Case Histories

All information stated is taken from the family history of our senior researcher Gay Evans.

Family Information

Gay says

“My Father told me that the Pearson family came from Nottingham—upon careful research our branch of the Pearson family actually originates from Foleshill near Coventry. Now I am sure that my Father visited possible distant cousins in Nottingham but they were not directly related. He also stated that there is ‘Spanish blood’ in the family. So far having traced this particular line back to 1800 there is no sign of it, I live in hope!”

Documentation

Gay says

“My Great Grandfathers birth certificate states that his parents surnames were Robert Fearn and Elizabeth Fearn formerly Wakefield, I spent hours looking for a marriage between these two people. I did come across a marriage between a Robert Fearn and an Elizabeth Middleton which then led to the discovery that Elizabeth Middletons stepfather was a John Wakefield hence the surname stated on her sons marriage certificate. The strange thing is though that when she registered her 6 children she seems to switch her surname between Middleton and Wakefield at random, very frustrating for researchers.”

Previous marriages/children

Today divorce is relatively easy to obtain and is talked about openly. Prior to the mid 20th century this was not the case. Before 1858 divorce could only be obtained by a private act of parliament and therefore there were very few divorces. At the beginning of 1858 a new civil court was set up to process divorces. The law favoured men and women had a much harder time getting a divorce. Even as late as 1925 a woman not only had to prove that her husband had committed adultery but had to prove additional cruelty linked to this. In 1937 the divorce laws were extended to include:

Often divorce proved too expensive or complicated to obtain and couples just separated. If one of the parties moved away it was then possible for them to bigamously remarry without detection.

Gay says

“My Grandfather didn’t take this route, but lived for 5 years with my Grandmother as man and wife. During this time they had a child together, my Mother. This was in 1924 and would have been a big step, one I am sure caused my Grandmother great difficulties.

As my Mother was unaware of this delay in her parents marriage it was necessary for me to research further. My Grandfathers first marriage was in 1913 just prior to WW1 my Grandfather served in the army for the duration of the war. On returning home in 1918 they parted for reasons I have, as yet, been unable to determine. He then met my Grandmother with whom, after a brief courtship he set up house. My Grandmother was already in her mid 30’s so they decided to have a child without delay.

It was only the death of my Grandfathers wife that enabled them to get married, some 4 years after my mother was born. Not only was this a fact that my Grandfather never spoke of but on further research after his death it came to light that there were 2 children from this first marriage. My Mother was unaware of this half brother and half sister. To date it has not been possible to track down any living relatives from this family.”

Illegitimacy

‘We all come from the union between a man and a woman but it’s a good person who definitely knows their Father.’

Illegitimacy has and always will be common place. With regard to further research it can prove frustrating if the true Father is not recorded on any documentation. Baptism records show various ways of referring to a illegitimate children and some parish clerks recorded the Father if known.

Gay says

“I have several cases of illegitimacy in my maternal family. Two of my maternal Great Great Grandmothers were illegitimate and were recorded in the parish records as follows ‘22 November 1829, Sarah, bastard daughter of Mary Brewin’ and ‘25 April 1824, Elizabeth, illegitimate daughter of Sarah Middleton, spinster, sworn to Thomas Eley.’ In fact one of the first areas I researched was my grandparents marriage. My Mother was an only child so I started searching for a marriage certificate going backwards from my Mothers birth date. I searched for 10 years with no success. In desperation I searched forwards from my Mothers birth and just at the point of giving up found a marriage entry for my grandparents, some 4 years after my Mother was born. On further research the reasons for my Mother being born out of wedlock became clear and understandable.”