Walter Brooks born 1849 Clerkenwell

[Lawrence J]

Hi
I wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction.

My great great grandfather drops off the radar after 1881. He married Catherine Westgarth in July or August of that year. He was previously married and widowed and had a son by his previous married called Charles who was born c.1879.

In 1891 and subsequent censuses his wife Catherine and her sister Annie are living with various sets of relatives. She gives her marital status as  married not widowed.

There is no sign of Walter anywhere; no death record-no nothing!

There is a Walter Brooks of the right age who died in the Hackney poor hospital in 1933 but it's a pretty common name.

Any advice as to where I should be looking to find out what happened to him sometime after1881?
 
Thanks
Jon

Jon

[PaulineJ]

If you don't have the marriage certificate (you don't have the date of the marriage)! then how did you determine that it is *your* Walter brooks who wed Catherine Westgarth?

You also didn't give his year of birth, his place of birth or his occupation at 1879/1881/ marriage.

Pauline

[lizdb]

Is this Walter and young Charles in 1881?

RG11 350  70 44

Halletts place, Clerkenwell
Walter Brooks 32 worker and jeweller
Charles 7 son        both bn Clerkenwell
Jane Smith 52 lodger charwoman

According to that, Charles was bn 1874ish rather than 1879.

[lizdb]

Here is the marriage

21 Aug 1881
St James Islington
Walter Brooks , full age, widower, jeweller, of St James Holloway, father James Perchard Brooks, jeweller
To
Catherine Rachel Westgarth, full age, spinster, of St James Holloway, father Thomas Taylor Westgarth ,bootmaker

Both signed . Witnesses RW Westgarth and Annie Westgarth

[heywood]

Hi Lawrence and welcome 

Charles' age does look a bit doubtful - could be 1 or 7 perhaps.

There also looks to be a daughter, Annie Westgarth Brooks - marriage to Edward Alexander Knolles Gosnell shows her father as Walter Charles Brooks, jeweller.

Similarly, Amy Amelia Brooks born abt 1870 has a father, Walter Charles, jeweller on her marriage to Charles Henry Bunworth in 1897.

Regards
Heywood

[lizdb]

As an aside (you may already have this) here is his fathers marriage -

21 October 1823
St Martins in the fields Westminster

James Perchard Brooks to  Matilda Ann Ansell
Both of this parish
Witnessses Charles Davis, and mark of M A Bartram

[Lawrence J]

Hi All,
Thanks for the posts. I have the marriage certs for Walter Brooks to Catherine Rachel Westgarth and her daughter Annie Westgarth Brooks to Edward Alexander Knowles Gosnell. On the marriage cert, his father's occupation is Perfumer (deceased) Walter Brook's occupation is Jeweller not deceased.

He was out there somewhere but I don't know where to go from here.

Jon

[heywood]

Hi All,
Thanks for the posts. I have the marriage certs for Walter Brooks to Catherine Rachel Westgarth and her daughter Annie Westgarth Brooks to Edward Alexander Knowles Gosnell. On the marriage cert, his father's occupation is Perfumer (deceased) Walter Brook's occupation is Jeweller not deceased.

He was out there somewhere but I don't know where to go from here.

Jon

The difficulty is that Annie perhaps just didn't know about Walter. It doesn't say, 'not deceased', she just never gave that information.

[Lawrence J]

Hi
Thanks Heywood for spotting Amy Amelia Brooks born about 1872. At the time of the 1881 census she is recorded at 3 Halletts Place as niece to Jesse Webb. Walter had an older sister Jessy and at the time of the census was living in the same street. Jessy Brooks married John Webb and the witnesses were James Brooks and Susan Ansell so it all fits.

From the dates it now looks like his first wife was Mary Barbarina Church who he married 23/04/1871 (just after the census to be awkward) and it looks like she died Jan 1875 around the time of their son Charles's birth.

Unfortunately  Walter is still invisible after his second marriage in 1881.

Jon