Portsea marriages

Before Christmas Guild member Michael Bliss kindly sent me the details of two marriages he found in the Portsea Marriage Challenge. I have put outline details below:

- 1865 St Mary's, Portsea: James Cruse, carpenter, son of Jacob Cruse, gardener, and Harriet Dye, widow, daughter of William Gooch, a gardener. (Cruses of Imber, Wiltshire)

- 1868 St Thomas, Portsmouth: Mary Cruse née Blood, widow, daughter of Thomas Blood, a labourer, and John Waller, Corporal in the 35th Regiment, son of Samuel Waller, a tailor.

The James Cruse who married Harriet Dye in 1865 is the son of Jacob Cruse and Lydia Meaden. Jacob and Thomas are descended from the Cruses of Imber, Wiltshire. I wrote about this line back in September 2008. We have not yet located a descendant from the Imber Cruses to take part in the DNA Project. A sponsored test is available if an appropriate candidate can be found. If you know of anyone do get in touch. It would be interesting to find out if the Imber Cruses are related to the two other Wiltshire lines which have already been tested - the Ogbourne St George line and the Scruses of Orcheston St George, both of whom we now know are not related on the direct male line.

I have no further information at present on Mary Cruse née Blood.

I have been getting somewhat behind with the certificates received from the various Guild Marriage Challenges, and will be posting further details of a number of other marriages in the next week or so. Watch this space!