1891 census - John Cox

[Dale]

I Just knew Coro Street got it's plot ideas from some where!
How did one get an annulment? Perhaps John didn't like independent women?

"But your Honour, I had no idea I was marrying him! I was under the weather m'lord".

There was a marriage of a Thomas Skilton to Eliza Ann Geary June 1879 St Neots - might that be a connection?

Can't with for the next instalment!
Cheers
Marlene

[Gillg]

Marlene

This is getting very interesting.  Did I mention that Eliza Ann's daughter is Amelia Ruth Skilton b Dec Q 1885 in St Neots?  Eliza Ann says she was born in Offord Darcy c1856 and I see a birth for an Eliza Geary in Dec q 1858 reg St Neots, which just about fits. John is recorded as 60 and Eliza as 45 in 1901, so quite an age difference.  I can't see a death for Thomas Skilton which would allow her to be free to marry John in 1892, at least not one in Hunts.  Perhaps their marriage was dissolved as well.  I think I'm getting into the realms of fantasy here, maybe. 

Incidentally, I was recently given a handy tip (thanks, Mean_genie) on how to trace divorces, which is worth passing on here:

You search the online Catalogue

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp?j=1

using the surname as a search term, restricting it to series J77, and if the name is a common one you may want to restrict it by date too. The result will give the full names of both parties, and sometimes the co-respondent if there is one.

Gill

[Dale]

Hi
There is the death of a Thomas Skilton in 1895 aged 73 in Hunts.
Perhaps he was in the Workhouse - old age /seniity - admitted after the 1891 census, and the age might be incorrect??

I'm presuming you have the 1891- I don't!
The plot might yet thicken!
Off to byes with that thought!
Cheers
Marlene

[Gillg]

Yes I saw that one and kind of dismissed it because of his age.  If 73 was the correct age or thereabouts, that would have made him old enough to be her father -  remember she was 45 on the 1901 census and he was 73 in 1895.  (What am I saying?  It does happen.  One of my other more modern relatives twice married men older than her father )

I don't have the 1891 for Thomas, but must say that I think a more likely candidate for the death in 1895 would be Thomas born c 1822 in Sturmer, Essex, but living in 1881 in Godmanchester.  He was an umbrella maker and had a wife called Permelia and a son called Heychiak.  (Where do they get 'em from?)  The family appear to have lived in Hunts from 1851 at least from the Ancestry index.  Various spellings of Permelia, as you might imagine.  Thomas is in the 1891, too.  "Pamelia" died in 1911 aged 88.

The search goes on....

Gill

[Gillg]

To return to the subject of Annie Fairey and John Cox - the difficulties with Annie's name continue even after her death.  In 1891 she calls herself Mrs Cox, married, though her husband is not with her: in 1901 she is widow Fairey (the John Cox I believe to be the correct one didn't die till 1902).  She died suddenly in 1922 at the age of 83, and there was a Coroner's inquest, however it was quickly decided that the death was from natural causes.  Because of the inquest, it was the Coroner who signed as informant, naming her as Annie Cox otherwise Fairey. 

A newspaper report of the death, presumably from the Coroner's court, named her as Annie Cox.  The announcement of death and the funeral report in the same paper named her as Annie Fairey.  This might have had something to do with the fact that the funeral director was her nephew, Charley Fairey, or maybe her children wanted the Fairey name emphasised rather than Cox. 

I'm stumped as to how to proceed with unravelling the mystery of John and Annie's marriage, and I've looked for but can't find a different John Cox born c1840 with father James.  But you would think if someone was intending to commit bigamy, he wouldn't choose to marry for the second time in a neighbouring village. 

Gill

[bedfordshire boy]

Perhaps after he'd been gone for 7 years she had him declared dead. But of course if at the other end of the country he remarried "widower, my wife died in Lancashire" he'd still be a bigamist. But who would bother to check?

David

[Gillg]

Hi David

Well, I suppose we'll never know, but my Fairey grandfather*, Annie's son,  used to talk mysteriously about a Black Sheep in the family. I think my father probably knew who it was, but sadly my brother and I never found out, as we were considered too young to be told.

Gill

* I had a Fairey grandmother, too, but sadly no fairy godmother!

[Dale]

Hi Gill
Just out of curiousity have you got John Cox's 2nd marriage cert?
Could you ask, specifying that he must be a bachelor or a widower? (you'd need to think about which state of matrimony is most useful to you! )

I'm left wondering if your John Cox actually died elsewhere  and is therefore hard to track - not unlike my William Fairy- it took four years of harrasment to the Hunts Record office before they found his birth with the correct parents and it hasn't yet turned up on Free BMD! In fact they have rescanned some of those pages  so we have Gerrard Fairey June Q 1848 and Hannah Farey June Q 1848  but I suspect they have omitted the page with William Fairy which I found by checking the very old fiche at Wellington Archives! Very difficult to read but it was there!

I didn't tell them I knew his birth date, partly to ensure I got the right one!

Perhaps a similar error has occurred with the birth of your Amos and John Cox's death?

Just a thought!
Cheers
Marlene

[Gillg]

Hi Marlene

No, I don't have John's second marriage cert, though I'd love to see it.  It would also be interesting to compare signatures in the marriage register for the marriages to Annie & Eliza, to confirm once and for all whether this is the same fellow.  I've been bombarding everyone on GR with a John Cox of approx the same age, to see if I can find him, but got lots of negative answers.  I did find someone who had Eliza on the outer twiglets of her tree, but she only knew about Thomas Skilton.

John Cox is quite a common name, so he's not all that easy to trace, especially if he stepped out of the county.

As far as Amos Fairey is concerned, we know that he was entered on the 1841 as 20 days old.  Calculating backwards from the census date, that would make his birth date 17th May, or thereabouts, depending on the accuracy of his parents' memories.  But as you know, neither the Record Office nor the Register Office in Hunts can find his birth record, though they have all his siblings recorded. 

Thanks for your helpful suggestions.

Gill