Small moments of joy come after spending 3 hours looking at Parish records one page at a time, online, when you finally find “That’s the One” and the only Sarah Coe in the last 233 pages of barely comprehensive writing. With pages so faded you think you will go blind, until you realize that changing the brightness and contrast really does help. There it is December 22 1799 christening record shows a Sarah Coe and Mary Coe daughters of John of Dukinfield, gardener and his wife Nancy. Also it lists a birth date, Sarah is listed as Nov. 16 … while Mary is listed as Nov 26 … No year. Are they twins born 10 days apart? Or were they born a year apart (see below)? What would you make of this?
This was the begining of my searching into, “Who were Sarah Coe’s parents?” Sarah is my 3x great grandmother on my maternal line. She Married Samuel Hall in Stockport, Cheshire, England.
From the parish registry (see image to the right) Samuel Hall a widower of this Parish. (Profession) Iron Moulder and Sarah Coe of this Parish were
married by Banns on the 2 Day of January 1820 by E. Harwell Curate. A takeaway from this is that we see the actual signature of Samuel (Samel) and note that Sarah couldn’t sign her name. Couples were married either by Banns or License. Banns is where the intention of marriages is announced at the parish church three Sundays in advance of the actual marriage date, otherwise they have to apply to the bishop for a special license to be married.
This is the document that started me asking the question, “Who were the parents of Sarah Coe?” In order to do a comprehensive search I needed to understand the timeline of the local parishes jurisdictions during this time period.
Stockport is a market town in Cheshire, England while Ashton Under Lyne is a market town in Lancashire. They are approximately 6 miles apart. Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire is just across the river from Cheshire. Historically while Ashton Under Lyne is in Lancashire they had been under the Court of the Bishop of Chester, and today many of the small townships such as Dukinfield and Staleybridge, in Cheshire, are part of what is called Tameside and the Ashton Under Lyne Civil Registration District since 1837 (see map below).
Here is a simplified timeline for the Parish churches in the Area where Samuel Hall and Sarah Coe lived. For more detailed information visit: https://www.familysearch.org/mapp/#lists
| Place | Parish | Est |
| Stockport | St. May’s | 1584 |
| Ashton UnderLyne | St.Michael | 1594 |
| St. Peters | 1824 | |
| ChristChurch | 1846 | |
| Dukinfield | St. Michael | 1594 |
| Dukinfield | 1846 |
So to search, the parish where Samuel and Sarah were married, for Sarah’s Christening, I looked at Family Search for the church records In Stockport somewhere between 1795 to 1805. For some reason there are no records from 1682 to 1812. So I started looking at the Ashton Under Lyne Records for my estimated time frame. Upon finding this entry of a Sarah Coe, I decided to continue looking. At first I was trying to determine if this Sarah Coe dies before reaching maturity. But since the Coe name was so infrequently found I just noted any other Coe’s in this film and put together the family of John and Nancy (Minshall) Coe of Dukinfield and their five daughters. John is consistently referred to as a gardener and in the 1841 UK census he is listed as living at Gardener House (see 1841 census below). In the 1851 census he is living with his daughter Judith’s Family. In the 1861 census he is gone and Judith has her sister Hannah living with her.
1841 UK census Dukinfield 
1851 UK census St. John 
18661 UK census St. John
I then I began looking for the death of John Coe. I found him in Ashton Under Lyne burial records for St. Michaels. “Burial 22 May 1853 John Coe 97 of Ashton” (Note, not necessarily Ashton Under Lyne). Estimated birth year would be 1756. So I have now ordered the Civil Registration of Death and will see what other information I might be able to glean.
In the meantime I have the records of the other children of John Coe.
Continuing with the Parish registry Ashton Under Lyne film # 4006799. ” Born Oct. 10 Baptised Nov. 21 Coe Judith D(daughter) of John & Nancy (of) Dukinfield Gardener” is listed in 1803. “Born July 18 baptised Aug 25 Coe James S(son) of John & Hannah (of) Dukinfield Gardener” in 1805. ” Born Feby 26 baptised April 2 Coe Priscilla D of John & Nancy (of) Dukinfield, Gardener” listed in 1809. A few months later a Mary Coe is listed for a John and Sarah (of the)Town, Spinner. “March 14 Coe Charles S of John (of) Dukinfield 9 years” is buried in 1810 . Not sure if this is John and Nancy Coe’s son or John and Sarah’s son.
Moving on to the next Parish registry Ashton Under Lyne film # 4050285. “Born Apr’12 Baptised May 24 Coe Hannah D of John & Nancy (of) Dukinfield Gardener” in 1812. “834 Nancy wife of John Coe (Abode) Dukinfield (Buried) Mar 1 (age) 47 yrs” listing in 1815.
As we know from earlier, Sarah Coe married Samuel Hall in 1820 and 2 (two) years later 1822 Judith Coe marries a John Price. Now look at the marriage record for john Price and Judith Coe. …….. Whoa, “In the Presence of Samel Hall” (see below).
I take this as proof that Judith Coe and Samuel Hall’s wife Sarah Coe are related and most likely sisters. Therefore the Sarah Coe found in the Ashton Under Lyne Parish records is the Sarah Coe married to Samuel Hall . And I further feel confident that John Coe and Nancy Minshall are the parents of my 3x great grandmother Sarah.
