An Intriguing Marriage Certificate

[Rowan Tree]

Do you have Alice's marriage certificate? Does it say Wellington was a bachelor?

I found both the 1872 and 1889 marriages on Ancestry and thankfully, the entries in the register are available to view.

Here are the details from the 1872 marriage:

Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge
09/11/1872
Married by banns
Wellington ELLIS - 21 - Bachelor - Finer(?) up at the Mill - Barkisland - John PINDEN (or PINDER) - Farmer
Alice HASPEY - 21 - Spinster - (blank) - Warley - Job HASPEY - Labourer
Both Wellington and Alice signed their own names.
Witnessed by John JACKSON and Catherine HASPEY

NOTE: ASPEY is one of those tricky surnames that you'll find spelt a dozen different ways within a 10 year period. For the family of Job ASPEY (Alice's father) the name eventually settles with the spelling of ASPEY for 13 of Job's 14 children. The eldest child, Joseph, alternated between ASPEY and ASPINALL. Joseph's 1910 obituary says Joseph ASPEY and then ASPINALL in brackets.

During the 19th century, I've come across some creative and varied spellings of this name. The most common spellings that I've found are HASPEY, HASPY, ASPY, ASPEY, ASPERY, ASTBURY and ASPINALL. I've found Alice's father, Job ASPEY, with all of those surname spellings are more besides.

The Alice HASPEY on the 1872 marriage certificate and the Alice ASTON in the banns for the 1872 marriage are one and the same person. ASPEY is just one of those names where the spelling changes A LOT. I don't believe there's anything to read into that.

The witness named Catherine HASPEY on the 1872 marriage is Alice's elder sister. Catherine (1848 - 1940) married James BOARDMAN in Chadderton, Lancashire in 1874.

The next marriage worth mentioning is the marriage of Samuel BARNETT to Elizabeth HASPEY that I mentioned in my original post.
Elizabeth (1854 - 1926) was the younger sister of Catherine and Alice.
A recently married Wellington ELLIS and Alice ELLIS (nee ASPEY/HASPEY) were the witnesses at Samuel and Elizabeth's 24/12/1872 Sowerby Bridge marriage. Wellington & Alice, and Samuel BARNETT signed their own names, while Elizabeth HASPEY marked the register with an 'x'.

Now Wellington ELLIS' second marriage:

St. John the Baptist, Halifax
29 July 1889
Married by banns
Wellington ELLIS - 39 - Widr. - Welver(?) - Barkisland - John ELLIS - Wood Cutter
Eliza Jane CROWTHER - 33 - Sp - (blank) - Barkisland - Israel CROWTHER - Labourer
Wellington ELLIS signs the register with an 'x'. Eliza Jane CROWTHER signs her full name.
Witnessed by Ellis HEBBLETHWAITE and Joseph SAYOR or SAYAR

NOTE: The second witness from the 1889 marriage appears as a witnesses at other marriage at this time.

I'll add details about the change of name of Wellington's father from John PINDER to John ELLIS on the two marriage certificates in my next comment.

Rowan Tree 

[Rowan Tree]

Wellington ELLIS and his father having 2 names. The mystery unravelled...

Wellington ELLIS was raised by:
His biological mother, Frances (Fanny) nee GLEDHILL and Fanny's second husband, John PINDER.

Wellington is the biological son of Frances and her first husband, John ELLIS.

John ELLIS died in 1855. Wellington was 4 or 5 at the time. A widowed Frances ELLIS nee GLEDHILL and a widowed John PINDER married in 1859.

The two different John's on Wellington's marriage certificates are his biological father, John ELLIS, and the man who raised him, John PINDER.

The two Wellington ELLIS marriages in 1872 and 1889 are definitely the same Wellington ELLIS.

For anyone interested in the ELLIS / PINDER family; when John PINDER married Frances nee GLEDHILL, both John and Frances were widowed and had children from their first marriages. John and Frances PINDER then went on to have multiple children of their own. So, there are quite a lot of children and it takes a moment to work out which child came from which of the 3 marriages, especially since the children's names change from ELLIS to PINDER, and back again, depending on which census your looking at.

Rowan Tree 

[PatLac]

Could this be Alice?

Deaths Mar 1878   (>99%)
Ellis    Alice    23    Prestwich    8d   250

[Rowan Tree]

Could this be Alice?

Deaths Mar 1878   (>99%)
Ellis    Alice    23    Prestwich    8d   250

Thanks. That's a really good catch, but, unfortunately, I don't think this can be my Alice.

I bought the £3 version of this death certificate and it reads as follows:

17/12/1873 - Longroyd Bridge
Alice ELLIS - female - 22 years
Wife of John Henry ELLIS, Chimney climer
Phthisis Pulmonalis. Certified
Registered by: Mary Ann BINTLEY, present at death. Longroyd Bridge, Huddersfield
Registered: 17/12/1872

[PatLac]

What about this one?

   ELLIS, ALICE       41 
GRO Reference: 1892  J Quarter in TOXTETH PARK  Volume 08B  Page 166

[Rowan Tree]

What about this one?

   ELLIS, ALICE       41 
GRO Reference: 1892  J Quarter in TOXTETH PARK  Volume 08B  Page 166

Hi,

Apologies for my late reply. I've had such a busy weekend. I'm back on the case now, though.

That's another great suggestion for a death. The location is interesting as Alice had a strong connection to the Wirral and Liverpool and Toxteth is just across the Mersey from Birkenhead.

I've just been looking at the 1891 census to see if I can find the Alice in this death.
I've come up with the following:

53 Woodruff Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool
Charles ELLIS - Head - M - 44 (c. 1847) - Custom Officer - Born Liverpool
Alice ELLIS - Wife - M - 38 (c. 1853) - Born Liverpool
Amelia ELLIS - Daughter - 11
Alice ELLIS - Daughter - 10
Charles ELLIS - Son - 8
Elizabeth ELLIS - Daughter - 7
John ELLIS - Son - 5
Emily ELLIS - Daughter - 4
Thomas INKESTER - Father-in-law - 72 - Born Liverpool
Elizabeth EDGAR - Lodger
James EDGAR - Lodger
Thomas EDGAR - Lodger

I've not been able to find the above Charles and Alice ELLIS on the 1901 census. I have, however, found the children. Charles & John ELLIS are living with an uncle and aunt; Arthur & Mary L. EDWARDS in Toxteth Park. Emily ELLIS is living with an uncle and aunt; Frederick & Annie Jane ELLIS. Elizabeth is a live-in servant and so on...

I haven't bought the Alice ELLIS death certificate, but from the above census information, I don't think she's my Alice. I am very grateful for the suggestion, though.

Rowan Tree 

[PatLac]

I found both the 1872 and 1889 marriages on Ancestry and thankfully, the entries in the register are available to view.

Here are the details from the 1872 marriage:

Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge
09/11/1872
Married by banns
Wellington ELLIS - 21 - Bachelor - Finer(?) up at the Mill - Barkisland - John PINDEN (or PINDER) - Farmer
Alice HASPEY - 21 - Spinster - (blank) - Warley - Job HASPEY - Labourer
Both Wellington and Alice signed their own names.
Witnessed by John JACKSON and Catherine HASPEY

What surname was signed by Alice? HASPEY or ASPEY?

I'm wondering if we have to look for a second marriage if the bigamy and death allegations were true?

There are a handful of options for marriages of Alice ASPEY and deaths under respective married surnames between 1873 and 1889 in Lancashire.

I reckon she wouldn't use her married surname ELLIS!

It's a tedious task to check all of them but I'd be glad to help.

[Rowan Tree]

You're ace! Thanks so much. I'm really grateful for your help.

I've attached the November 1872 marriage signature and the December 1872 witness signature. They're both Alice HASPEY.

This surname can be tricky, though. The spelling changes quite a bit. However, the closer to 1900 that you get, the more settled the spelling becomes. The final spelling is ASPEY.

I've also been looking at the witnesses on all the siblings marriages that I can find. I've seen multiple of Alice's siblings appearing as witnesses for each other.

Alice is the 5th of 14 children. I'm wondering if I'll see Alice crop up as a witness on a siblings marriage certificate (possibly with a new surname).

I'll post more about the siblings shortly.

Many thanks, Rowan Tree 

[Rowan Tree]

Alice's siblings and spouses:

Joseph ASPEY / ASPINALL 1843 - 1910 m. Emma HARDING at Chester, St. John the Baptist (Cheshire) in 1863 - Witnessed by Sarah ??INNES & Joseph DUTTON.

John ASPEY 1847 - 1895 m. Jane MARSHALL at Woodside, St. James (W. Yorkshire) in 1872 - Witnessed by Edward BENTLEY and Ann Elizabeth BENTLEY.

Catherine ASPEY 1848 - 1940 m. James BOARDMAN at Chadderton, Christ Church (Lancs) in 1874. I haven't seen the marriage cert. and don't know who the witnesses were.

Samuel ASPEY 1850 - 1912 m. Catherine DAVIES at Birkenhead, St. Mary (Wirral) in 1877. Witnessed by Thomas ?a??son and Ellen DAVIES.

Alice ASPEY 1852 - ? m. Wellington ELLIS at Sowerby Bridge, Christ Church (W. Yorkshire) in 1872. Witnessed by John JACKSON and Catherine HASPEY (sister of Alice).

Elizabeth ASPEY 1854 - 1926 m. Samuel BARNETT at Sowerby Bridge, Christ Church (W. Yorkshire) in 1872. Witnessed by Wellington ELLIS and Alice ELLIS (Elizabeth's brother-in-law & sister).

Martha ASPEY 1856 - 1906 m. Joseph BOWDEN at Hollinwood, St. Margaret of Antioch (Lancs) in 1880. Witnessed by William BIRCHALL and Ann BIRCHALL.

Thomas ASPEY 1858 - 1927 m. Harriet TURNER at Chadderton, Christ Church (Lancs) in 1883. I haven't seen the marriage cert. and don't know who the witnesses were.

Ellen ASPEY 1860 - ? I don't know if Ellen ever married. She had two children outside of wedlock.
Thomas William ASPEY 1880 - 1881
John ASPEY 1884 - ?
I don't know what happened to Ellen and her son, John, after the 1901 census.

Job ASPEY 1862 - 1923 m. Harriet Helen PICKETT at Tottenham, All Hallows (Middlesex) in 1892. Witnessed by Thomas PICKETT and Alice PLAYFORD.

William ASPEY 1864 - 1898 m. Sarah Jane ROYDS at Oldham, St. Mary (Lancs) in 1885. I haven't seen the marriage cert. and don't know who the witnesses were.

Mary ASPEY 1866 - 1908 m. Daniel ROYDS at Glodwick, St. Mark (Lancs) in 1885. Witnessed by James BOARDMAN and Eliza Ann HAGUE.

Nancy ASPEY 1868 -  1942 m. Charles PLATT at Chadderton, Christ Church (Lancs) in 1890. I haven't seen the marriage cert. and don't know who the witnesses were.

Margaret ASPEY 1870 - ? m. John MORRIS at Glodwick, St. Mark (Lancs) in 1891. Witnessed by Charles PLATT and Nancy PLATT (brother-in-law and sister of Margaret).
NOTE: I think Charles & Nancy PLATT, along with their daughter, MINNIE emigrated to the US.