Picture of the Week: 6th May 2018
Here’s the earliest document from our family archives that I possess. It records the marriage of my great-grandfather, Edward Fernley, to his first wife, Mary Garger. The marriage took place in 1861, but Mary died some years later and Edward married twice more before his death in 1921. There’s a mystery surrounding Mary that I need to research further, but it makes an interesting story that I’ll publish later this year. The certificate is in a fragile condition, but now lies safely protected in an acid-free sleeve, after 157 years of living amongst a pile of other papers.
Edward Fearnley? You might have more relatives than you thought.
Nobody can spell our name. In various censuses it came out as Fernley, Fearnley, Fernley and Forneley. Great grandad Edward was illiterate, so he relied on other people to spell his name for him. We’re probably all related!