Genealogy Chat

I am trying to make a to do list for my family tree research. its a list of all brick walls and looking in to them with a fresh pairs of eyes and seeing if there is anything that i have missed. one of them is my great grandmother and her 3 husbands.

jane ainscough born 1856 leigh lancashire
marries
peter aspinall 1877 leigh lancashire
has 3 children
sarah ann aspinall 1878
james aspinall 1881 died 1888
ralph aspinall 1883 died 1885

husband peter aspinall dies 1884

jane marries john nugent in 1885 leigh lancashire
has 2 children

mary jane nugent 1886 leigh lancashire
edward nugent 1889 leigh lancashire ( born in the workhouse )

cant find any death for john nugent

but jane marries again in 1901

jane marries thomas lamb 1901 ashton under lyne lancashire

janes children by john nugent are in the workhouse in 1901 . sarah aspinall her daughter by her 1st husband is married .

on the 1891 census


On the 1891 census
The family are living Off Pepper Alley which is off Union Street
Jane Nugent head age 32 years born Leigh Lancashire occupation is silk weaver
Sarah Ann Aspinall daughter age 12 years born Leigh Lancashire
Mary J Nugent daughter age 5 years born Leigh Lancashire
Edward Nugent son age age 19 months born Leigh Lancashire

what i am trying to find out is why was edward born in the workhouse ? was john nugent dead? i have looked for a death for a john nugent for the right age group from 1885 when they married to 1901 when jane married thomas lamb but had no luck. would they have got divorced? i cant see that because if they were that poor to have a child born in the workhouse and then in 1901 the year she married thomas lamb her two childrren were left in the workhouse she wouldnt have had the means to pay for a divorce.
mary jane went straight from the workhouse into service and edward went from the workhouse into the army as a drummer boy until he died in 1918 in belgium

so what i am really asking is how can i find out what happened to john nugent between 1885 when he married jane and 1901 when jane married thomas lamb

any suggestions would be great
sorry this is so long winded

linda x

this is all the info i have on john nugent

Marriage Certificate

Date - 1st August 1885
Where - The Congregational Church Pennington Leigh Lancashire

Name - John Nugent
Age - 23 years
Batchelor
Occupation - coal miner
Address - Smithy Street Pennington Leigh
Fathers name - Edward Nugent
Fathers occupation - farmer

Name - Jane Aspinall
Age 30 years
Widow
No occupation
Address - Smithy Street Leigh
Fathers name - James Ainscough
Fathers occupation - boatsman

Witnesses - George Ainscough and Amelia Darnell
Minister - William Kerfoot B.A. L.L.B
Registrar - James Ward

Possible reason for a birth in the workhouse - it was often attached to the local infirmary (or had an infirmary within it) and many women (I suppose probably those who could not afford a midwife or doctor) went there to give birth and came out again afterwards.

She would not be a technical "inmate", I think, but it may have been her only hope of getting decent maternity care.

I wonder if, when she married Thomas Lamb, he wouldn't take her kids on so they had to stay in the workhouse until they could be apprenticed or find employment?

Just checked the 1891 census - it would appear that Jane is married (or at least claiming to be) at this time.

thanks kate for your help. this gap with john nugent is just one of many brick walls .
thanks once again
linda x

Interesting one here:

1881 - 9 Adelaide Street, Wigan

James Nugent 45 Head Coal Miner b. Ireland
Mary Nugent 41 Wife Coal Miner wife b. Ireland
Michael Nugent 20 Son factory operative b. Lancs Wigan
Bridget Nugent 18 Daur factory operative b. Lancs Wigan
Margaret Nugent 14 Daur factory operative b. Lancs Wigan
James Nugent 12 Son factory operative b. Lancs Wigan
Patrick Nugent 10 Son factory operative b. Lancs Wigan
Mary A Nugent 9 Daur Scholar b. Lancs Wigan
Ann Nugent 7 Daur Scholar b. Lancs Wigan
John Nugent 20 Nephew Coal Miner b. Ireland

hi kate i have seen the 1881 before but no way to connect it to my john nugent. on john and janes marriage it states his fathers name is edward and that he is a farmer i think he would be a farmer in ireland not in uk especially if his son is a coal miner i think that their daughter mary and son edward where named after his parents. but never been able to find them. with out knowing where in ireland to start from. thanks for looking and at least we are coming up with the same conclusions it is much appreciated
linda x

Is it possible that if he was Irish that he may have gone back to Ireland to visit family during 1891 - hence his wife showing as married but he's not there. And then perhaps he died in Ireland and she then married again?

hi mrs tibbetts thats something that i have thought of perhaps he left jane and went to ireland and never returned so she remarried i have sent off for jane and thomas lambs marriage cert and hopefully it will state widow although can i believe this ?
thanks linda x

Well sadly you never know - there is always the possibility that he died somewhere and wasn't able to be identified. When I was looking through some registers in Kent I was saddened to see how many people were buried who had drowned or been found dead and were unknown and buried as 'unknown man' or 'stranger found dead'.

I seem to remember there was some plot thread in a Thomas Hardy novel where the husband disappeared for years, and reappeared on the eve of his wife's second marriage - there was perhaps some rule that if there had been no contact for (7?) years, the wife would be free to remarry?

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

I found that my 3x gt grandmother had married for the second time in 1870. On the cert it states that she is a widow. I spent many months, off and on, looking for the death of my 3x grandfather only to find later that he was alive and kicking on the other side of the country....he had also married. On this marriage cert, again in 1870, it states that he is a widower!!

Someone telling porkies!!

Linda

I think the 7 year time span was correct - not sure if it still applies. After 7 years you could apply to ?? the local JP / the local court ?? and your spouse would be declared dead and you were free to remarry. Not sure how it worked but it happened.

In my family I have two cases of bigamy taking place in the late C19. People couldn't afford divorces and sometimes they simply lied so they could remarry.

thanks everyone i suppose i will just have to put him to one side and hope that he turns ups . you never know some genes member might one day be looking for him as well. thanks once again to everyone.
linda x