It took me a while to trace my 2xgreat grandparents John Hill and Elizabeth Sarah Windebank in later censuses, as his age and her birthplace were inconsistently recorded. Tracing him in earlier censuses revealed a previous, mystery marriage. Elizabeth remarried in 1895, but I have failed to find a reliable death record for him. So did she follow in her first husband’s footsteps and undertake a (possibly) bigamous marriage? This is the story of what I’ve found so far …

Last known living in London …

The last time my great grandmother Susan Caroline Hill is enumerated with her family before her marriage to James Aaron Stocking is in the 1891 census at 25 Herman Road, Camberwell. At that time, her parents are shown as John Hill, aged 53, born Elsted, Sussex, a General Labourer, and Elizabeth, aged 40 (or 46, it’s not clear), born ‘Churvey the Slough’. From other records, their birth years were actually 1836 (him) and 1849 (her), and Elizabeth was the daughter of a Farrier and Blacksmith, David Windebank and his wife Elizabeth (Topper).

The other children living with them in 1891 are: George William, 9; Charlotte Sarah, 7; William, 4 and John Charles, 6 weeks. They had both migrated to London from their rural birthplaces – he from Elsted, she from Upton cum Chalvey – before their marriage in 1869, and lived in the poorer parts of South London as they raised their seven children, the last born just before the 1891 census.

Fast forward ten years to the 1901 census, and John Hill, born around 1836 in Elsted, is not to be found, nor is his wife Elizabeth Hill. Had they died in the intervening years, were they somehow missed, or their records mis-transcribed? John Hill’s whereabouts remain a mystery, but I did manage to track down what happened to his wife.

A widow marries

I found a marriage index entry at FreeBMD which looked likely. The resulting certificate from the GRO shows that she married at All Saints Church, Newington, on 26 May 1895. Widow Elizabeth Sarah Hill, daughter of David Windebank, Farrier, married Thomas George Evans, widower, a Commercial Traveller. She is 44 years old, he is two years younger, and both give their address as 25 Bowles Road, Camberwell (which also seemed to be known as Herman Road, so essentially the same address as her marital home ten years earlier).

Elizabeth Sarah Evans appears on the 1901 census at 25 Herman Road, aged 50, born in ‘Charvey’, Berks, with her second husband Thomas, now described as a labourer rather than Commercial Traveller, as he was at the time of their marriage. The couple have nine children between them from their previous marriages, ranging in age from six years to 19. In 1908, Elizabeth’s mother Elizabeth died in the Bermondsey Workhouse; Elizabeth S Evans is the informant, giving her address as 14 Beechfield Road, Catford (next door to her daughter Susan Caroline and her son-in-law James Aaron Stocking, my great grandparents).

With the Hill and Stocking families living close to each other in Herman Road and later in Beechfield Road in Catford, it is not surprising to find that Elizabeth’s second husband, Thomas George Evans, was the father of Arthur William Evans, who married Elizabeth Bridgetina Stocking (sister of James Aaron Stocking, the husband of Susan Caroline Hill) in 1910.

In her life to date, Elizabeth had moved from her birthplace in Upton-cum-Chalvey, Buckinghamshire, a small rural village, to some of the poorest parts of South London, and then further South to the relatively comfortable Victorian terraces of Catford.

When did John Hill die?

John Hill was born in Elsted, Sussex, in 1836 and lived in South London from at least his early-mid 30s. Assuming he died between 1891-1895, his age at death would have been 55-59. So far I have not found his death record, nor a likely burial record. I have ordered several certificates which have all turned out not to be for the right person (due to age, occupation or other family information recorded). Nor have I found him on later censuses.

Death records found and discounted:

• John Hill buried 21 Apr 1893 aged 72 Camberwell
• John Hill St Saviour June 1893 (Ostler)
• John Hill Camberwell June 1894 (buried May 1894, Merchant’s Clerk)
• John Hill Pancras Jan 1895 aged 59
• John David Hill Hackney aged 58

Sudden death after 15 years of marriage

In the 1911 census, taken on the night of 2 April, Thomas Evans is shown as a widower, living at 14 Beechfield Road, Catford. He is a skin dresser (working in the leather / tanning trade). His step-son, John Charles Hill, aged 20, is also in the household with him and four of Thomas’ children from his first marriage. John is recorded as a soldier – he had joined the regular army three years previously and was later to serve in World War I.

Elizabeth Sarah Evans’ death is recorded on 30 March 1911 at 14 Beechfield Road. Aged 61, she died of a cerebral haemorrhage and coma. Her death was registered by her son, J. C. Hill, Soldier, NW Kent Regiment. She and Thomas George Evans had been married for 15 years.

Elizabeth died three days before the census was taken. It is likely that her son, John Charles Hill, had been given leave to join the rest of the family when she was taken ill, and was therefore present to register her death and be enumerated with her grieving family on census night 1911. She was buried on 5 April at Newnham Cemetery.