Some time ago, I wrote about my ancestor William Wreford’s second wife, Ann Maunder (see post: Good Tithings). I had long thought that Maunder was her maiden name but discovered she was likely born Ann Anstey, and married a man named George Maunder. Today I stumbled on more evidence to support this theory.
William and Ann had a daughter named Elizabeth Ann Wreford born in Tiverton, Devon. While ’rounding out’ her story, I found her in the 1851 census in London. Elizabeth was in the home of ‘Aeneas B. Reid’ and his wife ‘Anne Maunder Reid’, recorded as a sister-in-law. Obviously the name Maunder jumped out at me. Mrs Reid’s age also tied in with the details for Ann and George Maunder’s daughter Ann (her baptism record can be seen in the earlier post).
1851 census image showing Elizabeth Ann Wreford in the home of her half-sibling Ann Maunder
Luckily, I could access the image of the marriage Ann Maunder (jr) to Aeneas Barkley Reid a couple years earlier in 1849. It confirmed her father’s name was George Maunder and also held the signatures of two witnesses: William Wreford and Mary Wreford.
1849 marriage of Ann Maunder to Aeneas Barkley Reid with Wreford witnesses
(I believe these witnesses are likely to be Ann’s step sibling (son of William Wreford to his first wife) and his wife, who also lived in London at the time.)
After this discovery, everything has started tumbling into place. Another half sibling, Mary Anna, who I was previously unable to pin down, shows up in the census record with the Reids in 1861.
1861 census showing Mary Anna Wreford with her half-sibling Ann Maunder
She also appears to have been buried in the family plot of Elizabeth Ann, who had married Alexander Small in 1853.
1863 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of Mary Anna Wreford, showing she was buried in the ‘Smalls’s Grave’
Mary Anna and Aeneas Barkley Reid also show up as witnesses to that marriage,
1853 marriage of Elizabeth Ann Wreford to Alexander Small (note witnesses)
and the Small’s son is recorded with Elizabeth Ann’s brother Willliam in the 1861 census.
1861 census showing Elizabeth Ann’s son Alexander with her half-brother William
What tops it off for me, is seeing that my direct ancestor William Wreford was also buried in the Small family plot (4029).
1866 Tower Hamlets Cemetery burial record of William Wreford, showing he was also buried in the ‘Smalls’ Grave’
All of this ‘coming together’ is very satisfying, and gives me an insight into how much the siblings lives were entwined with each other.
And of course, I’m now pretty confident William Wreford’s wife Ann Maunder was born Ann Anstey.
A tree to help make sense of all this (click to enlarge)
The first step was to do a ‘blanket search’ for Mary born c1828. There was another Mary Wilcox of a similar age recorded in the 1841 census, however this one was recorded with her parents, so I was able to rule out any record for this daughter of William and Jane Wilcox.
I found a baptism record for Mary of the correct age – born 22 October 1828 (baptised 1832), daughter of snaffle maker John Wilcox and his wife, Mary. This means she was 12 at the time of the 1841 census which matched up neatly with the Mary Wilcox recorded with the Thomasons. But another clue lay in where she was baptised – the ‘Independent’ Bridge Street Chapel, Walsall. This was the same place Hannah Craddock and her brother Samuel had been baptised about two decades before. Samuel Craddock was also a snaffle maker, indicating a possible family trade.
1832 Baptism of Mary Wilcox – Bridge Street Chapel, Walsall
But where was the Craddock link?
I searched for the marriage of John and Mary and… BINGO! There was a marriage on 1 November 1824 at West Bromwich of John Wilcox and Mary Craddock. (Unfortunately there was no image.)
I was unable to find a baptism record for Harriet Wilcox, but did find her with parents John and Mary in the 1841 census. This supports my theory that the Harriet Wilcox, also with the Wheeley family on the 1851 census, was the sister of Mary Wilcox.
Wilcox family on 1841 census – Blue Lane, Walsall
So, there we are – minor mystery solved:
Mary Wilcox was the niece of Hannah Wheeley (nee Craddock); daughter of Hannah’s sister Mary Wilcox (nee Craddock).
We will probably never know if Lydia Thomason (nee Walton) was introduced to Samuel Craddock by Mary or vice versa – but we at least know that connection was there.
However, another minor mystery has emerged…
Mary’s sister, Harriet Wilcox, went on to marry miner James Pearson in 1855 – was he related to Mary’s fellow servant, Sarah Pearson, in the 1841 census? I think I’ll leave that one for ‘another day’.
Part of the Stonewall Johnson series of posts – Who was the mother of Mary Ann Johnson?
The marriage entries for St Stephen’s Church, Birmingham show that Florence Ann Yeomans (eldest daughter of James Yeomans and Mary Ann Johnson) married Alfred Hickman in 1898. But did she?
Marriage of Florence Ann Yeomans and Alfred Hickman in 1898
Alfred was recorded as a bicycle maker, as was his father, Joseph Hickman. One of the witnesses was Joseph Hickman – but this can not be his father, who was noted as ‘deceased’. Presumably it is a brother or other relation. The other witness was Sarah Smith.
Alfred or Albert?
Florence signs her name but her husband makes only his mark – nothing unusual for the time. However, careful examination shows that in place of Alfred’s signature is “The mark of Albert Hickman” – not Alfred. So which name is correct? You would imagine the official name, right? The one recorded in all the indexes as being Florence’s husband. But I’m not so sure. You see, I’m having a very hard time finding ‘Alfred’ after 1898 – maybe it’s because he was actually named Albert.
Shortly after their marriage, Florence died. She appears to have died either during or soon after the birth of her first child, who was also given the name Florence Ann. So using his wife’s name as a reference when searching the 1901 census for Albert/Alfred is not an option. Neither is using their daughter’s name since she also died soon after birth.
Deaths of mother and daughter Florence Ann Hickman in the Birmingham registration district 1898
However, I did come across a baptismal record for Florence Ann Hickman that seemed to definitely be a match. This child was born 28 April 1898 and baptised at St James’, Ashted in the ‘County of Birmingham’ on 1 June 1898.
Baptism of Florence Ann Hickman in 1898
Brother Joseph?
The parents of little Florence were recorded here as Joseph and Sarah Hickman (shoemaker). Could this be the Joseph and Sarah Smith who signed Florence’s marriage record? My imagination conjured up possible scenarios… ‘Joseph is clearly a brother. He and Sarah Smith must have married soon after Florence and ‘Alfred’, and took on her tiny infant as their own when Florence died since the grieving father would be ‘unable’ to do so himself. Or perhaps they had simply taken the ‘sickly’ child to be baptised as quickly as possible and their names were mistakenly recorded as the parents..?’
But there was a snag:
Three Florence Ann Hickman deaths
There was another death of an infant Florence Ann Hickman! This hadn’t come up earlier as I had restricted the search for Florence Ann Hickman deaths to only in Birmingham. Opening up the search for births showed that Joseph and Sarah WERE the true parents of the Florence Ann baptised in Ashted (part of Aston registration district).
Two baby Florence Ann Hickmans in the Birmingham area
Using the maiden name of the ‘other mother’, I was able to find the marriage record of Joseph and Sarah – her maiden name was Holt.
Marriage of Joseph Hickman in 1891
So what I had imagined was proved incorrect. Joseph did not marry the other witness ‘Sarah Smith’ soon after Florence and ‘Alfred’ married (he had actually married a different Sarah 7 years previous). Nor did he nobly take on his brother’s child and baptise her as his own.
But were they at least brothers? It still seems very likely. Joseph’s father’s name was also Joseph Hickman (deceased) but no profession was given. Tracking Joseph and Sarah Hickman down in the 1901 and 1911 censuses using Joseph’s occupation of ‘shoemaker’ supported the age given on his marriage record (an estimated birth year of c1868) and gave his birthplace as Birmingham. A search for a birth with those details gave me:
Joseph Hickman – mother’s maiden name Preston
And a search for other children with the mother’s maiden name of Preston gave me:
Albert and Henry Hickman – mother’s maiden name Preston
Not Alfred BUT an Albert. And the birth year matches the age given when ‘Alfred’ married.
At this point, I believe it’s very likely that Alfred was in fact Albert, and he and Joseph were brothers, but the search continues…
Evidence supporting:
the name Albert mentioned on the Alfred marriage record;
both fathers named Joseph and deceased;
matching ages on marriage records;
Joseph as witness on Alfred/Albert marriage (matching signature to his own marriage record);
Joseph also had a child named Florence Ann (seemingly in honour of Alfred/Albert’s wife)
Possibly related 1871 census entry – father joseph (brother of Alfred)
Side note: The father Joseph Hickman appears to have been ‘boarding’ with aTheodosia Johnsonon the 1881 census (daughter Emily H Johnson appears to be his – they married later that year in November)
Contradictory evidence:
The brothers from the above GRO search image, Albert and Henry, appear as the ‘children’ of Joseph Taylor and Mary Ann Hickman in the 1881 census (boarding with Robert Taylor in 1891)
Possible 1881 census entry for the brothers Albert and Henry Hickman
I’ve recently designed my own colourful family trees (see more about that here). The information held is minimal but besides looking pretty on the wall, it’s a useful way to see what gaps still need filling (particularly for those like me who absorb information best visually). For various reasons, there are a few question marks on the Richards family tree, mainly to do with death dates. I can live with that (for now) – I’d rather be as accurate as possible. But what really bothers me is the missing name on the Johnson branch. This is a ‘brick wall’ I’m determined to break down and will start by consolidating all I know about Mary Ann.
Who was the mother of Mary Ann Johnson?
Mary Ann Johnson married James Yeomans at St Jude’s Church, Birmingham on 9 March 1874. They were both single and residing on Hill Street at the time of their marriage – the same street on which St Jude’s was situated. The area was one of the poorest parts of Birmingham at the time so they were likely not well off. Unfortunately, the church building of St Jude’s was demolished in 1971.
Mary Ann Johnson and James Yeomans were married in 1874
(Note that the year in the heading is 1875 but the full date gives 1874. All four entries on this page had the same issue. The preceding and following pages of the St Jude’s parish register were checked to confirm the year was in fact 1874.)
The marriage record tells us that Mary Ann’s father was a shoemaker named John Johnson. The witnesses at their marriage were George Yeomans and Eliza Millard.
The couple were to have 9 children between 1877 and 1900: Florence Ann, John Joseph, Julia, Catherine Ellen, Sarah Emily, Alfred Thomas, James Arthur, Leah and William Edward.
Yeomans family in the 1881 census
Mary Ann appears with her husband and children living at the back of 20 Barn Street (house 1) in the 1881 census. Boarding with them is 20-year-old iron plate worker, Thomas Johnson. She gives her age as 26 which gives us an approximate birth year of 1855 and birth place of Birmingham.
Yeomans family in the 1891 census
The 1891 census reiterates the same birth information. This time they are living in Court 40 (house 7) Hospital Street.
The birth place of their daughter Florence (in both censuses) indicates that Mary Ann spent some time at Bilston, Staffordshire – long enough to give birth there at least.
When her daughter Leah was born in 1897, the family were residing at 41 New John Street.
Mary Ann died in 1900 at the age of 41. Her death was registered at Birmingham in the September quarter of 1900 (Jul-Aug-Sep). The 1939 register gives her youngest son’s birth date as 5 March 1900 so she seems to have died within months of William Edward being born.
So the bare facts we have of Mary Ann as we begin our ‘brick wall’ demolition are:
born c1855 in Birmingham
father John Johnson (a shoemaker)
married James Yeomans in 1874 at St Jude’s in Birmingham
gave birth to first daughter in Bilston, Staffordshire (1875)
Records show that Reuben and Mary eventually remarried in 1963 – 25 years after the bigamy trial. I wondered how that came about. Had they met up again years later and rekindled the romance? Had Mary stuck by Reuben despite the dishonesty? It seemed unlikely I would ever find out.
A Brave Act
Back in 1937, Reuben was reported in the newspapers as having rescued a child that had fallen in the River Derwent. For his efforts, the 16-year-old Reuben received a Royal Humane Society Certificate while a patient at the Royal Infirmary.
Derby Daily Telegraph, 17 December 1937, p1, c3
DERBY RIVER RESCUES HONOURS FOR MAN AND YOUTHS The Royal Humane Society has awarded testimonials on parchment to two Derby youths and a Derby man in recognition of the parts they played in drowning rescues…
George William Gamble (23), of 4, Back Colyear-street, Derby, who rescued Geraldine James (9), of 175, Osmaston-road, Derby from the Derwent, was assisted by Reuben Alfred Lamb (16), also of 175, Osmaston-road. The child fell into the river while attempting to recover a ball.
(Derby Daily Telegraph, 17 December 1937, p1, c3)
Nottingham Journal, 21 February 1938, p3, c2
RESCUE RECALLED Presentation to Patient in Derby Infirmary The Mayor of Derby (Ald. E. E. Paulson) on Saturday made presentations of three Royal Humane Society Certificates, two at the police court and the other at the Royal Infirmary. In the latter case the recipient was Reuben Alfred Lamb (16), of 175, Osmaston-road who is a patient in the institution. He had been instrumental, in conjunction with George W. Gamble (24), of 4, Colyear-street, to whom the award had also been made, in saving the life of a girl who, while playing on the river bank near Siddals-road, over-balanced and fell into the water…
(Nottingham Journal,21 February 1938, p3, c2)
The article annoyingly failed to mention why Reuben was in the infirmary.
I had resigned myself to probably never knowing the answers to any of my questions, when I remembered asking Rose (Reuben’s sister) about this incident before she died. Luckily I found the conversation…
[after being asked about her brother’s bigamy]
I had forgotten about that. She said she was pregnant, he believed her and said he’d marry her. Then he and his friend Bill Gamble saw a child in the river Derwent and Alfie jumped in and saved it. He got a certificate from the Humane Society for bravery, but got an infection and was seriously ill and likely to die so Dad, who had refused to let him marry, relented. The pregnancy lasted two years!!!! He was called up for the army, the yanks came to Derby and Cathy was in heaven, but Alfie left her and later married Mary. They had four or five children and were very happy. Cathy (Morgan) had a sister – Nellie Cash. She had a baby and hid it in the chimney. It was found by firemen I think. I don’t know what happened to her. How’s that for a tale?
(Rose Richards, 6 August 2016, punctuation edited for clarity)
It was such a joy (and a relief!) to reread this message. Of course Rose may have been biased, but although Cathy’ isn’t painted in a very positive light, this family version of events really helps to clear things up. It even alludes to the ‘associating with other men’ mentioned in the trials. I had previously seen articles about ‘the rescue’, so it was interesting that a seemingly unrelated incident had also played a part in this story.
And so, a rough timeline appears as follows:
1937 – Reuben (16) and Kathleen (18) discuss getting married; his father refuses 1937 – December – Reuben rescues child from river and comes close to death
1938 – February – Reuben receives award in hospital; his father consents to the marriage 1938 – abt June – Reuben marries Kathleen Morgan
1939 – Reuben is living with wife Kathleen and her father in Derby (30 Bradshaw Street)
1945 – Reuben separates from Kathleen (unclear whether this was before or after meeting Mary) 1945 – April – Reuben meets widow Mary Evans Mitchell at Nottingham Castle NAAFI canteen
1946 – Feb 2nd – Reuben marries Mary 1946/7 – Reuben visits Kathleen in Derby (in response to a telegram)
1947 – Jan 21st – Kathleen visits in Mansfield and reveals all 1947 – Jan 29th – Reuben is charged with bigamy 1947 – Feb 18th – Reuben is sentenced to 3 months prison for bigamy
1962 – Kathleen dies
1963 – Reuben and Mary marry
All’s Well That Ends Well
Reuben and Mary’s marriage in early 1963 appears to coincide with Kathleen’s death the previous year (no evidence of divorce has been found and Kathleen’s death was registered under the surname Lamb).
So there was a happy ending after all. Despite not beinglegallywed, Reuben and Mary remained a couple and built a family together before they were able to ‘make it official’ in 1963.
As for the baby in the chimney..? Now, that‘s another story altogether…
