Genealogy Chat

Susan that was so kind of you! Thank you so much. I'm sorry you couldn't find my Deborah but it was a long shot anyway, thanks for trying.
I'd give my eye teeth to find her, I can't bear to think she had to leave those 2 babies under such circumstances. I just hope wherever she ended up she found some happiness, but heaven knows where it was!
Yes the Rev Charles was only about 51 in 1882, must've been sudden as you say. The problem is I can't really find ANY deaths or marriages for a suitable Deborah Williams (or Jenkins) ANYWHERE, even if she went back to Wales!
Well, must keep looking but thank you for your time and effort, it's very much appreciated.

CC

Have just been down to the Hereford Record Office to look for your Deborah Williams. She definitely didn't marry or die in Withington1881-1900. They only have film of burials up to 1877 but I got to look at the actual register 1877-1994. The Rev. Charles Williams Deborah's employer was buried July 31 1882.It looks as if he died suddenly as the last burial he officiated at was June 19 and the 1st the new Rector did Sept 13. It looks as if poor Deborah was forced to seek work elsewhere.
Susan

No, nor me. Even the marriages don't really fit it seems. I'd so love to find her.
Never mind, one day she'll pop up perhaps!
Thanks for you help anyway,
CC

Hi CC

Well I cant really think of much more to suggest - it could of course be that she died somewhere where people didn't know her and she was buried as a 'stranger'. I've sadly seen many such burials particularly while looking through some of the burials in the Crayford/Erith/Chatham area of Kent where many people were found drowned and no-one knew who they were.

She may of course have remarried and be somewhere very obscure but so far I've not seen a likely candidate for her on the later censuses.

x

Hi Mrs T,
Thanks for looking for me. No, I couldn't find her on the BMD either but I thought there was a chance she was just missed off.
Just to give you a brief history: she'd been widowed in 1873 and left comfortably off. There was, however, a huge dispute over her husband's estate with the result that Deborah had to leave her 2 tiny daughters (the eldest was 21 months, my great-grandma) with her parents back in Neath and go to work in Herefordshire. (The court case went to Chancery for 8 years!! and she ended up with nothing)

My great-grandma married by licence at 19 years old, in August 1891, and the licence application states that there was 'no-one authorised to provide consent for her to marry', so I presume that Deborah was either dead by then (can't find her on the 1891 census), or estranged from her daughters.
I was hoping some kind person would look at the burial register for me just to check.

You're right of course, she may have married, moved away and lived to a ripe old age!

Any other ideas? It's always good to get a fresh pair of eyes on the problem! I'd love to know what happened to her as I always felt so sorry for her.

CC

She may have moved away and remarried or perhaps emigrated? Findmypast passenger lists dont start till 1890 but I'll take a look to see if there are any likely suspects on there and on the Ancestry passenger lists

Update:

Have had a look and cant see anyone who would fit her on the passenger lists - sorry!

Certainly a bit of a mystery - my only likely suggestion is that she married again somewhere other than in the Herefordshire district and may have died under another surname.

x

Hi Sister B

I'm not seeing a death for her on the death indexes - are you sure she died in that time frame?

x

Hi all,
Would anyone do a look-up in the burial register for Withington, Herefordshire for me please?
My great-great-grandma lived at Withington Rectory as cook to the Rev Pritchard in 1881. Between 1881 and 1891 I'm almost sure (for complicated reasons) that she had died, tho she'd only have been 47years old in 1891.

Her name was Deborah Williams (neé Jenkins) and she was a widow, born in 1844 in Neath, South Wales.
I'd be so grateful if someone could help.
Thanks,
CC

PS just thought, maybe I'd need to get the marriage register checked too, in case she remarried in Withington?