1911 Census has me puzzled

[osprey]

forgot about the possible third child

Thomas Alfred Wasley sept qtr 1909 Cardiff vol 11a pg 422

another who isn't leaping out of the 1911 census.

 

[stanmapstone]

I wonder whether this was a common-law marriage?

Rambler

Just to point out that in England and Wales there is no such thing as "common law marriage" (in spite of what you sometimes see in the media), whereby unmarried persons who live together and behave as if they were married are treated as man and wife. It has not been possible to enter into an informal marriage in this country before and after the passage of Lord Hardwicke's Act in 1753.
There is a difference between using the term 'common law wife' and a 'common law marriage.'
A 'common law wife' may be a wife in fact but in law, common or otherwise, she has no such status.

Stan

[osprey]

I've found the baptism of Thomas Alfred Wasley and he is the son of Walter Bertie (tin labourer) and Nellie Dorcas.

1911 has no Wasleys at the address given at the 1909 baptism.

[mothball]

This might sound daft, but have you paid for the Transcription or the Original?

I have bought few Originals, well three in fact because the Transcripts, as I suspected turned out to be wrong.  I got my money back, but I wasted so much time puzzling over who the people were.

In my family from a 1911 census the husband is living with a wife of 7 years that nobody knows about and there is no wedding index for them or death index for the woman.   Simply - they never got married.  Who she was is  a mystery.

Steven

[osprey]

the questions about length of marriage and number of children are for the woman. So Nellie Dorcas might be being honest in her answers, she just isn't married to the head of household.

 

[marysma]

Hello all,

               just managed to catch up on all your posts---you have been busy!!!

mothball--the information came from the original--I bought both,and although it says they have a child there is no childs name on the census,wonder where he/she was.

Osprey--I think they were married to each other as they both have the same surname and both says married.His sisters were Margaret,Barbara and Mabel and his brother had emigrated by this time, so I don't think it could be an in-law.This begs another question -where are Mabel and Alex Horne,they would have been 18 and 16 at the time of the 1911 census and we were told that grandfather had brought them up after his mother died and his father did not bother with them.

I could be on a completely wild goose chase >:(and this William James Horne is not my grandfather at all!!,but it does seem to fit -the family all lived in Canton,Cardiff and the address for William and Nellie is De-burgh St,Cardiff which is more or less the same area.

Next to profession on census is the number 734 written in green ink and next to place of birth is 503(william) and 253 (nellie)written in red ink--does this mean anything?.

I was just thinking(or rambling)if this is grandfather maybe  they married in Scotland as most of his family still lived there(clutching at straws,lol).

Thanks all for your imput--much appreciated.
MM

[osprey]

Mabel and Barbara appear to be in a household by themselves in Cardiff and are transcribed as Harne.

The couple might say they are married, but they are hardly likely to fill out the census form saying they weren't.

 

[marysma]

  osprey--I  COULD KISS YOU- what a star--- I would never have looked at that transcription!.It's the right people as dad always said his aunts were tailoresses.

Had a look at this and they were both living at Wedmore Road,which is only a stones throw from De-Burgh Street  where William Horne was living.

I think this William has just got to be my grandfather,so back to the original puzzle of William & Nellie.

I often used to wonder why grandfather did not marry until he was 38--now i may get to know the answer to that question!!.

Much appreciated osprey,thanks for your help.

MM

   

[Nick29]

Just a thought - do you have your grandfather's marriage certificate ?  If it says anything other than Bachelor against his name, then he was married before.  Quite obvious, but sometimes overlooked.