Married by Lily/Lillie Langtry's father?

[bennever]

Hello, if anyone has the opportunity to look up a marriage, almost certainly in Jersey, of an Augustus Joseph Enever to Cleopatra Cecilia Power, possibly Bennett, (nee Burgoyne) I and several interested researchers would be very grateful.

The main forum item for this research is http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,378529.msg3509160.html#msg3509160

Augustus's obituary records the couple's marriage as having been conducted by Lily (Lillie) Langtry's father (Rev. William Corbet Le Breton ) and the couple are recorded as married in 2 US censuses although the dates differ widely.  The 1910 census records married 32 years while in 1900 it was 27.  The actual date is probably no earlier than 1874 and no later than 1885.  Sorry we can't be more precise!

Thanks for any help you're able to offer
Barry Ennever

[la grande-méthe]

William Corbet Le Breton was rector of St Saviour's parish but transferred to St Helier when he became Dean of Jersey in 1875.

If the obituary is correct the marriage shouldn't be difficult to find.

[Rol]

... the marriage shouldn't be difficult to find.

Thanks for that encouragement,  JL!

I am comprehensively ignorant about CI sources.  Do you happen to know where the relevant PRs are held and whether any transcripts/indexes (digital or otherwise) exist?  Presumably there are also civil registers.  Here's hoping that you or some other reader of this page will turn out to have the necessary access.


Rol


 

[la grande-méthe]

Jersey sources are available at the Jersey Archive which holds transcibed parish records going back, in most cases, to the 17th century. They also hold the indexes to the civil registers, having found the reference the certificates are then available to view, without charge, at the Registry Office.

There are some records on-line at www.jerseyheritagetrust.jeron.je,  some of the most useful being the St Helier baptisms from 1842 until c1900, also the Occupation record cards are a useful source of information.

I will be doing a volunteer stint at the Jersey Archive on Tues morning and will have a look for the marriage, it will be interesting to see if the obituary was accurate!

[Rol]

... I will be doing a volunteer stint at the Jersey Archive on Tues morning and will have a look for the marriage, it will be interesting to see if the obituary was accurate!

That is really good news,  and your offer is much appreciated!

Because no suitable marriage showed up in either FreeBMD or Scotlandspeople,  Barry and I have both been very sceptical about the couple's claim to have been married by the time they emigrated to the USA.  And the more fantastical parts of the obituary only serve to undermine their joint credibility further:  although there is much from which to choose,  I think my favourite part remains the article's strapline Once Master of British Commerce!

But all that said,  the idea of a "runaway marriage" in Jersey does have a certain plausibility,  and -- as we never considered that particular possibility and have now seen an implicit assertion in print that they did indeed wed at St Helier -- in fairness we really ought to give the couple the opportunity to prove that "they lived together unmarried" is an unjust slur on their posthumous reputation!

As Barry noted in his opening post,  Cleo could have remarried at any time from the date of her divorce from William Power to the moment she took ship from Glasgow.  But William Le Breton would not have been "the Dean of Jersey" before 1875,  and it also seems likely that the hypothetical wedding would not have taken place until after the affiliation litigation of 1877 (cited by Michael Dixon per his Reply 10 in the old Northumberland thread).  As a further pointer,  we find Augustus and Cleopatra "living together as man and wife" in Croydon by the date of the 1881 census.  So although the full date range needs to be considered possible,  the period 1877-81 probably offers the best initial target area.

Good luck on Tuesday,  and many thanks again.


Rol

[la grande-méthe]

Oh ye of little faith!

From the St Helier Town Church marriage records, volume 1875-1878, Page 197

April 23rd 1878
Augustus Jospeh Enever, aged 33, bachelor, occupation Corn Merchant, living in St Helier, born in Stepney, London. Father Augustus William Enever, occupation Accountant
to
Cleopatra Cecilia Burgoyne, aged 33, widow of W Power, no occupation, living in St Helier, born in Plymouth. Father John Burgoyne, Captain R.E.

Witnesses David Gavey and George Boielle

Ceremony performed by William Corbet Le Breton

Hope this furthers your quest

[Rol]

Tremendous,  JL -- well done,  and very many thanks from the whole of Cleo's fan club!  You have saved her from an unfair additional blow to her (admittedly shaky) reputation.  More still,  that is a really full marriage entry.

I suppose we must sympathise with her decision to claim that she was a widow -- a necessary fiction if the couple were to be allowed to marry in church,  even with a fairly easy-going clergyman such as the Very Revd. WCLeB.

On the usually reliable evidence of the Army Lists,  her father was working as a civilian on his RE projects,  so (absent another surprise like this wedding entry you have found),  she  can reasonably be accused of some self-aggrandising vanity in calling him a Captain RE.  Still,  could have been worse -- in Australia her bottle-loving medical brother put it about that their father's rank was Colonel!

In view of the importance of what you have found,  I hope that you will not mind if I post the key details into the main thread (duly credited).

Thanks so much again for helping us out with this.


Rol

[bennever]

jerseylily, thank you so much.  The obituary was almost a chance find of a newspaper clipping in a gg grandniece's drawer and this could so easily have been one more exaggeration from the couple.

I really appreciate your help.  Barry Ennever