Jennifer is descended from Francis BINGE(1799)and as yet is getting her story together for this page. Meanwhile the following will be of interest, from Australia:

Jenny is descended from
James Binge and Harriett Clay (m 14 June 1904). They are her
GGGgrandparents.  James is brother to Sarah Ann Mortimer (nee Binge)
Elizabeth T's GGGgrandmother.

Now James and Harriett had a daughter Harriett (later Harriet) who DID
marry a Douglas Grahame on August 17 1875 at the Registrar's Office Fitzroy
Victoria.  We have a marriage certificate.  Her father James was a witness.
So we assume she became Harriett Grahame.  BUT Douglas seems to have
disappeared.  We have a handle on his Ancestry but as to his life after
marrying Harriett not a thing.

Subsequently Harriett Grahame (nee Binge) had 3 children - Charlotte Jessie
GAWEN Born 16 Feb 1879 (Jenny's GGrandmother), Louise GAWEN (b&d 1884) and
Harry Curtis Kirby GAWEN (b 1886, d circa 1950).  On all these children's
birth certs, the father is shown as Curtis Kirby Gawen and the marriage
date for Harriett and Curtis GAWEN is listed as the exact same date she
married Douglas Grahame.  Furthermore Victorian Birth Deaths and Marriages
Registry has no record for a marriage between Curtis and Harriett.

Our puzzles are:

1.	What could have happened to Douglas Grahame?  He is not registered as
dying in Victoia, NSW, Western Australia or Tasmania. Maybe he left for the
Mother Country after some sort of fall out with Harriett.  We have not
checked all outbound shipping records yet?

2.	Did Douglas and Harriett parent any children?  Harriett had male child
born June 5 1874 in Brunswick Victoria before she married any one (that we
know of!!).  His name (on birth cert) is Robert Binge.  His father is
listed as Unknown.  Harriett's age is listed as 18 but we do NOT have a
handle on her exact birthplace or date. Her death cert lists her as 68 when
she died on 14th August 1925.  That would have her born before Aug in 1857.
She may actually have been 16 or 17, if my arith is correct. Robert died in
1875. Certs for his birth and death are available.  Interestingly Robert's
birth registry entry was altered by the Registrar on 28/10/1874 to list
Harriett's name as Harriet?  Wonder why...?

3.	Did Harriett really marry Curtis Gawen?  Probably not - as there is no
BDM registry entry.  Why would she declare at the birth of Charlotte GAWEN
that she married Curtis GAWEN on the day she actually married Douglas
Grahame?  Our feeling is the marriage to Douglas did not last long.  He may
have left...  She may have dropped out for a while... Later she may have
resurfaced "married" to Curtis GAWEN and had the 3 children by him. (But
that's all speculation at the moment.)

Jenny has what appears to be a small fragment of a "marriage cert" (bit
like a fragment of a Dead Sea scroll).  The fragment states: "This Marriage
was celebrated between us" (no date, no place record, no witness info) and
signed by Curtis Gawen and Harriet Graham (n.b. the change in spelling of
both her given and Surnames.) The signatures on the fragment would appear
to be Curtis' and Harriet's - but why such an "amazing" scrap without key
details and unknown to the DBM registry??

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