At the time of writing my page about Robert and Rachel Jolly, I was of the belief that they had five children: Rachel, born 1845, Maria, also 1845, Daniel, 1848, Lucy Ann, 1851 and Joseph, 1861. The census of 1851 shows Robert and Rachel, daughter Rachel aged 6 and son Daniel aged 3, with no sign of Maria. Maria appears in the 1861 census, but there is no Rachel, and indeed I have seen no further indication of young Rachel other than the 1851 census. This led me to believe that she must have died in her childhood, but I haven't found any record of that either.
What drew me back for another look at this family was the two births in 1845. In itself that is not a big issue - it's quite possible for one thing, and also when birth years are calculated back from a census year there can often be a discrepancy of a year, depending on the actual birth date. But I had a baptism record showing Maria being baptised on July 26th 1845, and there is a Birth Registry for Maria Jolly in the July-Aug-Sept Quarter of that year. A birth in July pretty much precludes a sibling being born in the same year. Maria, Daniel and Lucy Ann Jolly were all born in Heath Charnock and baptised in Rivington Church, yet no baptism record seems to exist for Rachel.
Revisiting the Robert and Rachel Jolly story has led me to now believe that young Rachel Jolly probably didn't exist. I now feel that Maria was Robert and Rachel's first child, and the 1851 census recording of Rachel Jolly, daughter, age 6, was an error on the part of the enumerator. Having just written the name Rachel, I think he or she inadvertantly did it again on the next line.
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