In response to Bob's use of the Marriage Index available on FamilySearch, Troppo suggested a look at FindMyPast (currently available free for at-home use through the Library website). A search within Life Events > Parish Marriages for {Kelley 1862 Landown} showed two different transcriptions - one that matched the information on Family Search and a second (far more comprehensive) made by the Berkshire FHS.
That second transcription showed these details of the marriage between
John Kelley aged 22 (hence, a calculated birth year 1840) a Bachelor, Gardener, residing at Western Elms Cottage, son of John Kelley [no occupation],
and Susan Lansdown aged 23 Spinster [no occupation] residing 24 Sydney Terrace, daughter of James Landown, mason
on 29 Sep 1862 at St Mary (The Minster) Reading, Berkshire, England by Banns
before the witnesses Thomas Duncan and Catherine Duncan
With all this additional information, the search for more details of the background of John and Susan in England should be much easier; but like all good family history finds, it raises more questions than it answers.
Susan's age (23) as stated at her marriage would imply a birth in 1839-40. But there is no record of a baptism corresponding to this. So is it possible that she was the same person as Susanna Lansdown (daughter of James, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth) who was baptised at Walcot in Somerset on 24 September 1837?
Surely there must be another Susan Lansdown (or some variant spelling) born somewhere in the UK between September 1837 and September 1840. Not according to the GRO records: the only birth of a plausible candidate for the bride of John Kelley in 1862 was that of
LANSDOWN, SUSANNAH Mother's Maiden Surname: GIBBS
GRO Reference: 1837 Sep Quarter in BATH, Volume 11 Page 40
Confirmation that this is the same Lansdown family in the records of the baptism and the marriage can be found in both the 1841 and 1851 Censuses when Susanna (born circa 1837) was recorded as the fourth child of James (a mason) and his wife Elizabeth living at Walcot, Bath, Somerset.
The entire family had been born in Bath, with the exception of Elizabeth who was recorded as being born in Wiltshire. James Lansdown married Elizabeth Gibbs at Chippenham in Wiltshire on 5 July 1830. This was approximately 6 weeks after the baptism in the same church of Caroline, daughter of Elizabeth Gibbs, later known as Caroline Lansdown born in Bath.
In the 1861 Census, James was recorded as still living in Walcot with James jnr, George, Mary Anne and Joseph. His wife at that time is listed as Isabella, a laundress born in 1809 in Grittleton, Wiltshire. (The death of an Elizabeth Lansdown at age 47 was recorded in GRO Reference: 1855 Mar Quarter in FROME, Volume 05C Page 499. But no marriage to Isabella has been located.)
Susan was recorded on that Census (in April 1861) as living and working in Walcot (near her father's home) as a Housemaid for the (four) unmarried Frowd sisters of independent means.
If these facts do relate to the woman who married in Reading in 29 September 1862, why would she choose to wipe a couple of years from her age? Would her father not have noticed and corrected her? Or does the naming of the two Duncan's as witnesses suggest that the bride's parents were not present in the church? Will investigating the birth of her intended husband cast any light on these mysteries?
That second transcription showed these details of the marriage between
John Kelley aged 22 (hence, a calculated birth year 1840) a Bachelor, Gardener, residing at Western Elms Cottage, son of John Kelley [no occupation],
and Susan Lansdown aged 23 Spinster [no occupation] residing 24 Sydney Terrace, daughter of James Landown, mason
on 29 Sep 1862 at St Mary (The Minster) Reading, Berkshire, England by Banns
before the witnesses Thomas Duncan and Catherine Duncan
With all this additional information, the search for more details of the background of John and Susan in England should be much easier; but like all good family history finds, it raises more questions than it answers.
Susan's age (23) as stated at her marriage would imply a birth in 1839-40. But there is no record of a baptism corresponding to this. So is it possible that she was the same person as Susanna Lansdown (daughter of James, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth) who was baptised at Walcot in Somerset on 24 September 1837?
Surely there must be another Susan Lansdown (or some variant spelling) born somewhere in the UK between September 1837 and September 1840. Not according to the GRO records: the only birth of a plausible candidate for the bride of John Kelley in 1862 was that of
LANSDOWN, SUSANNAH Mother's Maiden Surname: GIBBS
GRO Reference: 1837 Sep Quarter in BATH, Volume 11 Page 40
Confirmation that this is the same Lansdown family in the records of the baptism and the marriage can be found in both the 1841 and 1851 Censuses when Susanna (born circa 1837) was recorded as the fourth child of James (a mason) and his wife Elizabeth living at Walcot, Bath, Somerset.
The entire family had been born in Bath, with the exception of Elizabeth who was recorded as being born in Wiltshire. James Lansdown married Elizabeth Gibbs at Chippenham in Wiltshire on 5 July 1830. This was approximately 6 weeks after the baptism in the same church of Caroline, daughter of Elizabeth Gibbs, later known as Caroline Lansdown born in Bath.
In the 1861 Census, James was recorded as still living in Walcot with James jnr, George, Mary Anne and Joseph. His wife at that time is listed as Isabella, a laundress born in 1809 in Grittleton, Wiltshire. (The death of an Elizabeth Lansdown at age 47 was recorded in GRO Reference: 1855 Mar Quarter in FROME, Volume 05C Page 499. But no marriage to Isabella has been located.)
Susan was recorded on that Census (in April 1861) as living and working in Walcot (near her father's home) as a Housemaid for the (four) unmarried Frowd sisters of independent means.
If these facts do relate to the woman who married in Reading in 29 September 1862, why would she choose to wipe a couple of years from her age? Would her father not have noticed and corrected her? Or does the naming of the two Duncan's as witnesses suggest that the bride's parents were not present in the church? Will investigating the birth of her intended husband cast any light on these mysteries?