Rebecca Pinder Wilks Walker

[Gwyneth W]

This is my 2nd great grandmother. Because she married twice, I'm not sure under which name to search to for a death record. I have British census records up to 1871 when she and her 2nd husband Alfred kept a beer house. I also found a family tree in the US with her daughter Jane Dagwell. Their family records included a photograph set in an ornamental Victorian background, but the matte is from a photo studio in Michigan. I don't believe she went to the US, rather that the photo may have been copied to better preserve it. It was thrilling to establish this link, but I am frustrated in that I can find neither her nor either husband's death. From her picture it appears she was well into her 60's.

[Jan1954]

Hello Gwyneth,

Deaths were usually recorded in Britain under the surname of the time - so in this case, Rebeccca's last known surname, her second marriage.

Do you have a location of where we should be looking to see if we can find her death? Do you have an approximate (or actual) birth year for her?

[olliecat]

Since we weren't given Rebecca's birth date and her name is transcribed as Beleca in 1871, it took me a while to find her. I'll post the details up here in case it helps...

1871: RG10 Piece: 820 Folio: 93 Page: 10 (crown copyright, care of the TNA)
"Duke Of Cambridge", Ash Vale, Surrey
WALKER, Alfred, head, 42, beer house keeper, Beeston Nottinghamshire
WALKER, Beleca [Rebeca?], wife, 47, Purfleet Essex
WILKS, Willm, son, 13, Staines, Middlesex
WALKER, John, son, 9, East Indies
MANDER, Matthew, lodger, 56, farm labourer, Ash Surrey
DAGWELL, Thos, lodger, 30, carpenter, Lymington Hampshire
DAGWELL, Jane, lodger, 24, Waltham Abbey, Essex
DAGWELL, Chas T, lodger, 4, Greenwich Kent
DAGWELL, Henry R, lodger, 2, Southend Essex
DAGWELL, Frederick, lodger, 2 mo, London

Note: Rebecca Wilks (father Thomas Pinder) married Alfred Walker on 26 Nov 1866 at Tower Hamlets.

[Kerrywood]

Note: Rebecca Wilks (father Thomas Pinder) married Alfred Walker on 26 Nov 1866 at Tower Hamlets.

Thanks to olliecat for posting the 1871 and marriage details.

I think Rebecca was married first to Charles WILKS (All Saints Poplar, 27 July 1838, by licence, her father Thomas PINDER).

Charles WILKS was recorded on marriage in 1838 as full age and a gentleman.

In 1841 he was a clerk, born Ireland, born c1822-1826.
1841 - HO107/653 book 7 folio 37 page 1 (Enfield Lock, Middlesex)

In 1851 he was Charles Edward WILKS (or WILKERS), civil engineer, born Ireland 1822.
1851 - HO107/1639 folio 166 page 15 (Tunbridge Wells & Hastings Branch Railway, Ticehurst, Sussex)

In 1861 Rebecca WILKS is found widowed, with children (Greenwich, Kent)
1861 - RG9/403 folio 45 page 28
(census records held by TNA, Crown copyright)

I am frustrated in that I can find neither her nor either husband's death.

Gwyneth, is the above the right family?

If so, we are looking for a possible death for Charles WILKS between 1851 and 1861. If he worked for the railways it could be more or less anywhere.

If not, can you please post the correct census references?

[Gwyneth W]

My apologies, I did have all this information and didn't add it for the sake of brevity. Yes, this is all correct. Note that (Harry) Thomas Dagwell married Rebecca's daughter Jane, and that her son Thomas Robert was on the same census page.

[valg]

No luck finding them but they were not at the Duke of Cambridge in 1881

[KathNZ]

Putting a search into A*y for John Walker born East Indies comes up with a census entry for 1901 in Canada. If you have access to Canadian census & shipping records (I don't) it might be good to check out this entry to try & eliminate it.

[Kerrywood]

Yes, this is all correct.

Thanks for the confirmation.

It appears that the last evidence of Charles Edward WILKS was in 1856/57, as the birth of a son William Clark WILKS was registered in Staines in 1857 (if that is the right entry?).

As there is no age given in the GRO deaths index at this period, somehow you need to narrow down the large number of possible Charles WILK(E)S deaths between 1856 and 1861. That said, I can't see a death for a Charles Edward WILKS in the right timeframe.

In 1861 the widowed Rebecca's occupation is Property on mortgage. So did Charles leave a will? If you can identify one, it might help with his date/place of death.

A possible shortcut to finding a will may be to check the Index to Death Duty Registers. To do this you would need to purchase a few credits on the pay/subscription site Find My Past, and check the Index between (say) 1856 and 1861. If you can find an entry for any duty that was paid, it may help to pin down a death.

Other possibilities are that Charles was not dead in 1861. Perhaps they had separated, and Rebecca described herself as a widow in 1861 for respectability's sake? Just a thought.

Or perhaps Charles died overseas? As a civil engineer apparently working on the railways, he may have been sent to work on railway construction outside the UK?

In the GRO Consular Deaths index (free to browse on Family Relatives, or pay per view on Find My Past), there is a death for a Charles Edward WILKS registered in Pernambuco (Brazil) during the period 1855-1859 (vol 2, page 228). There was a lot of railway construction in Brazil at this period, so it's a possibility.

If you want to pursue this death, you could order a certificate from the GRO in the usual way, using the reference provided in the index and the GRO Overseas order form. Please ask for more help on this if required.

[Ajwyorks]

Looking at the 1881 Canadian census I can find an Alfred Walker b c1825 a pipe layer with wife Rebecca b c1821 both born England and living York East, Ontario. My geography of the area isn't very good but would that make her not too far from Michigan?

[Kerrywood]

Looking at the 1881 Canadian census I can find an Alfred Walker b c1825 a pipe layer with wife Rebecca b c1821 both born England and living York East, Ontario.

There's a possible passenger list that might show this family -- the SS Nova Scotian, Glasgow & Liverpool to Quebec, arriving 22 May 1871 ...

Alfd Walker 42 Farmer
Rebecca Walker 41 Wife
Thos Walker 24 Lab
Jane Walker 22 Spin
Chas Walker 19 Lab
Wm Walker 11 Child
John Walker 7 Child
Chas Walker 4 Child
Hy Walker 2 Child
Wm Walker 1 Infant

Perhaps some of them were really DAGWELL and not WALKER?

This would be just after the 1871 census in Surrey (post #3).