Dench and Keens as cousins

[Helen Bedford]

Hi
I have found a George Keens living in 1881 in West Ham with his cousin Emma Dench.
George was born in about 1845, son of Henry Keans and Sarah Watson.
He married Eliza Binder in 1867 and was separated from her by 1881.
Emma is the widow of William Dench who was born about 1839 in Stratford.
Emma was born about 1844 in Barking, daughter of John and Mary Ann Hughes.
She married William in 1861.
Does anyone know how George Keens is cousin to Emma Dench (nee Hughes) please?
Helen

[carol8353]

Don't forget that the word cousin could be used to denote any 'loose' relation back then.It could be a cousin of your mother or father as well as a cousin of his wife's.

So if you don't find someone of the surname married to the brother or sister of the chap,look a bit further afield.

Carol

[Helen Bedford]

Hi Carol
Very true, I have tried going back a couple of generations but I didn't find any clues as the Dench family don't figure much on the IGI and possibly the connection was before the census
Helen

[lizdb]

Carol is right, it , the word cousin may be being used loosely.
But even if they are strict cousins it means that -

either Henry Keens or Sarah Watson was a sibling to either John or MAry Ann Hughes.
So the first question to ask is do you know Mary Ann Hughes's maiden name?
If it is Keens or Watson you may have found the link.

Or of course George could actually have been a cousin of Emma's late husband (we dont use the phrase cousin-in-law, so cousin would have to so!) so that would mean finding WIlliams mums maiden name and seeing if that was either Keens or Watson.

have you tried and ruled out all these possibilities?

[Helen Bedford]

Hi
William Dench was the son of William and Mary Dench, but I have had no luck as yet tracing their marriage - can anyone help please?
William Dench senior was born about 1801 in Cheshunt Herts and Mary was born about 1794 in Dagenham. Their first known child was born in 1830, so they should have married between 1817-30, but the age of Mary makes me wonder if it was a second marriage for her?
Helen

[carol8353]

So the first question to ask is do you know Mary Ann Hughes's maiden name?
If it is Keens or Watson you may have found the link.

Do you know the answer to this?

[Helen Bedford]

Hi Carol
I have not been able to find a marriage for John Hughes and Mary Ann with any certainty as it is a very popular set of names. All I know about them is that Mary Ann was born about 1825 in Ilford Essex and John Hughes was born in about 1824 in Middlesex - possibly Bethnal Green but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.
I certainly cannot find any Hughes-Keens or Hughes-Watson marriage, unfortunately!
Helen

[lizdb]

Here is John and Mary Ann in 1851
H0107 1772 381 9

4 Mount Pleasant, Barking Lane, Barking,Ilford

John 27 Market gardener bn Middx St Pauls Covent Garden
Mary Ann 26 bn Ilford
Mary Ann 8 bn Ilf.
Emma 7 bn Ilf.
George 2 bn Ilf.

and 1861
RG9 1070 50 5
John 37 Market gardener bn London
Mary 36 bn Ilf.
Henry 14 bn Ilf.
George 12 bn Ilf.

Now, I wonder where Henry was in 1851? Hopefully with a granny or other helpful rellie!

[lizdb]

Here he is -
HO107 1772 451 15
Barking
William Sales 53
Mary 46
William son 19
Henry Hughes grandson 6 bn ilford

fits in with this marriage-
Ap/May/Jun 1842
West Ham 12 402
John Hughes / Mary Ann Sales on same page

So it is looking as if MAry Ann was nee Sales, and thus unlikely to be a sister of Henry Keens or Sarah Watson.

Need a plan B!