, son of Mary (Matts) and Thomas Choice,
was baptized 2 Dec 1827, at Burton Hastings. John
was employed as a "furnace labourer"
while in Walsall.
John Choice married Mary Atwood in 1854, in the
Parish of Stretton Baskerville, Warwickshire.
Their Banns of Marriage were read in the Stretton
Baskerville Parish Church in September and October
of 1854, but no record of marriage has been found.
St.Catherine's House shows a record of marriage
for a John Choice within the Hinckley Registration
District, in their December 1854 Index. Hinckley,
Leicestershire, is about four miles from Burton
Hastings. Incidentally, Stretton Baskerville is
the area where Sarah (Choice of Burton Hastings)
and Moses Hands were raising their family some
80 years earlier.
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