Ann Watkins married James Whitcombe at Walford, Hereford in 1850. In 1851 census they lived in Monnow Street, Monmouth with their 6 month old son William Frederick and with Ann's sister Sarah Watkins (unmarried).
Sometime after the census in 1851 and before the birth of James Whitcombe’s second child, Joseph Watkins in Bristol in the December quarter of 1853, I had thought that Ann Whitcombe passed away leaving her sister Sarah already in residence in the family home, but I could not locate a death certificate for her. It appears to me that as the son Joseph’s surname is registered as Watkins, with no maiden name for his mother, that his mother was almost certainly Ann’s sister Sarah.
I am trying to work out what happened to Ann, the first wife of James and older sister of Sarah. I have found two possible death certificates for Ann Whitcombe – the first in the December quarter of 1869 in Merthyr Tydfil (deceased aged 48, which matches my Ann Whitcombe) and the second in the September quarter of 1858 in Newport but the deceased was aged 38, implying a birth year of 1820 rather than 1822 but both of these dates seem to be too late. Is there any way of verifying either of these without ordering a death certificate?
Either of these death dates would imply that Ann was still alive when James’ child Joseph and others were born. This seems unlikely as Joseph was registered as a Watkins, thereby implying that his parents weren't married. A possible scenario has occurred to me that Ann had been committed to an insane asylum, perhaps suffering from post-natal stress or similar, and that she died there. Sadly this was not an unusual occurrence in Victorian times. Again can anyone advise on how to find out if this is a possibility and how I might obtain evidence (if there is any)?
Thanks in anticipation.
Cherryl
