Affair with the housekeeper?!

[Spangle]

My ancestor, James Teatheredge (variously spelled as Tetheridge, Featheredge, Seatheredge, Titheridge etc!) was born in London in 1812 and married a Margaret Whiteley, with whom he had 2 children, Maria Ann (1841) and James Albert (1843). Five years after the birth of James Albert, James senior was living with Emily Wing and had a child by her, with others following later on. It is from one of these children, Alice Teatheredge, that I am descended.

Emily was described in the census of (I believe) 1851 as James' housekeeper and the children all bore her surname, later becoming Teatheredges when Emily and James married in 1864.

The odd thing is I can find no death record for Margaret Teatheredge nor can I find her or either of her 2 children on any census records. I don't know whether she did indeed die before James moved Emily Wing in, or whether he had to wait for a long drawn out divorce or Margerets death at a later stage, hence he didn't marry Emily for some while after their chiildren came along. The children of the first marriage are not living with James and Emily in the censuses so I would imagine that their Mother was still alive or surely Emily would have taken them on when she met and moved in with their father?

Perhaps he was a bigamist?!!!

If James did divorce from his first wife would that have been a common occurance in those days? Surely it would have been highly frowned upon?

Has anyoone any ideas on where I go from here please? All suggestions much appreciated, thank you.

[Colin Moretti]

Hello Spangle



Perhaps he was a bigamist?!!!

If James did divorce from his first wife would that have been a common occurrence in those days? Surely it would have been highly frowned upon?
It all depends ... as they say

Read this TNA leaflet about divorce:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=260. He was only likely to have been divorced if he was wealthy - it was an expensive business - much more likely they just lived together. Bigamy was known as the poor man's divorce so a second marriage does not imply the first husband or wife was dead, whatever in might say on the certificate.

Perhaps wife no 1 ran off with another man and they emigrated. May be she married someone bigamously and so changed her name; any children with her were, I guess, also likely to change their surname.

[Spangle]

I didn't think of those options Colin - thank you. I'll go back to the beginning and start digging aaround. Funnily enough, I have for years taken the mick out of my step father who had a bigamous uncle... now it seems my own G G Granda may be in those ranks too!

[Bill]

Well hello cuz,

A few years ago I tried to research our family name of Teatheredge. As you know the spellings, and mis-spellings, don't help.

My side of the family comes from James Teatheredge and Margeret Whiteley.Their son James had a son John who married Elizabeth Hurdle. They had a daughter Alice Maud who had an illigitimate son, Ernest. He was my grandfather. For some reason he kept the name Teatheredge while she married and became Nutt.

I have reams of stuff about this somewhere. I would be very interested to find out what you know.

All the best,

Bill.

[Spangle]

Well hello cuz,

A few years ago I tried to research our family name of Teatheredge. As you know the spellings, and mis-spellings, don't help.

My side of the family comes from James Teatheredge and Margeret Whiteley.Their son James had a son John who married Elizabeth Hurdle. They had a daughter Alice Maud who had an illigitimate son, Ernest. He was my grandfather. For some reason he kept the name Teatheredge while she married and became Nutt.

I have reams of stuff about this somewhere. I would be very interested to find out what you know.

All the best,

Bill.


Oh my word! What a coincidence you should read this! Well hello distant cousin (ish!) Bill!

Where do I start... the easiest way I guess is for you to pm me your email address if you will and I can invite you into the family tree so you can see for yourself. I think it would make more sense than for me to try and explain it all.

However, briefly, James 2nd wife, Emily Wing, had a daughter, Alice Matilda. She married a solicitors clerk called Herbert Cook, who had come to London with his pub-keeping parents. Herbert had been born in Bisham, Herts, where the Cook family had lived for generations. By 1881 Alice and Herbert had married, and Herberts mother was a widow, running a now demolished beerhouse in Stockwell, London. Herbert was a solicitors clerk.

They had 4 children, one of whom was my Grandad, Arthur Cook.

My dad recalls his father, Arthur, telling him that he had come home one day to find all the furniture in the street. Apparently Herbert had gone off on a card-playing spree and lost his house... to Dr Barnardo. It seems that though Barnardo was keen on helping disadvantaged children it didn't stop him from making those of Herbert and Alice homeless!

Needless to say rumour has it that Alice was not best pleased!

So might you know, cos I am longing to find out - what happened to Margaret Whiteley? Did she die before James re-married, or was he indeed a bigamist?!

Do give me your email and I will be delighted to share all I have.

Kind regards,

miranda

[Ladkyis]

I just love it when this happens! I don't care if it's me or anybody else it happens to I think it is wonderful that a connection has been made.

Congratulations!|jumphappy

[Spangle]

:confused:

Yeah, but I am still on tenterhooks waiting for a reply from Bill! I can't wait to find out about what happened between the first and second marriages of the enignatic James Teatheredge!


I just love it when this happens! I don't care if it's me or anybody else it happens to I think it is wonderful that a connection has been made.

Congratulations!|jumphappy

[Peter Goodey]

Do give me your email

Bill's email address is in his profile (well done, Bill!). Click on Bill's name to see it.

[Spangle]

Bill's email address is in his profile (well done, Bill!). Click on Bill's name to see it.

D'oh! Thank you Peter, I'll send the info to Bill now.