Recently received Marraige Certificates reveal some missing information from the Beattie’s who move to the Birkenhead area.

1.  Charles Belford Beattie married Mary Ellen Wainwright on February 17, 1874.  Charles was 25 years old while Mary Ellen was 18.  Robert Beattie, Charles’ father is listed as a “Captain”  while Alfred, Mary Ellen’s father was a “Cooper”. What is curious is that Mary Ellen is listed as a “spinster” under her current “Condition”.  The defintiions very, but  according to Wikipedia:

A spinster (or old maid) is a woman or girl of marriageable age who has been unwilling or unable to marry and, therefore, has no children. Socially, the term is usually applied only to women who are regarded as beyond the customary age for marriage, and is generally considered an insulting term, more degrading than the term “bachelor” for males.

2.  Edith Beattie, daughter of Charles Belford Beattie married a Charles King on August 22, 1914.   Charles King’s father, deceased at the time of marriage, was also named Charles. He was 25 years old and she was 24.