Edward was baptised 25 aug 1782 in Tostock, Suffolk, the oldest surviving child of Edward and Hannah (Bridge) Ottley who had been married 20 aug 1776 at Rede, Suffolk..
Edward married Susannah Collins (who seems to have been an only child) 10 jun 1804 at Sible Hedingham in Essex, the county to the south of Suffolk. He was 22 and she was 21.
It is not improbable that they had just ended their apprenticeships, either in trade or in farmwork, which had begun as was the custom when they were fourteen and ended seven years later.
Nor is it improbable that this was a shotgun wedding, though we have as yet no evidence of an older child born in the 18 months between the wedding and the baptism of twins Martha and Mary on 17 jan 1806, the day their mother was buried at Great Maplestead, Essex. Martha survived her mother by four days, and Mary for almost a month, and they were buried in the same churchyard.
How long had the family been living at Great Maplestead? Who looked after the babies when their mother died? Edward? A wet-nurse? Their grandparents from Tostock or Sible Hedingham?
Eleven years passed. The Battle of Trafalgar had been in 1805, yet in 1815 England was again at war with France. Is this the period that Edward was in France – a sort of “Scarlet Pimpernel”? Was Edward caught by the press gang on a trip to London, spending these years in the royal navy? Did he have other children and marry other wives?
Edward married Frances Holmes 12 may 1817 at Halstead, an ancient market town. He was 35 and she was 32 and two months pregnant.
Was he there when their son Edward was baptised 26 dec 1817? Family tradition says that he was a gentleman’s gentleman (valet) and died in France. Or had he committed a crime and been transported to Australia where it seems there are Ottleys today? Had he been supporting Frances and Edward? Did her parents? Why did Frances wait nine years and not the usual seven for him to be legally “missing presumed dead”, before she married Abraham Whiting 31 mar 1826 at Gosfield, Essex. Again she was pregnant.
If Abraham had adopted Edward, our family name would have been Whiting. Now there’s a thought!