We currently have three primary sources for the names of the parents of my great grandmother, Edith Emma ALLEN, who married Ambrose Robert BRAZELL in 1900.
First, there is Edith Emma's birth certificate, which names both parents:
So Edith Emma's father Jesse ALLEN married a widow (probably), Mary Ann Eliza COOMBES, whose maiden name was LONG.
Then there is Edith Emma's marriage certificate, which names her father and spells out his middle name:
Finally, we have the marriage certificate of Edith Emma's parents, found after a long search:
The marriage certificate confirms that Mary Ann Eliza was a widow, but it does not mention the name of her former husband. If she was 32 when she married in 1874, she was born in 1841/42 and some 11 years older than Jesse.
Edith Emma is living with Ambrose Robert in the 1901 census. With the information contained in the certificates above, it would normally be possible to locate Edith Emma with her parents in the 1891, 1881, and 1871 censuses and learn all kinds of interesting things about them, including her parents' year and place of birth.
Edith Emma can indeed be found in the 1881 and 1891 censuses, but she is not with her parents in either of them. Taken together with the photo evidence we have to date (see below), this could indicate that her mother died soon after Edith Emma's birth - or took off with somebody else - and Edith Emma was raised by a succession of relatives.
In the 1901 census, Edith Emma is living with husband Ambrose at 4 High Street, Willesden. The census entry is not clear in which house they are living, but it looks like it must be No. 4. They have obviously moved since marrying in September 1900, when they were resident at 49a High Street.
In 1891, Edith Emma is recorded in the household of Joseph and Martha ELSE at 11, Bloomfield Road, Ealing.
So who is Edith Emma's cousin - Joseph or Martha? I"m still trying to bend my brain around that relationship. It would mean that either Joseph and Edith Emma or Martha and Edith Emma share the same grandparents, and that their parents were brothers or brother and sister - as in the diagram below, where, for the sake of argument and simplicity, I assume that we are talking about Jesse's side of the family:
--- George = ? ---
| |
Jesse - sibling
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Edith Emma Joseph or Martha
Of course, the term "cousin" is very flexible; they could be first or second cousins, once or twice removed, which would explain the difference in ages (Edith Emma's 15 compared to 47 for Joseph and 46 for Martha):
--- ? = ? ---
| |
George - sibling
| |
Jesse - Joseph or Martha
|
Edith Emma
Or they might not be related at all!
Joseph is also recorded in the 1881 and 1871 censuses, and, if I ever decide to go down this road, at least I have found Joseph and Martha's marriage and birth references (see other citations for details).
The fact that Joseph & Martha ELSE come from Hertfordshire is promising, since, if Emma BROWN formerly ALLEN was born in the county, then perhaps her brother Jesse was, too.
This brings us to perhaps our most promising lead - the only Jesse ALLEN in the 1891 census recorded with the middle name "Charles." He's working as a hall porter on night shift at the Constitutional Club in St. Martin in the Fields, London.
What makes this Jesse ALLEN so promising is not just his middle name but the fact that he was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, the birthplace of the ELSEs above and Emma BROWN in the 1881 census below. (I have no idea if or where Constitutional Club records are archived, but I'll certainly try and find out.)
I have spent hours trying to find Jesse Charles and Mary Ann ALLEN in the 1881 census - without success. Edith Emma is, however, recorded in the household of George & Emma BROWN in Barnes, Surrey.
It seems unlikely that George Brown is Edith Emma's uncle (wouldn't George have to be an ALLEN or a LONG?), so, taking the census entry at face value, I assumed Edith Emma is Emma BROWN's niece (she might have been named after her!), that Emma BROWN's maiden name is ALLEN, and that she is Jesse ALLEN's sister.
I thought this was a fairly big assumption, too, until I found the George BROWN / Emma ALLEN marriage on FreeBMD and obtained the certificate:
So Jesse and Emma both had a father named George. Beginning to sound very promising...
If their census ages are correct, Emma will have been born around 1836 (before civil registration started), making her some 20 years older than Jesse.
According to her birth certificate, Edith Emma was born at "33 Gladstone Street, Battersea" in 1875. The family is no longer at that address six years later in the 1881 census, when the occupants are the family of Edwin & Julia HEAD (see other citations).
George & Emma Brown are recorded in the 1871 census in Croyden, Surrey. It looks like they didn't have any children.
I haven't had a chance yet to take a really good look at the 1861 census at www.1837online.com, but I'm still hoping to find George and Emma BROWN there.
I've posted a selection of photos of Edith Emma's family and some of her with her second husband, Mr. Mills.
We know from an old photograph that Edith Emma's father was a Mason. That is definitely something I will explore, along with the question of how a "railway's guard" might become an "Officer London County Council."
If we have the correct Jesse Charles ALLEN in the 1891 census above, he was born calculated 1855 in Watford. However, if he was 21 when he married in 1874, then he must have been born in 1852/3. A search of the GRO birth index turned up one Jesse ALLEN - born in the June quarter of 1853...in Watford of all places! And, even better, his father turned out to be George.
Still very inconclusive. It would have been nice if George ALLEN's occupation had been given as builder. Probably a good idea to check the censuses before ordering any more certificates, although I'm still tempted to get Emma ALLEN's birth certificate.
Following are a couple of possible leads from the 1881 census which will be worth following up in earlier censuses.
Mary Ann Eliza was 32 when she married Jesse in 1874, which makes her date of birth 1842/3. According to the GRO birth index, the only Mary Ann Eliza LONG born in this period was the following:
Mary Ann Eliza's father was an engine fitter when she married Jesse, which is pretty close to boilermaker, so I'm fairly sure we have the right Mary Ann Eliza here. I'm pretty sure her marriage certificate gives her maiden name as SCAIFE, of which there are over 1,300 recorded in the 1881 census - including 41 in Middlesex. But there are no SCAIFE events registered on FreeBMD between 1837 and 1860.
Mary Ann Eliza LONG married a Mr. COOMBES before she married Jesse Charles ALLEN, according to daughter Edith Emma's birth certificate.
There is a Mary LONG/COOMBES marriage on FreeBMD in 1839, which is far too early for our Mary Ann Eliza:
Then there is this one, in 1865, which sounds very promising:
Found these death references on www.familyrelatives.org:
The Jesse who died aged 57 in 1911 would have been born in 1853/54, which would match our Jesse Charles ALLEN's approximate date of birth. Is it worth getting the certificate?