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Wow, thank you, all! Gosh, what a life for young Eliza - such a very young bride and then (looking at newspaper articles about the divorce) immediately left alone for years with husband at sea. Funnily enough, this is the third instance I've come across in family history research (albeit different families) of young naval brides running off with a different sailor! And then a third husband so soon after - I'll have to find out what happened to Mr Jordan in the interim!

Armed with the info you have all kindly given, I will be able to find out more about the families and previous generations. Thank you.

One thing that surprises me is that they could afford a divorce - I would have imagined it might be beyond the reach of people in these kinds of jobs. (Though it seems like the Navy would have been wise to set up a divorce fund, given how often wives ran off!). Am I off base here, or is it indeed unusual? I guess once I learn more about the family, I might find out if there was money somewhere that might have been called in.

Hello,

I'm a bit stuck working backwards from this one.  I believe he was born on 20/01/1890 (from later naval records), and appears as a 1 year old in the 1891 census:

Hampshire/Portsea/Kingston/District 49
RG12/860

on the fourth row down, below mum and older sister.

Dad is not on the census, and I don't know his name. I also don't have any details about his parents' marriage or the birth of his older sister Ethel.  The census gives his mum's first name as Eliza and a place of birth of Battersea, but I can't find her on any earlier documents.

It's a while since I last looked at this one properly, but I remember various false starts where I found similar couples but then there would always be some inconsistency.  If anyone is willing to lend a fresh pair of eyes to it, I'd be glad of a fresh perspective!

Many thanks.

First name(s)   Last name   Relationship   Marital status   Sex   Age   Birth year   Occupation   Birth place
John   Morris   Head   Married   Male   37   1844   Sexton   -
Sarah   Morris   Wife   Married   Female   35   1846   -   Mold, Denbighshire, Wales
Elizabeth   Morris   Daughter   Single   Female   6   1875   Scholar   Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Robert   Morris   Son   Single   Male   4   1877   Scholar   Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
John   Morris   Son   Single   Male   3   1878   -   Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
Edwin   Morris   Son   Single   Male   0   1881   -   Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales
Charles   Ellis   Lodger   Single   Male   35   1846   General labourer   Denbighshire, Wales

Thank you jonw65! Looks like we have filled in the gaps at the beginning and end of his life! I had really lost hope; should have asked on here sooner!

I'm now going to work backwards and look at his probable parents, John and Sarah. I've found the family in the 1881 census (still living at Cemetery Lodge and John sr. is a sexton), and from that got John and Sarah's ages and places of birth. I'll give it a rest for the night but this is all very promising.

1939 free index
John Morris, born 1878, 53 Cae Gwyn Road, Cardiff

Redacted entries after him on ancestry.
Electoral register 1939
53 Caegwyn Road
John Morris
Gladys Marion Morris
John Percival Morris

MORRIS, JOHN  PERCIVAL     
Mother's Maiden Surname: FOGWELL 
GRO Reference: 1916  S Quarter in PONTYPRIDD  Volume 11A  Page 1236

Thank you! That's amazing. Definitely them, I've heard of that address. Based on the details you provided, I have purchased the full 1939 Register record from FindMyPast and now know that his DOB was 11th January 1878.

Or at least, that's what he said it was!

This also accounts for the whole family's whereabouts in 1939 now, I think (I'm assuming the two redacted lines are wife (end of "unpaid domestic duties", I agree) and youngest daughter, and I already know his son was elsewhere) - so that's nice.