Anne Annable (johann13 @t earthlink.net) of the USA is searching for information on Ada Critcher, born 1892 Roughwood, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks. The only other details which ties up with the date is a copy of a marriage certificate, Ada Critcher, of 71 High Street, Rickmansworth married a Edgar Thomas Appleton (otherwise Crockford) not sure what that means, of Ickenham Village [Middlesex] in 1933.

The marriage certificate you have seen undoubtedly contains significant additional information such as the age and occupations of the couple, their father's name (significant if absent) and occupation, and the place where the marriage took place. Even the names of the witnesses can sometimes be helpful. However I can probably make some reasonable guesses in the absence of such information.

The first thing to say is that a single woman in the 1933 is unlikely to leave many records and could be virtually impossible to trace unless she was the head of household or ran a business. The only records which are likely to contain her name are the electoral register (which should be available at the county records office HALS). This is organised by address and so it would be worth contacting them to see if she is listed at 71 High Street, Rickmansworth,  in the year prior to her marriage, and who else is listed in the house. Trade and street directories may tell you more about 71 High Street, and who lived there. (The is a good collection of directories in the Watford Central Library which may well cover Rickmansworth - see the library section of the Hertfordshire County Council web site.) It may well be that Ada was a servant living in the house in which case her employer may have been a witness at the wedding.

Because your query is within the living memory you might consider contacting the Watford Observer which publishes a weekly Nostalgia Page in which question such as "does anyone remember ..." are regularly published.

Clearly other aspects of your enquiry lie outside Hertfordshire, but are close enough to the county boundary for an initial reply - although you would need to follow them up elsewhere.

Possible parents for Ada are listed in the 1881 census living in Row Wood Lane [sic], Chalfont St Giles, Bucks. They were George Critcher (21) a carter (agricultural labourer) born at nearby Chenies, Bucks, and his 22 year old wife Ellen who was born in Chalfont St Giles. Roughwood is marked on marked on modern road maps (see multimap) and George possibly worked in Roughwood Farm.

A look at the 1881 census for Ickenham, Middlesex, gives a possible mother for Edgar Thomas Appleton (otherwise Crockford) which could also explain the name. Catherine Appleton was a 21 year old unmarried servant (born Catherington, Hampshire) living in the village with a 3 year old daughter Florence (born Ickenham). If Edgar was a later illegitimate child and Catherine later married someone called Crockford (who might be the natural father, or simply a step father) Edgar could have been brought up or at least known as Edgar Crockford but have officially been Edgar Appleton. Obviously if Edgar was illegitimate he might not know who his father was - which is why a blank on the marriage certificate is significant.

Because your query is within the living memory you might consider contacting the Watford Observer which publishes a weekly Nostalgia Page in which question such as "does anyone remember ..." are regularly published.

July 2001

 James and Pauline Holt (james-pauline @t ntlworld.com) of Nottingham provided the following additional information:  My sister Anne Annable in the USA recently wrote to you asking for information on the above. I have a copy of Ada and Edgar's Marriage Certificate, details are as follows:-

The marriage took place on 12th August 1933 at the Parish Church in the Parish Church of Ickenham in the district of Uxbridge in the County of Middlesex. 

Edgar's details on the certificate are as follows:- Edgar Thomas Appleton (otherwise Crockford) Aged 49, Batchelor, Labourer address given as Ickenham Village, Nr Uxbridge.  No father's name or occupation.

Details of Ada are as follows:- Ada Critcher, 40, Spinster, no profession, address given as 71 High Street, Rickmansworth, Herts.  Father George Critcher, occupation Labourer.

Witnesses: William James Eastoe and George William Young. James B King Rector..

It would seem likely that the George Critcher I found in the 1881 census could be Ada's father and the obvious thing to do would be to buy her birth certificate. It would seem very likely that she was born in the Rickmansworth area - so you could order it from HALS. The absence of a father on the marriage certificate strongly suggests that Edgar Thomas Appleton was illegitimate and it would seem appropriate to look for his birth certificate under the names of Appleton or Crockford. Because Rickmansworth borders both Bucks and Middlesex, and they married in Middlesex he may not have been born in Hertfordshire - so you may have to get the certificate from the Family Records Centre.

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