Ann Sylvester was the last of Charles Alexander's four wives:
http://www.genealogistsforum.co.uk/f...ight=Sylvester
They married 18th March 1861 at Christ Church, Moss Side, Lancashire.
His last wife had been dead less than three months.
They are together on the 1861 Census:
1861 Census 7th April
RG9; 2841; 81; 5
73 Bridge Street, Heywood, Bury
Charles Alexander Head Mar 40 Joiner Berkshire
Ann Wife Mar 29 Staffordshire
Martha Hannah Daur 13 Cotton Winder Heap Lancashire
Joseph Son 9 Scholar Heap Lancashire
Samuel Son 7 Scholar Heap Lancashire
Joseph Jackson Stepson 14 Joiner Cheshire
Martha Alexander Mother W 67 Berkshire
This is my last sighting of her.
Her parents were Edward and Sarah Sylvester. Ann was baptised at Harlaston, Staffordshire on 22nd September 1833. Her father Edward was a farmer.
I haven't found a suitable death for her. Charles appears on the 1871 with other family members but Ann is absent.
I did wonder whether she left him as I suspect he was an alcoholic by this time as he died of cirrhosis of the liver.
He had a very sad life. His elder brother William John died in 1829 in Berkshire before the family moved to Lancashire. His father died in 1840, leaving Charles with his mother Martha to look after the family. Another brother, again William John, died an infant in 1838. His brother Owen also died in 1840, then Sabina in 1845, followed by Mary Ann in 1847. Finally, he was present at the death of his only surviving brother George in 1855.
He married Lavinia, a widow, in 1843. She had already lost a husband and children. Their two sons, Alfred and Walter, died as infants. Their daughter Martha Hannah survived.
My great-great grandmother Mary Porritt married him in 1850 and produced two sons, who survived. She died in 1855.
His third wife Mary Ann Jackson he married in 1856, but she died in 1860.
Charles' life was defined by bereavements. I think he found it very hard to cope with it all.