All Saints, RayneMary, Mary quite contrary
Mary SMEE, who are we?

One of the ongoing Mysteries over the Smee families concerns a Mary SMEE, or perhaps I should say her parents.
What we do know is that on the 2nd of November 1783 Mary SMEE married Edward OLLEY at Rayne near Braintree in Essex and in the next 7 years they had (at least) 8 Children

Edward Olley  1784
John Olley 1786
Mary Olley 1788
William Olley 1790
Elizabeth Olley 1793
Jemima Olley 1797
Charlotte Olley 1797
Edward Olley 1800

 

 
The question is who was Mary?

Two theories exist

The daughter of John Smee and Elizabeth Betts
Baptised 23 Mar 1761 at Shalford.

 The daughter of William Smee and Sarah Vales
Born 22 Jan 1766 at Bocking.

Married 6 miles from Birthplace
Married at 23?  A little late for an Essex girl at that time?
Bore Twins at 35 followed by a Son at 39

 Married 3 miles from Birthplace
Married at 17? Shouldn't the register show her as a Minor?
Bore Twins at 30 followed by a Son at 34

Personally I tend towards the younger Mary, yes, you might expect the register to mention she was a minor but, as we all know, Parish Clerks weren't always conscientious and of course the question - why did they marry in Rayne? Then consider the fact that her mother Sarah Vales had died in 1772 when Mary was only 6, Mary's elder sister Sarah b1750 presumably then filled the Maternal role until she married in 1780 leaving Mary as the only female in the family, her father was 59 by 1783 and in fact died 16 months after the Marriage.

What is needed is information on the Death/Burial of Mary OLLEY, preferably with an age on the headstone? Can anyone help?

Within the same family groups, the John Smee who married Elizabeth Betts had a son John who was baptised 21 Oct 1764, either the Father or the son was buried at St Andrew Shalford on the 10th Mar 1778. Can anyone find an age for this burial?
for more about John And Elizabeth's family see my Isaac Smee page - Click here