GEORGE BAYLISS DEAN/JOS GRINDON/WESTBURY COURT (General)

by morris, Sunday, February 08, 2015, 19:59 (3576 days ago) @ Mike Pinchin

Wow, what amazingly kind people you all are. Your info confirms what it has taken me 3 months to discover!!! I did find Joseph Grindon on the Westbury site but had hoped that there might have been a work connection as he was also a cordwainer as well as Parish factotum. Two things puzzle me though - a) George Dean was a clerk, and without wishing to be unkind, I can't think what would have prompted him to choose Westbury as a place to find work as there can't have been many opportunities in the area - as a clerk he would have been literate so maybe Mary went into service after George found her the position in a newspaper (wild speculation) and then went with her, but they weren't married which was a bit daring at that time, and b) I haven't found any other connection with the area, so what took Florence back only to return to Kingswinford several months later with a cloud hanging over her head!

So many questions, maybe we shall never know, but I shall still keep on delving and who knows? My thanks to you all and any further thoughts/hints/guesses much appreciated. Jan

P.S. The Westbury Court connection is pure speculation because family gossip has it that Florence worked at the "big house" and from the description she gave, Westbury Court fits the bill, although there are presumably other "big houses" in the area, however, the Wooldridge name must surely tell a story as there is no father shown on Alfred's birth certificate, or is it a red herring?