Spangle
21-06-2008, 1:43 AM
Can anyone work out what on earth was going on in my Great Great Grandparent's household please? Is it illigitimacy and/or bigamy, or are we talking widowhood here?
I'll try to explain.....
The lady causing my confusion is Emily Teatheridge, nee Wing, born 1823 in Lambeth.
On the 1851 census Emily is detailed to have been a needlewoman and a visitor to James Teatheridge's house in Lambeth, together with her young children, George, James and Emma. These children all bore the surname Wing, as did Emily herself. James Teatheridge is described as married yet there is no wife on the census. Emily too, it looks like, was described as married, although the wording is crossed through so I can't be certain. Again, there is no spouse of hers in that household.
The 1861 census sees James Teatheridge and Emily Wing living in a house in Camberwell, St Giles, with an older woman, Susan Gold. James was the head of the household and Emily is described as his housekeeper. I can't access the 1861 census copy so have no idea what her or James' marital status was at that time. I can tell you this though... although Emily's name was still Wing, her children were all now called Teatheridge! What's more, she had given birth to two more, John, and Alice Matilda, who were also called Teatheridge!
It wasn't until the June quarter of 1864 that Emily Wing and James Teatheridge were married, in Lambeth. (James is mis-transcripted as James Featheridge on the Free Births Marriages and Deaths website but I don't think for one moment there is any doubt that it's our man).
All this had up til now led me to believe that Emily had been "living in sin" with James and that their children were illigitimate. This seemed logical to me as James had in 1842 married a woman called Margaret Whiteley (at St Martins in the Fields), with whom he had had 2 children (maybe more but if there were I have yet to find them), Maria Ann, born circa 1841 and James Albert, born circa 1843. As we have seen, by the 1851 census, James was living without a recognisable wife in sight and Emily Wing and her Wing children were his visitors. I have searched for the whereabouts or death of a Margaret Teatheridge or Margaret Whiteley and the 2 children, to no avail.
I have discovered that at this period in history divorce was pricey and not a luxury the working man could afford. Hence "civil divorce" became the norm... the parties would just seperate and there was a lot of bigamy going on. I assumed that such a seperation must have been the case with James and his first wife.
Now I am going over it I am wondering though... it might just be possible that Emily Wing had herself been married before and that her children... or at least the 3 who were visiting James with her in 1851 if not the 2 born subsequently and given the name Teatheridge at birth.... were the result of a former marriage. Maybe she took up with James, he took on her first 3 children, then she had Alice and John by him, so having given Alice and John the fathers surname, changed the names of her first three children as well.
Alternitively, maybe she was an unmarried mother prior to meeting James Teatheridge and the first three children were thus the result of Emily's relationship with a completely different man and were called Wing because that was Emily's own family name.
Would anyone have any ideas please?
Also, would someone be able to access the 1861 census please in order to discover the marital statuses of both James and Emily? I did have it on my tree held on the A website but somehow it seems that the copy of the record is the wrong one and now that I am no longer a subscriber I can't access the correct original copy.
Finally, can anyone please tell me how I might go about finding out what happened to James' first wife, Margaret Whiteley, and her 2 children? I have searched Free BMD and have in the past searched the census returns but to no avail.
All suggestions would be very helpful and greatly appreciated, thank you.
PS Watch out for the various spellings of Teatheridge... the details I mention refer to the family variously as Featheridge and Seatheridge, and from time to time in other records it's been spelled as Titheridge, Tetheridge, Titheredge, Tetheredge, Teatheredge and the like!!!
I'll try to explain.....
The lady causing my confusion is Emily Teatheridge, nee Wing, born 1823 in Lambeth.
On the 1851 census Emily is detailed to have been a needlewoman and a visitor to James Teatheridge's house in Lambeth, together with her young children, George, James and Emma. These children all bore the surname Wing, as did Emily herself. James Teatheridge is described as married yet there is no wife on the census. Emily too, it looks like, was described as married, although the wording is crossed through so I can't be certain. Again, there is no spouse of hers in that household.
The 1861 census sees James Teatheridge and Emily Wing living in a house in Camberwell, St Giles, with an older woman, Susan Gold. James was the head of the household and Emily is described as his housekeeper. I can't access the 1861 census copy so have no idea what her or James' marital status was at that time. I can tell you this though... although Emily's name was still Wing, her children were all now called Teatheridge! What's more, she had given birth to two more, John, and Alice Matilda, who were also called Teatheridge!
It wasn't until the June quarter of 1864 that Emily Wing and James Teatheridge were married, in Lambeth. (James is mis-transcripted as James Featheridge on the Free Births Marriages and Deaths website but I don't think for one moment there is any doubt that it's our man).
All this had up til now led me to believe that Emily had been "living in sin" with James and that their children were illigitimate. This seemed logical to me as James had in 1842 married a woman called Margaret Whiteley (at St Martins in the Fields), with whom he had had 2 children (maybe more but if there were I have yet to find them), Maria Ann, born circa 1841 and James Albert, born circa 1843. As we have seen, by the 1851 census, James was living without a recognisable wife in sight and Emily Wing and her Wing children were his visitors. I have searched for the whereabouts or death of a Margaret Teatheridge or Margaret Whiteley and the 2 children, to no avail.
I have discovered that at this period in history divorce was pricey and not a luxury the working man could afford. Hence "civil divorce" became the norm... the parties would just seperate and there was a lot of bigamy going on. I assumed that such a seperation must have been the case with James and his first wife.
Now I am going over it I am wondering though... it might just be possible that Emily Wing had herself been married before and that her children... or at least the 3 who were visiting James with her in 1851 if not the 2 born subsequently and given the name Teatheridge at birth.... were the result of a former marriage. Maybe she took up with James, he took on her first 3 children, then she had Alice and John by him, so having given Alice and John the fathers surname, changed the names of her first three children as well.
Alternitively, maybe she was an unmarried mother prior to meeting James Teatheridge and the first three children were thus the result of Emily's relationship with a completely different man and were called Wing because that was Emily's own family name.
Would anyone have any ideas please?
Also, would someone be able to access the 1861 census please in order to discover the marital statuses of both James and Emily? I did have it on my tree held on the A website but somehow it seems that the copy of the record is the wrong one and now that I am no longer a subscriber I can't access the correct original copy.
Finally, can anyone please tell me how I might go about finding out what happened to James' first wife, Margaret Whiteley, and her 2 children? I have searched Free BMD and have in the past searched the census returns but to no avail.
All suggestions would be very helpful and greatly appreciated, thank you.
PS Watch out for the various spellings of Teatheridge... the details I mention refer to the family variously as Featheridge and Seatheridge, and from time to time in other records it's been spelled as Titheridge, Tetheridge, Titheredge, Tetheredge, Teatheredge and the like!!!