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That's hilarious, thank you 

Is there somewhere online where you can search local newspapers like this?

Thank you for this!  Confirmation on the 'Howard' and the wedding date was very helpful.  Tried to have a look what Mary might have been doing in 1871, and the two best possibilities seem to be she was a servant in one of two places, one in Southport and one on a farm in Lathom.  I'll do a bit more digging.  Where did you get the more detailed information about their wedding, witnesses etc?  Thanks for your help.

Wow, that's amazing and fast work!

It was on the 1939 census that I discovered the 'Smart' connection, which was how I got back to find out about Joseph and then subsequently discovered the two girls Elsie and Frances on their Grandparents census in 1911.  I didn't know there was a third child called Harold, so that's interesting.

I can't find anything about George and Clara's whereabouts in 1911, when they were clearly together and producing children.  It's a mystery what happened to Joseph.  I'm assuming he died seeing as the maternal grandparents are housing the children, unless there was some kind of dramatic bust up that separated Clara and Joseph and the grandparents insisted on taking the children.  I've imagined all kinds of scenarios in my head!  I wondered if he'd been in a mining accident perhaps, but surely then he'd have a death certificate.

I've found who I think Elsie and Frances got married to later on, though there doesn't appear to be many children from them (Frances had a daughter called Margaret).

Thanks for your help and discovering Harold 

Hi,

I'm just getting started on my family tree, but have come across a missing piece in the jigsaw that no-one really knows anything about because in the old days people didn't talk about things!

My great grandfather George LOVATT (born c.1868) married/got together with a Clara SMART (first married name)/GLADWIN (Maiden name) who was born around 1880.  I can't work out what happened to her first husband Joseph SMART (they were born and bred in Eckington, Derbyshire) that she ended up marrying George.  George and Clara must have come together between 1906-1910 as Clara had two children from her first marriage, and then they had two girls called Nellie and Annie in 1910 and 1912 before then moving to Greater Manchester and having three more children.  One of their children (my Grandad) apparently took my Dad to see some step-siblings in Sheffield around 1970 ish, so we believe George Lovatt had also been married before.  The only other clue we have is that one of these step-siblings had a dance & drama school in Sheffield that used to perform at the City Hall.  That's all the info we have, can't find any marriage certificate for George and Clara, and the two possible birth certificates for a George LOVATT are Stoke on Trent and Newcastle Under Lyme, which may or may not be him.  We're stumped.  There's hardly anyone left on that side of the family that we know that we can ask.  Any help gratefully received!