Louisa Jane LANE

[Greaves]

This is getting complicated. So let me list what I know:

1870: Louisa Jane b Wandsworth
1889: Louisa Jane (19) marries Henry MEACHEM (19)
1890: George Edward (son) b Lambeth
1891: Henry (21), Louisa (21 and son George Edward (1) living with his parents at Love Lane, Lambeth.
1894: Herbert (son) b Lambeth
1897: Florence Maud (daughter) b St Saviour
1900: Emily (daughter) b Hampshire?
1900: Violet MEACHEM (daughter) b Wandsworth
1901: William Bolt (Mason, b Devon 1855) living at 42, Inworth Street, Battersea, Wandsworth with his wife Hannah and son Ernest John.
1901: Henry Meachem (31) living at 69 Surrey Lane, Battersea with his son Herbert (7). But NOT with Louisa.
1908: William BOLT (son) b?
1910: Leslie BOLT (daughter) b Wandsorth
1911: William BOLT (mason, b Devon) and Louisa BOLT living at 119 Leverson Road, Wandsworth with 3 children: Violet BOLT (11), William BOLT (2) and Leslie BOLT (0).
1915: Henry Meachem (45) dies in Wandsworth.
1915: Louisa MEACHEM marries William BOLT in Battersea
1922: Louisa BOLT dies in Wandsworth.

[Greaves]

I am interested in the Hampshire tree. Where would I find it?

I am puzzled by the reference to Henry being deceased in 1903, as according to what I know he was alive in 1911 and didn't die until 1915, after which William and Louisa who had obviously been living together promptly married.

As for the child named Violet MEACHEM born in Wandsworth in 1900, I wonder if she is the Violet BOLT (11) living with William and Louisa in 1911. I would had thought almost certainly. Her birth certificate would be interesting.

[ShaunJ]

Violet Louise Meacham married Private George William Couture on 21 December 1918 at St Andrew Earlsfield. Father Henry Meacham, carman. William Bolt was a witness (the other was Jane Matilda Brett).

[Greaves]

This sort of makes sense as Henry Meachem was a carman. It also seems to confirm the link between the two families.

I have now looked at the Hampshire family. I now think that the trees on An**y are wrong that neither Florence Maud or Emily are the children of Louisa, either with William or Henry.

For a start, the two girls are living with a Henry and Elizabeth Meachem with their parents in Hampshire in 1901, when I know that my Henry Meachem was living with his son Herbert in London.

Moreover, both Emily and Violet were born in 1900 in different places, which seems unlikely if not biologically impossible.

[ShaunJ]

1897: Florence Maud (daughter) b St Saviour
1900: Emily (daughter) b Hampshire?

Florence Maud Meacham did not survive - her death is registered in St Saviour in Q/e June 1897.

I agree that the two in Hampshire (born in Greywell ) are from a different family. As you say they are in Southampton with parents Henry and Elizabeth in the 1901 census.

[ShaunJ]

Ernest James Meacham (1903) didn't survive either. Death in Wandsworth in q/e June 1904.

[ShaunJ]

Presumably Violet is with Louisa (wherever she is ) in the 1901 census. The other children are accounted for.

[Greaves]

OK. If we now assume that Henry and Louisa had 4 children: George Edward (b1890), who was with his Grandparents in both 1901 and 1911, Ernest James (b1903, d 1904), Herbert (b1894), who was with his father in both 1901 and 1911, and Violet (b1900), who was with her mother and adopted father in 1911. And then that William and Louisa had another 2 children: William (b c1908/9) and Leslie (b1910), both with their parents in 1911.

Then the question remains as to where were Louisa and Violet in 1901? Presumably together, given the age of Violet.

NB - sorry over-lapping posting.

[Greaves]

One more thought concerning Ernest James (b1903, d1904). His birth was after Louisa moved out of the marital home, so I would have thought it unlikely that Henry Meachem was the father. Perhaps stating that Henry was deceased at the baptism was a ruse to discuss illegitimacy.

Although they use Louisa's parents address, she wasn't living there in 1901. She was clearly still in contact with her family, as can be seen by the witnesses at her second marriage. They were Eva Georgina, the daughter of Louisa's eldest sister, and her husband.