On finding my uncle …… and losing his wife

Now yesterday I was exploring the story of my uncle, trying to solve several mysteries and reflecting on just how easy it was to disappear in the first half of the last century.*

He was born in 1901, married in 1933 and died in 1953, and for as long as I can remember he was a family secret.

A secret which I only stumbled across when a family tree came to light, after which dad and his three brothers owned up to the story.

Even then they were reluctant to offer much, and for perhaps 30 years I left him in the shadows.

But at 73 I was keen to tie up the loose ends of the family and over the last week I have been searching for him.  A search that took me from Alloa in Scotland to Gateshead and finally a grave in a Birmingham cemetery.

And for now, I think I mined the seam of his life, and while there are still plenty of gaps I am content that I will not find out much more.

The last intriguing piece was the discovery that on the evening of June 19th 1921 he was on holiday in Whitley Bay.  This I know because today I stumbled across an entry in the 1921 census listing him as staying at 26 Marden Crescent in Whitley Bay.

It is a modest looking property just a short walk from the sea and just a tad longer walk to Cullercoats Bay and Long Sands Beach.

He was not alone, for there were five other holiday makers, three of whom were sisters and a couple in their sixties.  Their occupations were as varied as their ages, with a travelling salesman, two teachers a housewife and a Florence Burrows who was listed as doing “House duties”, leaving my uncle who was an apprentice turner for a company in Gateshead.

Their hosts were a Mr. and Mrs. Smith who ran the holiday B&B, and appear to have washed up in Whitley Bay some time during the previous decade. Mr. Smith had been born in Orkney in 1858 and rose in the ranks of the police force before retiring sometime before 1901 and continuing to work as a toll collector.

We will never know whether uncle hit it off with the sisters who were aged between 30 down to 20 and who may have enjoyed the company of this young apprentice.

What is more certain is that his marriage ran into the buffers, and twelve years after he had got married his wife sought a divorce.  She was still in Gateshead, but uncle may already have settled in Birmingham where so far, he has left no record, other than his death certificate and a grave in Yardley Cemetery.

Nor has his wife proved easier to locate.  The marriage certificate allowed me to track her early years and the several homes she grew up in. But apart from that marriage certificate and a court notice referring to the divorce, she has gone missing.

And despite a day looking for her in the 1939 Register and other documents using both her married and maiden name, all has gone silent.

Leaving just one surprise which was that that the young bride lied about her age, which was actually 38 and not 32 as stated on the certificate.

A small deceit perhaps but one which might have been the first step on the road to unhappiness.

I doubt we will ever know.

In the meantime, I shall keep looking.

Location; Whitley Bay, Gateshead and Birmingham

Pictures; family and friends, circa 1920-30s from the collection of the Simpson family.

*Travels with my uncle, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/Travels%20with%20my%20uncle