What happened to Georgina MATTHEWS/ROWLANDS

[Mitch in Notts]

Georgian ROWLANDS was born Q1 1857(possibly 05 Mar) in Dudley, Worcestershire.
She is with her parents on the 1861 and 1871 census.
In 1881 she is in Sedgley, Staffs as a 24 year old Nurse(Domestic) at RG11 2689 96 8.
On 5th September 1881 at St Giles, Rowley Regis we have, courtesy of freereg:
William MATTHEWS(X), 21, Bachelor, Police Constable, Henry MATTHEWS, Brewer.
Georgina ROWLANDS(X), 24, Spinster, Dudley, Thomas ROWLANDS, Moulder.
Witnesses: Thomas(X) and Matilda(X) WHITEHOUSE.

I can find no further trace of Georgina. No family tree on Ancestry have the above marriage or any future for her. I can find no children using mothers maiden name search.

William is also a puzzle.
On the 1871 census there is a Henry MATTHEWS, Brewer, in Dudley. This seems perfect with regards to occupation for Williams Father. He has a Son William H MATTHEWS, age 8 born Dudley. Birth Reg Q1 1863 Dudley, under William Henry MATHEWS, MMN BRINDLEY(1861 marriage). This makes him too young to be the above William in theory. That William is not with his parents in 1881.

Has anyone any suggestions as to the disappearance of William and Georgina, and the origin of William before Marriage.

Thanks

Mitch

[Pam Downes]

Emigrated?

I presume you've checked for deaths in England and Wales using variant spellings such as Mathews, and any number for Georgina?

[Pam Downes]

William is also a puzzle.
On the 1871 census there is a Henry MATTHEWS, Brewer, in Dudley. This seems perfect with regards to occupation for Williams Father. He has a Son William H MATTHEWS, age 8 born Dudley. Birth Reg Q1 1863 Dudley, under William Henry MATHEWS, MMN BRINDLEY(1861 marriage). This makes him too young to be the above William in theory. That William is not with his parents in 1881.

Other random thoughts.
I notice that FreeREG say that William is 21. Any possibility that it could be a badly-written 27?

Also, William is 21 compared to Georgina's 24. Is it possible that he lied about his age and he's really only 18 because he is the William you've found in 1871? (Depends how old you had to be before you could join the police c 1881.)

Have you tried to locate the William H, aged 8 in 1871, in 1881, 1891, etc? Though I know it's not easy when you have fairly common names. Where's an Ebenezer or a Percival when you need them!

[Mitch in Notts]

The 1863 birth is under Mathews rather than Matthews. I searched the 1881 census for a Henry Matthews as a Brewer and came up with the entry but without a Son William. The 1871 does have a Son William and on the 1861 Henry is unmarried. On all three a brewer. And in Dudley from 1871. William could be the Son of a different Henry but no luck finding a brewer. I have searched for a William or Henry Mat*hews on the 1881 with occupation police* but no joy. I have searched for Georgina with variants and wildcards and same with surname.
I have just re-searched the 1881 for Mat*hews and police* with no forename/age in case he was 27 rather than 21. There is a 24 year old William Matthews in Gloucester, a Police Constable. No birth place. But then I'm back to looking for a Henry Matthews - Brewer - with a slightly older William on the 61/71 census and get nothing....

[Jomot1]

There is a 1904 naturalisation petition on Anc* for a William Mathews born 17 Feb 1863 "Town of Dredley Worceshceie, England", which should actually be Town of Dudley, Worcestershire. Arrived New York 9 Sep 1880.

[Jomot1]

In the census his wife is named Kate/Katherine and appears to have been born in Ireland. The census suggests they were married c1884, so either Georgina died, or they went their separate ways.

[Pam Downes]

There is a 1904 naturalisation petition on Anc* for a William Mathews born 17 Feb 1863 "Town of Dredley Worceshceie, England", which should actually be Town of Dudley, Worcestershire. Arrived New York 9 Sep 1880.

Well, I did suggest emigration, so I'm claiming a brownie point for that. Even if I'm not as clever as Jomot1 in actually finding a relevant entry. It's a shame that the Castle Garden site (relevant to emigrants arriving in New York before Ellis Island opened)not longer seems to be working. Can't even get any joy with it via The Wayback Machine.

On t'other hand, William would have been a bit busy if he arrived in New York in September 1880, and then hot-footed it back to England to get married in September 1881. So the plot sort-of thickens, though it's quite possible that William's recollection of when he arrived in the US might vary from the truth.

In the meantime, I've found that FMP have an index of the entries on the Castle Garden site but I can't see that any of the William (+variants) Matthews (+variants) who arrived 1882 +/- two years fit your William.

[Pam Downes]

Looks as if the Castle Garden images are available on Ancestry in the dataset All New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957.

There is something niggling in the back of my brain that people also went to the States via Montreal, though obviously the time span that (might have) happened is beyond my recall.

[Jomot1]

There are several trees on Ancestry with William Henry Mathews 1863, Dudley on it, but some wrongly list his parents as William & Elizabeth (who are actually the parents of William Ernest Matthews born 20 May 1859).

However.... there's a photograph of him in a police uniform! The original seems to be on the Johnson Family Tree, although there's no indication as to its origin.

[Mitch in Notts]

Thanks all. I didn't want to elaborate further in case anyone could find him in the UK.
The William MATTHEWS in the USA appears to give conflicting information. One record states he arrived USA on 19 Sep 1880.
Interestingly a William MATTHEWS arrives New York 19 Sep 1881, age 23, carpenter. That date, 2 weeks after marriage, would explain the lack of children in the UK BUT - No wife with him and that William is shown as a carpenter, while the USA one has him on census returns as a stone worker. The William in the USA marries in 1886 to an Irish woman. Unfortunately I couldn't find a marriage/death record in the USA that gave marital status, parents names etc. I am not at this point convinced it is the same William. The USA William gives an age of 41 in 1904 -1863 and is consistent throughout with his age while the William I have is 2 years older, at least.
Currently unproveable!