Hi All
Is there anyone out there with an intimate knowledge of Basseleg in the early
1900s? My usual hunting ground is much earlier - 17th/18th century and I
must admit to being a bit out of my depth in the 20th.
This family is within living memory and so we know 'all' about it, but
unfortunately the data we have now seems to be a pack of lies. Here is the
story :-
Henri HARWOOD "married" a widow, Annie Eleanor Llewellyn nee Coslett about
1915. This is shown by a birth certificate for a son, Vincent, of 1916 from
an address in "The Village, Craig RD", which clearly shows the parents to
have been a married couple. We could never find the marriage certificate.
Now the whole fabric has fallen to pieces. Henri's birth certificate was
found (He was named Henry on it), but we also found in the 1901 census that
he was married to a Julia HARWOOD and living in Nottingham. Julia was still
alive after he "married" his second wife, Annie Llewellyn.
Suspicious, we now cannot find the death certificate of Annie's first
husband. Was it a double bigamous marriage or did the marriage never
happened and was the birth certificate a lie?
The couple belonged to a very small and strict religious sect, The Exclusive
Brethren, and lived in a small Welsh village. I cannot believe that the
locals did not think they were legally man & wife.
In about 1935 Henri "died", but we cannot find his death certificate - did he
go back to his first wife?
The son, Vincent, showed too much interest in the local girls (outside the
Exclusive Brethren) and was packed off to Leicester to live with his half
sister, from Annie first marriage. He immediately took up with a Catholic
girl, married her and was excluded from the family. He emigrated to
Australia and I am in touch with his living family there.
What a mess! How do I clear it up? The 1911 and 1921 censuses may help
(but I cannot wait that long) and the opening up of the post 1902 BMD indexes
for computer searches many allow a much wider search.
What I am seeking is anyone with local knowledge of what other local records
may be available - local histories, poll books, school records, nonconformist
records - anything. I think we need to learn all we can about the district
if we are ever to separate fact from fiction in this case.
Thanks you listening
Regards
T@m