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Old 28-07-20, 13:41
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Phoenix Phoenix is offline
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Yes. William George was my relation. The problem lay with his women.
He married the girl next door - Mary Jane Elizabeth Darling. She and baby Mabel are invisible in 1901.
Three boys are born during the early C20th, in Essex.
In 1911, Mary is in the workhouse in Essex.
Family story is that Mary turned up at her mother-in -law's house, with Mabel and her two surviving brothers in tow, saying she couldn't cope, and abandoning them.
Mabel is with her grandparents, Sidney in hospital in Portsmouth and Walter with his father, also in Portsmouth.
William describes himself as an advertising agent, and in the same household is Edith Batchelor, aged 22 and called a housemaid.

I knew that William took up with another woman, and had daughters Rose and Margary, but never correctly identified them. This is why:

Births Dec 1911
Hawkins Lady M B Batchelor Fulham 1a 554
Births Sep 1913
Hawkins Lady C B Batchelor Fulham 1a 570
Births Sep 1915
Hawkins Lady R E Batchelor Newcastle T. 10b 71

And these are the full entries:
HAWKINS, LADY CONSTANCE BELMONT BATCHELOR
GRO Reference: 1913 S Quarter in FULHAM Volume 01A Page 570
HAWKINS, LADY MARJORY BELMONT BATCHELOR
GRO Reference: 1911 D Quarter in FULHAM Volume 01A Page 554
HAWKINS, LADY ROSAMOND ESTHER BATCHELOR
GRO Reference: 1915 S Quarter in NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE Volume 10B Page 71

Constance presumably died as a baby.

It was Edith Batchelor, with the stage name of Madge Belmont, who was the Handcuff Queen.

Two boys were born in Wales:

Births Jun 1920
Hawkins Squire J B Batchelor Pontypool 11a 434
Births Mar 1922
Hawkins Harold G Batchelor Merthyr T. 11a 1754

Allegedly there was a third brother, born in Newcastle, but no sign in civil registration.

It looks as if the boys of the first marriage settled at 144 Kilburn High Road. It was Sidney's address, although he died in Salford as well as Walter's when he married:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...Fedit%2Frecord


Now comes the puzzling bit. When William George dies in 1929, it sounds as if he is living in Juxon Street: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...6redir%3Dfalse


The inquest report suggests he and his wife had been living together, possibly for the last couple of years:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/...awkins%20juxon


Mary takes her pound from the poorbox, discovers she's entitled to money from William's estate and the two sons who predecease her. She then vanishes.


It is not clear what has happened to Edith in the meanwhile, but she dies in 1931, aged 40.


My cousin is a descendant of Harold. While Rosamund and Margary appear to have been in close contact with each other, the boys were abandoned along the way. Harold was brought up in Hitchin, but treated so badly, he ran away. He completely lost contact with his family, but rediscovered them via Surprise Surprise.
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