Ada Lovell of Notting Hill, London and Buffalo Bill Cody

[Columbanus]

I'm searching for any information about Ada Lovell who married George Colebrooke on September 10, 1896.  Does anyone know if she was connected with the William Cody Wild West Show in London in 1887 or in any of his other shows in the late 1800's.  I believe that this Ada Lovell was the daughter of Duriah Lovell born about 1838 in Hendon and who was married to Mary Anne Simpson. 

See section 8 of this article on the history of the Lovell family: 

http://www.gypsyjib.com/page/Lovell+family+of+Barnes+Surrey

It would be great if anyone has information about who was present at Ada & George's wedding in 1896.  They are both mentioned in the Census of 1911 along with their 5 children.

Many thanks

Columbanus
 

[crisane]

In 1871 Ada is living with her aunt Mignonette Lovel and father Duriah, and sisters/cousins? Emily, Ada, Katie and Clara. No mother present. 1881 census she is still with her father and is a scholar. Clara and other family members are there. 1891 it is just Ada and her father and for her it says no occupation. All three censuses have them living in Barnes Surrey. No indication that Ada was involved with Bill Cody shows.

I note there is an anomaly with Ada's age in 1911 census, and she and George have moved to Scarborough and he has changed his occupation from Commission agent to Dental mechanic but his place of birth Tunbridge Wells, and age remain the same. Ada is probably lowering her age because she is older than George and her place of birth is good as are the children's birth place of Barnes which matches up with where she is living in the 1871/81/91  census.
I have seen the website where someone in America is claiming her as the daughter of an Indian chief but this does not  seem to be this Ada Lovell. I can't follow their reasoning. The easiest way to settle it would be to buy the marriage cert from the GRO that would give Ada's father's name and occupation
 
Marriages September 1/4 1896 
George  Colebrooke   
Ada Lovell   
Richmond, S. 
vol 2a  page 827

[Columbanus]

Thanks for the quick reply Crisane.  Yes, did see that there is a question about Ada somehow being related to the Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.  It's possible, that there might be another Ada out there but unlikely as Ada Lovell seems to be the only one with that first name married to a George Colebrooke from Tunbridge Wells.  There are a lot of George Colebrooke's out there too and there is a ships manifest showing a George Colebrooke heading for Wyoming (one of the places Buffalo Bill hung out) in 1890.  Another strange thing is that there is a town called Lovell in Wyoming but don't know which branch of the Lovell clan established it in the mid/late 1800's or if they have any connection to Ada Lovell.

Thanks too for the other information about her family.

You are quite correct: the only way to resolve this would be to obtain a copy of the marriage lines (a to-do item) which will give the date and place of birth of George Colebrooke and also the names of Ada's relatives present. 

[crisane]

Hi
do you want the information and references from the 1871/81/91 and 1901 censuses?

The marriage certificate will Ada and George's father's names and occupations and witnesses names who may or may not be related.

[crisane]

Another little problem with George is that in the 1871 census there are 2 born Tunbridge Wells. One George William Key Colebrook (no e) born 1870 with parents George Nelson and Harriet Phyllis and the other George Colebrooke 1868 with parents Alfred and Esther.  Now when looking for births on FreeBMD there is a George William H  but with an 'e' registered  1871 but only a George Colbrooke/Colbrook registered in Chichester March 1/4 1869 so possible born late in the Dec 1/4 1868. So the e is added and dropped depending who is writing the information. The 1869 parents Alfred and Esther look a better bet.

[Columbanus]

Managed to find those Census reports as our local library has free access to Ancestry - socialism lives! 

Yes, was aware of two George's born in Tunbridge Wells but don't think that George William Colebrook was the one as he has no association with Scarborough.  The George living at Asquith Avenue, Scarborough named one of his sons Alfred and it is likely that this son was named after George's father Alfred - so typical a thing in the Victorian era - although he simply might have been named after Prince Albert.  So George's parents might be Alfred and Esther...however, the marriage or birth certificates would confirm that (more to-dos!). 

Ada Colebrooke is an enigma especially due to her whereabouts from 1883 to 1896 or from the age of 21 (assuming her birth was 1862) to age 34 when she was supposedly married (in 1896).  How did she survive without an income or even a profession for 13 years?  The problem she presents is that 34 seems a bit old for marriage in Victorian times when the norm was to marry in the late teens?  (Queen Victoria as you may know, set a national trend by marrying Albert when she was 21).  Do appreciate your sidelights on this research...

[KGarrad]

Ada Colebrooke is an enigma especially due to her whereabouts from 1883 to 1896 or from the age of 21 (assuming her birth was 1862) to age 34 when she was supposedly married (in 1896).  How did she survive without an income or even a profession for 13 years?  The problem she presents is that 34 seems a bit old for marriage in Victorian times when the norm was to marry in the late teens?  (Queen Victoria as you may know, set a national trend by marrying Albert when she was 21).  Do appreciate your sidelights on this research...

Not many single women back then had a profession - apart from the obvious! (Oldest profession!)
She would probably have been the house keeper at home, in the absence of her mother.

And that is a common myth about marrying as teenagers!
I think Stan came up with average ages at marriage, on a post a few months ago?

[crisane]

My thoughts also KGarrard.

Even my mother born 1908 being the youngest of only two girls in a family of 9 was expected to stay home and look after her parents.  Her mother actively interfered to break up a couple of relationships. Mum married at the age of 30.

[Columbanus]

My thanks to KGarrad and Crisane for their thoughts on the age Victorians married.  One thing discovered in this time-detective hobby is not to make assumptions but to examine every possibility.

The name of the game here is to find out the maiden name of the Ada who married George Colebrooke in 1896 and the only way to do that is to check the marriage certificate.  Someone has already found out this information as they stated that Duriah Lovell (Ada Lovell's father) was named on that marriage certificate:

http://www.gypsyjib.com/search/everything/george%20colebrooke?contains=george%20colebrooke

However they didn't mention the father of George Colebrooke, so if anyone out there has that certificate do let me know as this will prove which of the several George Colebrooke's mentioned in Ancestry is the correct one.  The George Colebrooke mentioned on the 1911 Census is perhaps, the same one who married Ada Lovell but we won't know for certain until Ada's maiden name is confirmed.

The troubling part of all this is the sheer volume of consistent family stories which connect Ada "N" to north American First Nations Tribes and how Ada "N" described herself as related to either Sioux, Pawnee, or Cheyenne tribes (all depending on who's telling the story). 

There can be a lot of value in family lore as you know.  Speaking from a personal example, my father told me his mother received 7 telegrams from the Mercantile Marine relating to her brother who's ships were targeted by German U-Boats during WW1.  Naysayers discounted this story for many years until recently a distant cousin found the information in WW1 records at Kew and Newfoundland and proved that my dad's uncle was on board a number of ill-fated ships and unfortunately lost his life on the 7th ship when it was attacked in the Ionian Sea in 1918.  I digress but hope this example shows the importance of family stories... 

I know that in the case of Ada "N" naysayers galore are asserting that there is no American First Nation connection whatsoever but I am hoping that someone somewhere has the information proving or disproving the link definitively.