Marriage indexes showed a marriage in Portsea in 1796 of John Lovelace and Frances Jenkins.
I thought this was unlikely to be the "right" one because John & Frances were baptising children in St Andrew Holborn London in 1791 & 1793 and there was no known connection to Portsea.
I recently noticed that the Hampshire Parish registers were available on family search and that, while not available from home, images were available at a family history centre. Yesterday while visiting my local family history society I was able to view the image as the society is a family history centre. I've now also found it on findmypast.
I decided to see if the signature for Frances Jenkins (a widow) matched signatures of Frances Lovelace I had on various documents
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| 1796 marriage register Portsea |
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| 1812 administrator of will |
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| 1812 administrator of will page 2 |
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| 1817 agreement pre daughter's marriage |
I think the signatures look very similar and that the 1796 marriage is the right Francis.
Given Francis was a widow in 1796 I looked for an earlier marriage of Frances surname unknown to a Jenkins and found one in 1783 in London. Again the signature for Frances looks similar and I think I have the same Frances
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| Marriage 1783 St George the Martyr |
So then I looked for children of that marriage.
I found Frances Ann Jenkins baptised in 1785. She married John Clancy in 1807.
This Jenkins/Clancy marriage added further evidence I was on the right track for it was witnessed by Frances Lovelace.
The signature is again consistent and further confirmation that Francis Lenton = Frances Jenkins = Frances Lovelace.
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| Marriage 1807 St Pancras |
