Thanks for looking.
It's a bit of a mystery really and I'm not entirely sure what I was hoping the marriage certificate would reveal - apart from the obvious, that is.
In 1907, Sarah Ann Laity, listed as wife, together with children Caroline, Ethel, Evelyn, May, Percy, Violet (who later on seems to be referred to as Gwennie) and Horace, all surnamed Laity go off to the USA, together with a 41yr old engineer called William Richards.
Who is William Richards? Is he the same person as William John(s) Laity? They're the same age, and William Laity's mother's maiden name was Richards.
Also, William Laity is a tin miner, whereas William Richards is an engineer. He could just have been bigging himself up, but ...
... sometime between 1907 and 1911, Sarah and some of the children obviously come back to the UK because they're (a) on the 1911 census at Shakespeare Avenue, Bath (Sarah, b. 1866 Cornwall, married 25yrs, 8 children born, all alive, with Evelyn, May, Percy, Gwennie and Horace and (b) on another out-going passenger list to the USA on 29 June 1911, with the five children.
I'd seen the baptism for William John(s) Laity with parents Richard and Sally, but am a bit puzzled as to who Sally is, especially as there's no Richard Laity/Sally(or Sarah) marriage at/around the right time. William calls his eldest daughter Caroline, so although that's not exactly "proof" it's a pretty clear indication that this is the right family, and other siblings of William have Richards as a middle name. Could Sally be a wild mistranscription for Caroline?
So, lots of questions, including:
1. How could they afford to go to the USA in the first place - were assisted passages available?
2. If William was a tin miner, how did he morph into an engineer?
3. How did they afford to come back to the UK just for a visit again so soon (after only 4 years)?
4. I'm told that the family can't be found (yet) on the 1910 US census, but in 1920 and 1930 Sarah Ann is calling herself Richards is listed as a widow, but the children all remain with the SN Laity.
5. No death can be found in the US for William John(s) Laity/Richards.
6. On the 1901 census it says Evelyn, May, Percy and Violet were all b. Redruth. On the 1911 census it says that Evelyn was b. Devonport, May and Percy in Arizona, and Gwennie and Horace in Dakota. Why would they claim this? (There are birth registrations in Redruth Reg District that match the dobs for all of them.)
7. Plus other questions, that I've not yet thought of.
Anyone any ideas, please?
I seem to be going round in circles on this one.
Thanks in advance.
STG
