Rachel Pearse....found at last!

Back to the Genealogy --  after a long summer of traveling and dabbling in the Family Tree, it's finally Autumn and with the shorter, darker days I've turned to genealogy again.

I have an elusive PEARSE/PEARCE family that seems to delight in changing the spelling of their name, and straddling the Cornwall/Devon border.  Common name, two counties to search, and lots of folks disappearing into the Royal Navy!  It's no wonder I dabble briefly on this line and then get frustrated and move on.

Today I had another look at Rachel Pearse, my 3rd Great Aunt.  She was born in 1827 in Callington, Cornwall.  Her Father William Pearse is my GGG Grandfather, born in 1789 in South Brent, Devon.  Rachel is named for her Grandmother, William Pearse's mother Rachel Codd.

I had some notes that Rachel had married a John Brown in 1850 in Stoke Dameral, Devon.   John was a Royal Marine.  I don't know how or why I decided that this was my Rachel, other than her Father's name is correct on the marriage certificate and she's about the right age and in proximity to her birthplace (most young women at this time headed for Plymouth for work and married military men there). 

I can't find Rachel and John in 1851, so they are likely with the military somewhere outside of Devon.   This is where my dead end was, couldn't find any evidence of them for 1851 or thereafter.

So today in doing some research there was an online tree that had a Charlotte Court attached to Rachel as a daughter.......HMMMM, who was this, and where did the name Court come from?  So in searching for Charlotte, I found her marriage, which listed her maiden name as Bazley. Then found her in the 1871 Census, with Mother Rachel Bazley!!!  Then found Rachel Brown marrying John Bazley in 1858 in East Stonehouse, Devon! 

So it appears John Brown died sometime between 1850-1858, his wife Rachel Pearse goes on to marry John Bazley!  They had four children:  Sarah, Charlotte, Thomas and John William, and lived in Bridgwater, Somerset.  After John's death in 1889, Rachel ends up living with Charlotte and family in Swansea, Wales and dies there in 1904.

The name Bazley (spelled in a variety of interesting ways), comes down through the descendants as a middle name.

Now on to find 2 siblings of Rachel's that have also proved elusive:  Thomas Betty Pearse (b 1831) and Elizabeth Ann Pearse (b 1833).....more common names to work with!