Having been trying to knock down my Jones brick wall for some years, a recent close DNA match on MH with a mother & son has led me to discover that my great grandfather was a bigamist. He married my great grandmother, Eliza Sullivan in 1889 in Stepney, Middlesex (stated father's name as Henry) then married Annie Jones (think the name is a coincidence rather than him marrying a relative) in 1895 stating he was a bachelor and father's name as Alfred. His signature on each record looks identical, however on the second ‘marriage’ he calls himself, Alfred David Jones.
A couple of things I noticed and I wondered what other rootschatters may think.
Alfred was a dock labourer and lived in Whitechapel at the time of his first marriage aged 20. He signed his name on the marriage record which I thought unusual for that period of time that someone working as a dock labourer would have been able to sign his name.
One of the witnesses to his marriage to my great grandmother was a Rebecca Turner. A widow, by the name of Rebecca Jones married a Joseph Turner in 1887 in Bethnal Green – her father was a William Webb. I thought Rebecca may be Alfred’s mother but unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a birth on the GRO website with mother’s maiden name of Webb. On the 1911 Census he states he was born in St. George’s in the East. I’ve searched other areas in the vicinity of St. Georges and also looked at dates either side of 1869 without success. I did order one cert that had no mother’s maiden name recorded (as I thought he may have been illegitimate) but it wasn’t the correct one.
Did Alfred lie about his age, where he was born, his father's name as well as his matrimonial status? Maybe I’ll never know…..but I will keep looking!
My grandmother, Alfred's daughter spent the majority of her childhood in and out of the workhouse with her mother and half siblings. In those days did the authorities try to trace fathers of abandoned children?
Any thoughts or comments welcome?
Linda
