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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Leicestershire => Topic started by: Tuggybear on Thursday 01 October 20 17:42 BST (UK)
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George Henry Tolley is an enigma I don't think I'm ever going to fully solve.
He was born in Leicester in 1868 to James Tolley of Warwick and Maria Hart. In 1889 he married Lois Mary Pick (born in Ibstock) in Leicester, their first child, Lois Maria was born shortly after their marriage. The couple went on to have another daughter in 1892, the same year that George Henry attested to the military.
George Henry bought his discharge in 1894 and in 1895 it appears that Lois Mary gave birth to another daughter, Nellie Tolley, however it seems that though George Henry was listed as the father Nellie was raised as Nellie Tolley Golby by William Golby and his then wife and the only record of Nellie being Lois' child is on the 1911 census where she adds Nellie onto the return and changes the number of children born in the marriage from 3 to 4. It appears that Nellie was not known to her half sisters as none of them knew anything about her and my MIL adamantly insisted that her grandmother had only 3 daughters.
The 3rd daughter was Neva Tolley born in 1903 in Lancashire and christened in Leicester shortly after her birth.
I have discovered that Neva had a daughter and another member of the family made contact with her family. All went well until George Henry was mentioned. Contact was immediately stopped and all attempts to reinstate it have been ignored. (I intend to have a try myself at some point as I'm hoping to barter information that they may not have.)
Anyway, I know that after some turbulence George Henry cleared off to Birmingham, where he lived for the rest of his life. (I believe he died in Birmingham in 1941)
I know that he enlisted during WW1 and transferred as a general something or other (ground crew) in 1919, or at least I think I know that, I now can't find the record I took some of this information from.
What I can't find is where the heck he was in 1911. I am almost certain he was in Leicester at this point because I've got a feeling I stored some info about him showing he was in Leicester the following year but the computer I used at that time has crashed and I have no access to that information.
One or two people have suggested he's there on the census but have not given me any idea where to look and he isn't coming up on either FindMyPast or Ancestry. I am hoping someone on here can point my in the right direction so that I can fill in that gap. Any hwelp will, as always, will be most gratefully received.
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There's some court reports of interest.
1. Leic chronicle, 1 May 1915; George Tolley, shoe hand of 3 Canning st was summoned for assault by his wife Louise Tolley when drunk.
2. Leicester Daily Post, 19 June 1915, entitled "The lure of the bottle"; George Henry Tolley, age 47,a shoehand of 3 Canning St was charged with breaking a recognisance order (what's that? I think it was like a probation order that he received in the May case) by drinking. The bench "regarded the case as a bad one" and he was sentenced to 2 months hard labour.
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By the way, you say that George bought his army discharge in 1894, and that Nellie was born in 1895. How do the timings match up? Is it possible that Nellie was conceived whilst George was away, and although registered with his name, wasn't actually his child? That might explain why she was brought up elsewhere.
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Another newspaper article - Leicester Chronicle 14 August 1915
Maintenance Order - Geo Hy Tolley (47) shoe hand, was summoned by his wife, Mary Tolley, 59 Abbey Street, to show cause why a maintenance order should not be made against him. Mr Carnley, for the wife, alleged persistent cruelty towards his client, which the husband admitted. An order of 6s per week, payable through Mr Ellwood, was made.
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1901: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS4V-F4S
1911, Lois and 2 daughters: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X75C-CZ5
TOLLEY, LOIS MARIA mmn PICK
GRO Reference: 1889 J Quarter in LEICESTER Volume 07A Page 272
TOLLEY, ELIZABETH ANN mmn PICK
GRO Reference: 1891 S Quarter in LEICESTER Volume 07A Page 273
TOLLEY, NELLIE mmn PICK
GRO Reference: 1895 J Quarter in LEICESTER Volume 07A Page 267
TOLLEY, NEVA mmn PICK
GRO Reference: 1904 M Quarter in CHORLTON Volume 08C Page 741
Related thread: https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=746946.0
Jamjar
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There is a rate book for Birmingham 1913 George Henry Tolley is at 4 Tower Road the owner of the house is Mrs. K Adams.
This lady owned several houses on that street.
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Do you know his exact birth date if so have you found him in 1939?
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George Henry was born the June quarter 1868 in Leicester.
Think there is a fairly obvious suspect in 1939 and occupation matches up.
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I think the question is......
What I can't find is where the heck he was in 1911.
Debra :)
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Thanks for the replies, Yes, my real query is about where he is hiding in 1911. I found Lois and the girls but can't trace George Henry at all.
I have to say though that the newspaper articles are a bonus as although I knew Lois Mary had gone to court over his hitting her I didn't know about the second court appearance nor about the maintenance case so thanks again for that information as it helps to build up a picture of the man and to understand why his wife never forgave him and why at least one of his daughters refused to speak about him.
Nellie was born at 114 Denman Street on 14/5/1895 and registered as the daughter of Lois Mary (nee Pick) and George Henry Tolley.
George purchased his discharge on 9/4/1894 so plenty of time for Nellie to be George's daughter/
There was almost 9 years between Nellie's birth and the couples last child, Neva Tolley born in 1904
Also the name Nellie does not appear to be a family name.
Lois Maria was named for her mother and paternal grandmother
Elizabeth Ann was named for two of her maternal aunts
Neva was named after the Russian river Neva by George Henry after his service in WW1. This name appears to be specific to George Henry's descendants.
Thanks again for the information. :)
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How can Neva, born 1904, be named after WW1 war service?
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Ooooops, I've confused George Henry's war dates with my own great grandfather's. Well spotted Chempat. :)
Neva was definitely named after the Russian river by George Henry and all successive Neva's in the family were/are named after her. As my mum-in-law understood it from her grandma Lois Mary, George got the name from the time he spent in Military service.
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You can look on freebmd for children born called Neva - first one appears to be 1861, and 'popular' in 1890's and 1900's, tailing off by 1930's.
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Wow, that's odd. Whenever I've searched for Neva I've only ever found my husbands family. It's interesting to note that the name stems back to 1861 though and has been present in three centuries, given that it is an unusual name. :)