St Mary & All Saints Church, Kidderminster
On my father's side, my 3 x great-grandmother, Hannah, who married Edmund Cotterill had been a long-standing brick wall until recently when I managed to make some progress.

I hadn't been certain of Hannah's maiden name although I had previously found a marriage between an Edmund Cotterill and a Hannah Smith. The censuses told me that my Hannah was born in Kidderminster in about 1799 but I could not find a baptism for a Hannah Smith with these details.

The breakthrough came when it became clear that Hannah's original name was not Smith. She had been married before and William Smith was her first husband. Hannah's father's name was recorded as George York in the register when she married Edmund and I then quickly discovered a baptism for Hannah York on 25th March 1799 in Kidderminster.

Hannah was the youngest and only daughter of five known children of George York and Elizabeth (nee Price). When George died it was his daughter, Hannah, who acted as his executor.

Elizabeth's heritage is still unknown but George York was the son of another George York and his wife, Hannah (nee Dixon). This couple were married in Kidderminster in 1751 and three children were born there between about 1754 and 1760.

I recently ordered a couple of wills from the Worcestershire Archives belonging to two different George Yorks of Kidderminster. One was not available but I'm still trying to obtain a copy and, unfortunately, the other didn't appear to belong to either of my Georges. I have a suspicion that my Yorks may have originated from Oldswinford near Stourbridge but, as yet, this is unproven.

Image: From Google Street View

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