Emily Hughes nee Gough

[cicely day]

Hi, I gave up looking for Emily some months ago, but feel very sad that I cannot put her to rest.

She married an Albert Hughes a chemist in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England in 1886. He was much older than her.

They were in Banff for sure 1887. Where Albert was the manager of the pharmacy in the Sanitarium there. 1889 he wrote obviously in reply to a letter from Emily's brother Phillip Gough. Stating that Emily had turned out a bad lot and he had divorced her and given her the fare to go home to England. The last he had heard was that she had gone off to America with a man. He said he had since remarried a far better woman.
I decided to investigate and discovered from old Alberta newspapers that he was residing in Medicine Hat Alberta and he remarried 1896 to a woman who came over to Winnipeg from England where they married.

I felt very unhappy about why he had lied about having remarried and found no trace of a divorce or Emily.
Does anyone have any ideas on where to look next.
Any advice appreciated.

Cicely

[CaroleW]

Being a chemist - do you think he may have "bumped her off"

Sounds like Philip may have been worried that he had not had any contact from Emily.  If he never heard from her again - surely he would have done something about it via the police.  There again, in those days they didn't have the same resources as today

Albert was single in 1881.  Born 1852 Staffs

[J.J.]

I wonder if she'd already left him and he was trying to just save face.
There is no evidence of a divorce in Canada for the couple
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/divorce/index-e.html

Hard to search for her if we don't know what name she may be using or where she was really headed...
Here is the 1891 canada census ...you can search there... http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1891/001081-100.01-e.php

I suggest adding her parents full names to this thread ..iin the hopes someone finds another marriage for her...and hope that if she had children & descendants, they might find you when searching.

[cosmac]

Have you traced children of his second marriage as they might have stories handed down within their family.  On rootsweb there is a tree for the son Minto Hughes who married Gladys Tudor in 1926 and an email contact which may or may not be still valid.

Debbie

[cicely day]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I did spend many hours, days and weeks, looking into Albert Hughes and Emily Gough. Found no trace of a divorce.

Emilys parents were Thomas Gough and Sarah Gough nee Picken, her parents had died when she married and she had gone into service as a children's nurse.
Emily was born in 1862 in Portobello, Willenhall, Staffordshire. Her eldest brother Thomas my great grandfather, lived in Wolverhampton with his wife and children. So that is probably why she married in Wolverhampton.

I have looked into all the likely possibilities including did he bump her off.  I have looked at Banff in the years they would have been there and it was beautiful but very basic with a couple of wooden huts and a wigwam, (Tepee) in the main street. The railway was still being constructed and the newspapers were full of local news the snow, trains stuck, accidents on the railway, who was visiting and who was leaving and it all seems very strange. I did wonder if she ever got there. Have poured through ships passenger lists 1886, 1887, and haven't found either off them.
Albert is mentioned 1887 as being manager of the pharmacy. It was a health Sanatarium with hot springs that he worked at.
The stories I got back from people who knew of him and Medicine Hat archives was that he owned the Sanatarium in Banff. He didn't. It was owned by a Mr Brett. He had once been shipwrecked on an island on his way to or from Hong Kong. ??

I did hear from a lady who knew people who knew his son Minto.  The stories were amazing that I got back from Canada.
 None of his children had children. That is why I decided to carry on with my search. I didn't want to upset anyone who might be living.
He had been a strong member of the church.
He came back to England in about 1911 with his wife and children and then returned to Medicine Hat after the War. His son Minto fought in the war and joined a British Regiment. Again he had returned  to England when my great grandfather had just died.
Albert died 1943 so lived to a good age.
I will try to add a photo of Albert and his 2nd wife when I get the hang of it. Any suggestions on the story welcomed.

[cosmac]

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:819228&id=I324
Minto did have a daughter Evelyn and this tree shows her four children.  The Lethbridge Herald indicated that her parents were living in Winnipeg and she joined them there in the 1940s.

Debbie

[KarenM]

Have you ordered Albert's marriage to Annie Wallace in Manitoba?  It would be interesting to see what he has listed himself as ie: divorced, widow, bachelor.

Karen

[KarenM]

Do you have when Annie arrived on October 3, 1896 from England.  Not much time between arriving in Canada, getting out to Winnipeg to be married on October 10, 1896 to Albert.

Karen

[cicely day]

 Gosh Debbie thats a bit worrying if he does have grandchildren. I was told by a lady some time back that his four daughters and son didn't have any children. I would hate to upset anyone. I don't suppose everyone likes to think they have a scoundrel in the family. I am quite willing to accept that Emily might not have been as good as she should have been. I just hate to think how she might have ended her life and would hope it wasn't as bad as I imagine.

I did find the newspaper report about his marriage to Annie Wallace but never thought about the marriage certificate. I hate to say it but I doubt if it says divorced or widower. I might try and get it.
I suppose it was the tone of the letter that made me investigate it. I just felt uneasy.
Thank you everyone for your help.