2 William and Sophia Knight couples in Ruardean 1790s (General)

by Nick Dub , Tuesday, June 07, 2022, 11:32 (910 days ago)

Hi,
I'm new to family history research, so please bear with me.

When looking at Thomas Knight May 31st 1805 Ruardean, who I think is a forbear of mine, I ran into a problem with his parents, William and Sophia Knight.

It turns out there were two couples with these names having children in Ruardean for overlapping periods. Examples are Priscilla 25th February 1798 and Charlotte 1st April 1798 - also Kezia 3rd February 1805 and Thomas 31st May 1805.

I believe the couples are William Knight/Sophia Meek, married 19th Sep 1779 Ruardean; and William Knight and Sophia Walding married 6th May 1793 in Walford, though I can't prove that they are the parents of all the children.

Sophiah Meek was baptised 3rd October 1762 and Sophia Walding on the 6th May 1770.

I've found 3 children born before 1793, Margaret 9th April 1780, Sophia 27th January 1782 and William 3rd January 1790, whose mother was obviously Sophia Meek - there may be others.

For any children born after the end of 1793, it could be very difficult to work out which of the two couples were the parents, WK & SM or WK & SW.

Of course, there are also 2 William Knights to identify.

All the best

Nick