What happened to Samuel Odell?

[HappyGoLucky33]

Samuel Odell (b. about 1860 in Luton) married my x4 great aunt, Mary Ellen Bonson, on 4 July 1887 at Barnsley register office.

In 1891, Samuel and Mary Ellen were living in Cudworth with their daughter, Martha. Samuel was a coal miner and this is the last record I have for him.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:72PN-CMM)

In 1904, a Mary Ellen Odell married a Thomas Lovekin in Barnsley. This couple may be the same couple that were living together in Seghill, Northumberland in the 1901 census. Daughter Martha now “Martha Lovekin”.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XS9H-QKH)

If this is them then Mary Ellen and Thomas were obviously cohabiting. This makes me think that Samuel may still have been living, hence why Mary Ellen and Thomas did not marry until 1904.

I’m hoping that a fresh pair of eyes may shed some light on what happened to Samuel Odell.

[CaroleW]

The birth reg for Thomas Lovekin shows mmn Harbutt

[HappyGoLucky33]

Thanks, Carole. Is this referring to the West Bromwich registration? I was under the impression that Cannock fell under Penkridge registration district and hadn’t found an appropriate birth registration for Thomas yet. Happy to be corrected though 

[Mabel Bagshawe]

The birth reg for Thomas Lovekin shows mmn Harbutt

Don't think that's the Thomas Lovekin in Barnsley. There are previous Lovekin-Harbutt children b West Bromwich dating back to the late 1870s

Marriages Mar 1877    King's Norton.    6c   547    
HERBATT    Hannah       
HERBUTT    Hannah        
Lovekin    Jeremiah        

[HappyGoLucky33]

Just to clarify that I have followed the Lovekins to the 1911 census and they had another son named William (b.1908 in “Moor”, Northumberland). They had apparently been married for 16 years so not sure if I have the wrong couple or if they told a white lie for respectability’s sake.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWMV-KLX

[Mabel Bagshawe]

I've tried finding a birth registration for William as well, without much success

[HappyGoLucky33]

I haven’t found a birth registration for Martha Odell either so maybe Mary Ellen wasn’t in the habit of registering her children’s births!

[JenB]

Just to help with the timeline, there is an account in the Barnsley Chronicle of 1st June 1895 to do with a court case relating to an alleged assault on a Mary Ellen Odell of Cudworth

[HappyGoLucky33]

Thank you, Jen, I will take a look!

I have just found the burial of Thomas Lovekin Sr at Earsdon on 16 May 1920. It looks like Mary Ellen married Robert D. Johnson the following year. A Mary Ellen Johnson was buried 30 May 1927 at Earsdon and then a Robert Dawson Johnson was buried 26 May 1934 at the same place.

So the timeline so far is that Mary Ellen married Samuel Odell at Barnsley in 1887. In 1891, she lived in Cudworth with Samuel and daughter Martha. In 1895, she was obviously still living in Cudworth if we assume JenB’s article is ‘our’ Mary Ellen. By 1901, she is cohabiting with Thomas Lovekin in Seghill, Northumberland with daughter Martha and a son Thomas. Possibly returned to Barnsley to get married in 1904. They moved to Earsdon by 1911 with sons William and Thomas. Mary Ellen’s married sister Agnes Smith was also in Earsdon at this time.

So at some point, probably between 1891 and 1896, Samuel Odell either died or he and Mary Ellen separated.