I have a copy of the marriage at St Andrews in the parish of Netherston, Dudley, which took place on the 6/09/1876. At that time they stated they both lived at Cradley and that both fathers were deceased. This latter fact I can disprove by other census and birth/death certificates. Thomas’s father died in 1880 and Hannah Massey (if that was her name) was born allegedly in Cheadle. I have her living with her grandparents in 1861 in Cheadle then quite rightly she pops up on the 1881 census at Love lane, Aston, B’ham with a son David and a daughter Jane Annie. I have birth certs for both which prove location and relationships. What I do not know is, where were they both in 1871 – they are not on that census! On David’s birth cert (b 1878 Lord St, Walsall) Hannah is formerly Massey, declared by Thomas – on Jane’s (b 1880 Love lane Aston) he declares her formerly Hall! Why? How can I prove that the certificate I have for the Dudley marriage is them?
On the cert of marriage 1876, Hannah declares herself as a spinster not ‘widow’ formerly Hall. Thomas declares himself as a bachelor. No ages are given. Where does Thomas get the name Hall from which he uses again on a later child's birth declaration and Massey on my grandfathers.