In the Duke family, this is The $64,000 Question. That reference is to an old game show from the late 1950s, but it aptly describes both the mystery of William and Elizabeth’s marriage and the effort that has been expended to find it.
How do we know who William Duke married?
Elizabeth Cockayne’s name has come down to the present through family traditions in multiple branches of the Duke family. In addition, Minard’s History of Allegany County, N. Y. (published in 1896) stated the name of William’s wife was Elizabeth Cockayne.[1] Though the marriage itself has not been found, the multiple sources which agree on Elizabeth’s name make it very likely Cockayne was her surname.
Researching the question
The question of when and where William and Elizabeth married has been researched on both sides of the Atlantic for decades. With no marriage record or evidence held by any branch of the Duke family and no data from printed family histories, sources for marriages from 1820-1830 in the state of New York (including NYC) and England were searched. Those target years were chosen because William was with a female age 20-30 and a male under 5 in Broome County’s 1830 census.[2] Presumably that was Elizbeth and eldest son, William. That placed their marriage at latest in 1830 and depending on Elizabeth’s age in 1830 they married sometime in the 1820s.
Before the Internet became a go-to research tool, searches for William and Elizabeth’s marriage were conducted in American sources (mostly on microfilm), in county histories (printed and manuscript books) and in English sources including original parish records for many Derbyshire parishes which were viewed “on the spot” in Matlock at the Derbyshire Record Office. Multiple researchers used those same sources, but no one unearthed the marriage record.
Once the Internet and general databases became available, FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, NYG&B, NEHGS, and other websites were checked for a Duke-Cockayne marriage from 1820-1830 in New York and nearby states, and in England. Other sources searched included Lester Card’s transcription of marriages and deaths from the newspapers, vital records and tombstones (1819-1865) from the Southern Tier (of New York). Boyd’s Marriage Index, Joiner’s Marriage Index and Philimore’s Marriage Index each of which cover English marriages, were searched but none had a marriage record for William and Elizbeth.
The search widened by checking passenger lists plus marriage licenses from the Vicar General and dioceses in Derbyshire, Sussex and Hampshire. Newspaper articles on both sides of the Atlantic were searched. A cousin in England, Stephen Orchard (who wrote an article on the family for the Derbyshire Family History Society), was asked if he had any clues for where William married Elizabeth, but that was not in his records. Although the marriages of each of William’s siblings who reached adulthood were located and many extended family marriages were found, there is still no evidence of William and Elizabeth’s marriage.[3]
What we know about marriages in 1820-1830
Civil authorities were not marrying couples in England or New York in the 1820s. In England, even the marriage license had to be obtained from an ecclesiastical authority. In the US, licenses in some states were issued by civil governments, but most couples married without a license, which was rarely required. In both countries, clergymen officiated at all legal marriages. Those could take place in a church or authorized chapel in England or a church or a home in the US. Given the interest in religion displayed by extended Duke family members and the lack of a civil marriage option, it is certain William and Elizabeth were married by an ordained Church of England minister in England or Wales, or by a licensed minister in the US.[4]
Additionally, If they married while still in England, it had to be by the authority of the Church of England because marriage law at that time required everyone except for Quakers and Jews to be married in a parish church or authorized chapel for the marriage to be legal.[5] Furthermore, an English marriage had to be by banns (reading a couple’s names to their church congregation on three Sundays to insure no one knew of an impediment to the union) or by license (purchased from the diocese), thus generating the possibility of other sources for the marriage. Despite searches of additional potential marriage records, nothing has been found.
Why no record?
The marriage might have been:
- In or near Derby but the marriage was not recorded, or William and Elizabeth’s names were recorded incorrectly.
- Elsewhere in England (including London and ports such as Southampton, Portsmouth, and Liverpool) but it was not recorded, was recorded incorrectly, or was mis-indexed.
- On board the ship, but only if there was a fellow traveler who was licensed to perform weddings (most captains were not, but a traveling Church of England minister could if he was licensed).
- In New York when they disembarked, particularly if they wanted to be married in a Methodist ceremony, which was the denomination of the church some family members belonged to and was also the denomination of church where they were buried in Allegany County.
- In Broome County, their first documented residence, or a nearby county or nearby state.
- In a distant possibility such as Scotland (if they chose to travel there) or Ireland (if their ship to America stopped off there). Depending on the route their ship took, there may be additional locations.
Without place specifics on the marriage, the field is wide open. The time consumption for searching all the possibilities is prohibitive. All the logical research has been done in the likely areas. At this point, the best course is to continue checking the major genealogy website databases in the hope their marriage, if it was recorded, will eventually be found.
Where that leaves us
With no marriage record for William and Elizabeth it is not possible to use that source for additional information on Elizabeth’s origin and family. If it had been found, Elizabeth’s reported age at marriage and residence could help identify her baptism, and possibly her parents. Marriage witnesses could be researched to see if they were family members or friends whose residences might help pinpoint where Elizabeth was from. If the marriage occurred in a parish or diocese not already searched, banns, marriage licenses and other records could be checked. No marriage record means another method must be used to identify Elizabeth Cockayne and her family in England to continue researching her ancestry.
That method is a proof argument. Proof arguments require exhaustive research in all available records, thorough analysis of both source quality and the evidence it provides, resolution of conflicting information, and a reasoned reasonable conclusion. It requires a great deal of effort and in the case of Elizabeth (Cockayne) Duke records in both England and New York must be found and analyzed, but for further progress to be made on her ancestry, that is what it will take.
[1] John S. Minard, author: Georgia Drew Merrill: editor, Allegany County and its People (Alfred, NY: W. A. Ferguson & Company, 1896), 404.
[2] 1830 U.S. census, Broome County, New York, population schedule, Chenango Township, p. 12 (penned and stamped), William Duke, imaged, “1830 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 March 2024).
[3] The marriages of William’s siblings passed down to William and Elizabeth’s descendants and other family marriages were found in English records.
[4] Conformist refers to the Church of England/Anglican church (Episcopal in the United States) and non-conformist to protestant denominations such as Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and others.
[5] Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_Marriages_Act_1753), “Clandestine Marriages Act 1753,” rev. 12:52, 31 December 2023.
