Reginald Frank Roll 1893 Herringfleet and his wives

[Sally4x]

Any help looking up records in Suffolk for this would be really appreciated.

Reginald Frank Roll was born in Herringfleet on the 18th July 1893 to Frank Roll and Alice Matilda Kittle. He spent a lot of his adult years as a tanner in India, but travelled back and forth to Suffolk often and finally settled in Suffolk where he died on the 8th November 1980.He was married twice and I don't think had any children. My issue is with tracing his two wives.

1. He married Laurence Henrietta Maria Espie on the 7th November 1921 at St Mary, Somerleyton. I have the marriage certificate and Laurence was born around 1897 and he father is listed as Jean Espie a gentleman. Soon after the marriage the couple went to India and I presume Laurence died over there, because the next time Reginald shows up on an immigration record he is listed as a widow. However, I can find now trace before the marriage of who Laurence Henrietta Maria Espie and her father Jean were. Do these people even sound English?

2. He later travels with his new wife Mary Alice who was born on the 25th August 1899 and she is a doctor. I am again presuming that they married overseas because I can't find any marriage records for this marriage. She dies on the 28th September 2000 and is buried with Reginald. I will probably need to order her death certificate, but any information about her would also be appreciated.

Thanks

[rosie99]

Wedding to Mary Alice
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HGGN-7V3Z
Reginald Frank Roll
Marriage 12 Apr 1941
Ranipet, Madras, India
Age:   48
Marital Status:   Widowed
Father Frank Roll
Spouse Mary Alice Tomlinson
Spouse's Age:   42
Spouse's Marital Status:   Single
Spouse's Father's Name:   Richard Tomlinson

[Sally4x]

Oh wow thanks! I had searched all over and didn't see that!

[chempat]

There are 3 marriages for a Jean Espie in Marseilles in about the correct time frame for the couples to be Laurance's parents.  I do not know what areas of France Ancestry has access to - there could be a lot of possible parents throughout the whole country.

Ancestry also has the 1876 census for Hautes-Alpes, and 1896.

Would it be worth posting your request for a birth for Laurance, father Jean Espie, on the Foreign boards for people with more experience of what records are available?
However, she could be Canadian, or born in India etc etc.

Presumably the witnesses at the 1921 marriage were of no extra help for Laurance's identification?

[Sally4x]

Thanks I’ll do that and no they weren’t. She came over to England alone and married without any family present.