No history of a 'Chains Court' but there is a Grange Court which is running parallel to Portugal Street, connected by St Clements Lane... a 1 minute walk
St Clements Dane is the famous church which faces the Strand, and which backs onto a road right next to St Clements Lane...a 2 minute walk
Whichever way you look at it, the two address, each with a different wife, in 1861 are no more than a couple of hundred feet apart! Surely, that is TOO close for both families NOT to know about eachother. The wives & kids would've seen each other and Thomas Hollingsworth (Smith) on a daily basis.....no way he could've kept these unsuspecting families quiet from each other if these addresses are correct,....so
1) Did both families know each other and both wives were 'accepting' of the situation
or
2) Is there more 'smoke and mirrors' regarding Hollingsworth and Smith?
1861
RG9 180 45 35
1 Chain Court, St Clemets Dane
Robert Smith 34 Printers somethnig bn Southampton
Eliza 25 bn Westminser
ELiza 4 bn Westm.
Alice 2 bn Westm.
Havent we already found him in 1861 though?
Do you think he had several families in different names in different places concurrantly? They all filled him in on the census as head of the house, even if he wasnt actually with them on census night, but was with another 'wife' and family and had told them some story .....
Yikes! Yes, the family with Isabella was in Portugal St, St Clement Danes in 1861 (he as Thomas HOLLINGSWORTH, 34 bookbinder b Southampton). I wonder how far that is from 1 Chain Court?