John Bixley and Sarah Shirlock

Marriage Record of John Bixley:

MARRIAGE Solemnized in the Parish of Epsom
in the County of Surrey in the Year 1819

John Bixley of this Parish

and Sarah Shirlock of this Parish

were married in this Church by Banns this third Day of October in the Year One thousand eight hundred and Nineteen

By me J. Darby Curate

This marriage Solemnised between us: John Bixley (literate) the mark X of Sarah Shirlock

In the Presence of
The Mark X of Charles Bixley
Thos Joliffe (Parish Clerk or other Parish Representative who was witness to all three marriages on the page)

Who was this John Bixley?
We know John Bixley, brother of Charles, was in the East Indies between 15th June 1812 and 22nd June 1826 from his army discharge papers, so we know he did not marry Sarah Shirlock.  The only other John Bixley associated with Charles is his father but we know he married Grace Brown in Felpham in 1794 and she lived until 1852 and, although bigamy did go on in those days, this was John and Grace's Parish, so the clergy would not have knowingly married someone they knew to be married to someone else.  Plus we know from his marriage record to Grace that John was illiterate but this John could write, so he is definitely not Charles' father.

What do we know about this John?  According to the Baptism records for his children, he was a labourer.  He was married in Epsom in 1819, his first child, John, was born in Fetcham in 1820.  His second child, Sarah, was born in Great Bookham in 1822 and the third child William was born in Great Bookham in 1824.  The name William and the place Great Bookham connected this John to Daniel Bixley and Elizabeth Amey's family.  we know Daniel and Elizabeth lived in Great Bookham as all their children were born there and they were both buried there.  Looking at the IGI, only John Bixley born Great Bookham in 1791,son of Daniel and Elizabeth, is a good match for this John.  It appears he died in Great Bookham in 1826 but there is no age recorded.

Looking at William Bixley's marriage record, he too was literate and as he was an agricultural labourer, that is a good indication that the family, or at least the children of Daniel Bixley's family, were literate.  We know our John Bixley was not literate, that his wife, Grace, was and so was his son John but as John joined the army at the age of 16 it is possible that is where he learnt to read and write.  Charles was not literate but we don't know about James or Charlotte.

Conclusion
Adding up all the facts, John Bixley born 1791, son of Daniel Bixley and Elizabeth Amey, looks to be the only match for John who married Sarah Shirlock and that then provides the connection between our Charles Bixley and Daniel's family, as Charles was the witness at John's marriage to Sarah in Epsom, so the conclusion is that Charles and John were first cousins and so our John Bixley was the son of Richard Bixley and Mary Frost.

Who was Sarah Shirlock?
I cannot find a Baptism record or burial record to match Sarah, so it is difficult to know who she was or where she was from.  All we know about her is that she married John Bixley in 1819 in Epsom and two years after he died, in 1828, she married Henry Otway in Rumboldswyke near Chichester, Sussex.  She and Henry had four children and are shown in the 1841 census living in Northchapel, Sussex.  Unfortunately the record isn't very helpful as it says both she and Henry were born in Sussex in 1801 when we find out in the 1851 census that Henry was born in Ashtead in 1795, therefore we can assume that Sarah was born between 1795 and 1801 in probably either Surrey or Sussex.

The best matches I can find for Sarah in the IGI are for Surrey:

 1. SARAH SHERLOCK - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 26 MAY 1799 Shere, Surrey, England
Father Thomas, Mother: Rose

2. SARAH SHURLOCK - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 28 APR 1799 Bramley, Surrey, England
Father: Richard, Mother: Lydia

 Or Sussex:

 2. Sarah <Sherlock> - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Female Christening: 22 JUN 1800 Nuthurst, Sussex, England
Father: William and Mother: Frances