Death Record for Elizabeth (Sharp) Norton

Some time ago a DNA match sent me a message, and yes, I was contacted, not doing the contacting.

The DNA
Jeannine who lives in Australia was a DNA match to my great uncle Herb Jordan who I tested at Family Tree DNA. Initially, Herb had done the Y DNA test but since FTDNA stores the DNA samples there was enough left to later test the Family Finder test. Jeannine had also tested there and after looking at my family tree (very helpful to have your tree public) she recognized my Norton line but also that I had an error.

The Mistake
I had Jeremiah Norton my 3x great grandfather marrying Elizabeth Jillings, although this was correct what I didn’t have right is that his children were not children of Elizabeth Jillings.

The Why
In my defense, on the children’s baptisms, the mother’s name was given as Elizabeth with no maiden name. I had assumed that their mother was Elizabeth Jillings, but it was actually Elizabeth Sharp (aka Elizabeth #2).

Elizabeth #2 was the daughter of Thomas Sharp and Martha LEE!! Here is where things got quite exciting, the Lee name has been passed down through my Norton family for generations. I had speculated but had not figured out where the name originated in the family. Things were starting to piece together.

Jeremiah Norton was first married to Elizabeth Jillings and it does not appear they had any children. In 1805 he married Elizabeth Sharp the widow of Charles Wright. Charles and Elizabeth had a son Samuel Wright and my new found Aussie cousin Jeannine is a descendant of Samuel Wright.

Jeremiah and Elizabeth #2 were married in Kings Lyn, Norfolk, England and six children were born of the union: William Jeremiah in 1806, Mary in 1811, Lee Thomas in 1816, *Richard Lee in 1819, Martha 1822 and Edward 1825. *Richard Lee is my ancestor.

The Record
Before life got crazy in December I decided to take the plunge and order a death record from the National Archives, it was a bit of a guess as it is not a rare name. I got the right one! <insert happy dance> Elizabeth’s death was reported by her daughter Martha and they were living at 37 Terling, St. George, Middlesex, England. I did know that the family had left Norfolk and I thought I had found them in the 1841 census living in St. George’s-in-the-East, another happy dance.

The Questions
One win does not mean the battle is over as I have yet to locate Terling Street in 1849. When I posed the question on Twitter it was suggested Terling to be Tarling Street, more work to be done on that. As it seems clearly written as Terling.

The DNA
One other thing, as I know one DNA match does not prove the connection but keep in mind that both Jeannine and her brother are matching six Norton relatives. These six testees all descend from three of Richard Lee Norton’s children. At this point, I am feeling confident that the DNA has put me on the right track.

In case you are wondering the relationship between Herb and Jeannine is 1/2 2nd cousins twice removed and they share 41 cM, he shares 60 cM with her brother. I, on the other hand, am a 1/2 4th cousin to Jeannine and her brother and although I do not match her, her brother and I share 16 cM on Ancestry.

The Searching
I am still looking for any living descendants Richard Lee Norton’s siblings, William Jeremiah, Mary, Martha, Lee & Edward with the hopes to do DNA testing to further confirm the above.  FYI if you have the Norton surname in your tree with connections to Great Yarmouth and Kings Lyn, you are my new bestie!