Genealogy Chat

Thanks Nell - your thoughts are similar to mine - except I think that he was the prototypical'wide boy'. I have found, thanks to others, Harriets marriage to william Hilton (Apr 1887). I have some evidence that James Snr served overseas, in 1914 he wrote a letter to the Kentish Times, protesting that he was not a German, and saying that hehad provided documentary evidence to the police that "he had given loyal service both at home and abroad". Finding James W's description of his father as a soldier is the first evidence that he might, for once, be telling the truth. Now it is just a matter of finding out where....... Peter

Peter I've looked for Harriett's marriage as Harriet/Harriett East and Kraft/Krafft and she's not on Ancestry civil reg. As she already had a son when she married Mr Hilton (if they did go through a ceremony) I imagine she would have used her married name. It seems that she and her first husband's marriage broke down and they pretended they were widowed in order to remarry (this was quite common in the days when divorce was virtually impossible for legal, financial and social reasons). Maybe James senior joined the army and then was away from home so much that they split up. Or perhaps he enlisted to escape an unhappy home. The soldier bit may not be untrue. Not sure how you prove this though. nell

29 July 1875 James Richard KRAFFT married Harriet EAST in Burley in Leeds 1 May 1876 James William KRAFFT b, parents Jas R and Harriet in Sugden Fold, Armley 1881 Census, Harriet and James William with her mother Catherine in Sutton and Stone, Yorks. No sign of James Senior. 1891 Census William and Harriet HILTON in Moss Lane, Whitefield with stepson James William Kraft 8 Oct 1904 James William Krafft marries in Radcliffe. Father James Richard (deceased) Soldier. I know for a fact that James Richard was not deceased, he married Clara Bradley in Fulham 8 May 1886 stating that he was a widower, giving his residence as Halifax, Yorks. I need help in two areas - firstly, did Harriet actually marry William Hilton, secondly, where could James Richard Krafft have been between 1876 and 1886. His occupation at the time of the second marriage was Coachman, in 1876 he was a Mason's Labourer, in 1871 he was a Shoeing Smith in Colchester (aged 14). You won't find his birth, he was born James Richard Nurse, out of wedlock. Thanks in advance I know the answers will arrive. Peter Auckland, NZ