Pengam, Fleur de Lys - Grammar school? (General)

by mrsbruso , Sunday, January 02, 2011, 03:15 (5079 days ago) @ KathyJ

Not from the grammar school angle, but . . . have you sent for copies of both of the marriage certificates?

There's a chance that the marriage could have been set aside (annulled) if either or both of the parties weren't freely entering into matrimony. I would hazard a guess that she presented herself as an orphan, it was because she wanted to keep her secret regarding Barbara's birth and her first marriage, and the only way for that to work was to keep her distance from her birth family.

She might have been forced into the marriage for the sake of the child. Perhaps, once her marriage failed her family were against her keeping the child. Since there is such a small window of time between her first and second marriages, it should be possible to investiage whether an annulment or divorce were granted. (Given the short time period, an annulment might be a better guess, as I believe the waiting period for a divorce would have been longer.)

The certificates, and whether or not an annulment or divorce were granted, and on what grounds, may answer many (but not all) of your questions. (This may not be as easy as I had originally thought. Many of the records have been sealed for 75 years; it seems that even then a physical visit to Kew might be needed.)If I were to hazard a guess, however, I would say that it takes a remarkable woman to uproot herself, with an infant in hand, and establish a new life for herself elsewhere, cutting all ties to her family in the process. Is your Aunt Barbara still alive? Is she curious about her natural father?

I found what might have been a subsequent marriage for a Frederick in 1944 to a Mary A Lootes (6A-1301) in Cotswald North. May be the wrong fellow, as there seem to be three Frederick John Davis' banging around in the Forest, born within a ten year span of time.

I hope whatever it was that caused your Nan to make such a drastic decision, that she went on to have a happy life and marriage . . .