What happened to Matthew WASLEY after 1857?

[POSITIVE Pauline]

These are the details I know.

Matthew Williams WASLEY, born c1824 in Gwennap, Cornwall, son of Stephen & Mary (nee WILLIAMS), christened 30th January 1825 in Gwennap. He married Catherine WILLIAMS on 20th November 1856 at the Parish Church, Kenwyn, Cornwall.

Daughter Catherine was born 30th March 1857 in Creegbrause, Chacewater, Cornwall.

On daughter Catherine's wedding certificate, Matthew is shown as deceased, and a seaman in the Royal Navy. All other instances of him show his occupation as a copper miner (wedding cert, daughter's birth cert and baptism). He does not appear in any census that I can find. I'm not convinced that he was a seaman.

I am even more confused as to what happened to Matthew after the birth of his daughter Catherine in 1857. There is no indication on her birth certificate to say that he is deceased, nor on her baptismal record.

However, wife Catherine marries William Hodge 6th December 1860 claiming that she is a widow. It is defintely her as her father is Joseph WILLIAMS, and that is the name on the marriage cert for her father.

I have scoured the death indexes from 1857 to 1860, and there is no death that I can find that can be Matthew, unless somebody else can see one.

Is his wife Catherine genuinely a widow, or is she a bigamist?

Anybody help?

[garstonite]

Hiya Pauline....
on freebmd there is a
Matthew Wasley died 1876 Dec Qtr aged 56 in Truro ,Cornwall...this would make Mathew b 1820.....is this too early for his birth ...you stated abt 1824 ??
on Mapquest it is 10.4 miles from Gwennap to Truro..10 miles isn`t far..looks like a possible...
Ref No 5c 111............allan

[POSITIVE Pauline]

Hi Allan,

Thanks for your input. I have seen that death on Free BMD, but it relates to Matthew Wasley, aged 51, who was resident in Chacewater district in 1871 with wife Althea, and they had children with them, the oldest being age 20, so I am pretty confident that is not the Matthew I'm looking for.

Any other offers?

[Sunny Rosy]

Pauline have you seen the entry for 1861 for Catherine Wasley, aged 30 widow, no Catherine born 1857 with her but son Mathew 10 ,daughter 7 and baby 1 month. Is it your Catherine and she lost her new hubby or did she call herself Wasley again or ????

love sunny

[POSITIVE Pauline]

Hi Sunny,

Good thinking, but I have found Catherine with daughter Kate/Catherine and her new husband William in 1861. By 1871, she is professing to be a widow (again :(), and has daughter Kate with her, and also 8 year old Elizabeth. Again I can't find a death registration for husband William.

Maybe she kills her husbands off and buries them under the floor boards, or tips them down the nearest mine shaft ;)

She doesn't marry again though, and in 1881 is resident in Bodmin where she dies just after the census on 8th April 1881. Daughter Kate has now married to John Salmon Bennett, and is present at her death.

Just if anybody wants to look for any sign of William after 1861, he was born c1838 in Lanivet/Bodmin, Cornwall, son of Thomas & Sarah.

[jean]

there is a death on freebmd william hodge bodmin dec 1862

the only death I can see for Matthew is Truro Dec 1876 aged 56

[Olde Crone Holden]

Pauline

Have you considered that he may have gone abroad to work, like 50 million other Cornish miners? Or that he died at sea?

OC

[Little Nell]

It is also possible he changed occupation after his daughter's baptism?

[POSITIVE Pauline]

Jean,

That may be William's death. I will send for that cert I think. Thanks for finding the at one.

Matthew I think may well have "disappeared" somewhere. If he did join the RN, he could have died at sea. Are there records for that anywhere?

This part of the family have been a real nightmare to trace :( Oddly enough, William Hodge who Catherine married is a nephew to my 4th g grandfather, also William Hodge.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I will see what else I can find.