Pinball

 After a good night's sleep, the Silver Vixen's alarm came a s quite a shock this morning. It was only 15 minutes later the the Gorse Fox's usual alarm, but he had deliberately switched it off last night. We only had to get ourselves ready today and, once the Gorse Fox was decent, he wandered round to Urban-Cub to escort her and Ellie to school.

Back home, there was just time to change and switch his football kit between cars and then he was off. The roads were a bit quieter than usual, but there seemed to be a lot of indecisive drivers about. They tend to worry the Gorse Fox more than the speeders.

Football was a little trying today. We hadn't really got quiet enough for 4 teams of 5, so ended up playing 9-v-10. On a full sized pitch this would be fine. On a 7-a-side pitch, however, it is dreadful. The pitch is just too crowded and the ball pings around like a pinball. On top of this, it limits the amount of exercise you can get as the pitch is so crowded. Anyway, we had three games. The first was 0-0, the second was a 1-0 win, and the third was a 4-1 win, so it wasn't too bad. The Gorse Fox was pleased with the defending and the interceptions he achieved.

Back home the missing Marriage Certificate had turned up from the PRO. Did this shed any new light on Ellen Louise (the Silver Vixen's Gt-grandmother) - No. It confirmed what the Gorse Fox had already deduced but didn't provide any illumination. He has now got to the point that he has written up his analysis of said Ellen Louise.

There is much confusion surrounding Ellen Louisa. Her story has been traced back through the clues that we were given by her granddaughters, Queenie and Audrey. We know, without doubt, that in the 1950s she lived at a house called Dorval in Pennington, and her surname was Gough. She had been “married” several times and Lydia was her first daughter. 

Tracing back we discover that in 1939 she was married to David Gough and they had only married in the April of that year (in their 70s). She was clearly shown as Ellen Louisa Gough (formerly Crees) on their marriage certificate and in the 1939 Register.

Her granddaughters remember that there were other step-brothers and sisters to Lydia, namely Ellen (Nellie), Florence (Flossie), Henry, and Hilda and that Lydia had the surname Miller in early records even though her father died prior to her birth. We discover that Ellen Louisa Crees had Ellen (1896) and Florence (1898)  with a man named Miller. No marriage certificate can be found even though this was likely to be in the early 1890s. 

By 1903 Ellen Louisa Crees seems to have been living with Henry George Burt near Reading and had a son Harold George (1903) and the evidence suggests that daughter Florence has come with her and has adopted the Burt surname. There is no sign of Lydia nor Ellen.

By 1911, and this is where the speculation gets even more complicated, “Ellen” is living with the widower David Gough in Swanmore, Hants. The 1911 census says they have been married for 1 year and that both Florence and Harold are present in the house as David’s step-children. No marriage certificate can be found, and whilst “Ellen” is shown as the correct age and having been born in Nunney, Somerset - she appears to be recorded as Ann. Chasing the records, there is an Ann Crees. She is Ellen’s sister. She does, however, live near Cheddar at this time and remained there until the early 1950s. Our assumption, therefore, is that Ellen, for some reason is being called Ann. 

While living with David they have two children. Henry was born in 1912, and Hilda in 1915. Henry’s birth certificate records the mother as Ann Louisa Gough (formerly Crees). A DNA test of one of the descendants of Henry shows a 2nd-3rd cousin match with the Silver Vixen so this “Ann” must share DNA with “Ellen”… or be the same person.

By 1939, the name Ellen returns when they marry (and she is shown as “Spinster” and daughter of Josiah Crees). Similarly the record in the 1939 Register.  A month later, in October, David dies. 

Our research hypothesis is that Ellen Louisa Crees and Ann Louisa Crees are the same person and that she never married any of her earlier partners - just adopting their names for convenience. She only married David as he was in declining health and he wanted to make sure she was looked after - so ensured there was a formal marriage on record. 

Note: all of this may change if some further records surface that contradict this hypothesis, but at the moment it seems to be the only narrative that makes sense.