Another Walk around Sugar Lane
In 1922 A E Wales erected a memorial to his wife. The words were carved into a large stone which had a flat surface at the front to show his words to anyone who passed by, it was topped with a cross carved to resemble branches of a tree. Neatly carved stone forms a boundary for the memorial. A E Wales’ words ‘This cross is erected by A E Wales in sweet memory of his wife Belle who died 3rd May 1922.’
The unusual memorial tells the passer-by who rests beneath, but like many memorials, it brings to the fore many questions. Who was A E Wales? Where did the couple live? Was Belle a nickname? Let me see if I can answer some of those questions, and I hope no more arise during the hunt!
Mr and Mrs Wales certainly led me on a journey with very little information on the headstone. My first port of call was Ancestry with a very vague search of A E Wales with a wife of Belle. Nothing seemed to jump out as the right family, but after a few search variations, there was an Arthur Edley Wales from Sheffield. I had a starting point. When I’d viewed a few of the links Arthur Edley didn’t seem to have a wife with any name that could be adapted to Belle. The next port of call was FreeBMD, again using a vague search and still with Arthur Edley in mind – nothing. I even viewed the 1921 census for any hints it might give, and again no results. It was time to change tactics. Could A E Wales have used a familiar name for his wife but her burial record may, just may have her ‘Sunday’ name – Wakefield.gov.uk here I come and she was there in full Sunday glory – Isabel Annie. This wonderful resource also told me she was 50 years of age and had lived at Probate House, King Street, Wakefield. I also now knew that she had been laid to rest three days after her demise and that F Stoke was the officiating minister. I had gained quite a bit of information so it was time to go back to my original sources and look for a marriage to a Wales. There they were. Arthur Edley was a false lead, but I now had. Isabel Annie Danson married to Albert Edward Wales.
Isabel was born in 1867 to Edmund Dawson and his wife Mary. Edmund was employed as a Colliery Manager. Edmund and all of his children seemed to have been born around Ingleton. Following the census through the years, Isabel, before her marriage, worked as a certificated schoolmistress. And in 1901, she was a lodger in a house on Bright Street, Swinton, near Wath. Two years later in 1903, Isabel and A E Wales married in the Settle Registration District. It makes me wonder how the couple met, he was in Wakefield, and Isabel was in Wath. But they did!
Was life good for the couple? The 1911 census can give an insight into that question. Well, it seems there is a little question mark over the age of Isabel, who by now had been married seven years. The union at that time had not blessed them with children. So, home for them was Glen(?) Marsh, Bradford Road, Wakefield, which they shared with two visitors -.Frances and Selina Hague were both head teachers from Swinton. Albert Edward was a Government employee; he was the District Probate Registry Clerk.
A quick look at the 1921 census has an Isabel Annie Wales born in Ingleton in Scarborough but it seems no Albert Edward – could Isabel have been there for health reasons or to visit friends or family? But as we know, she had died by early May of the following year. Now to Probate. She has a Probate entry, but I was wondering if Albert would have processed the probate for his wife. If he did or not, it seemed to progress quite quickly as on the 19th of May, her monies, the sum of £1314 5s 1d, was to go to A E.
Another question now arose. Is Albert Edward resting with his Belle? It is a very simple answer – No.
In the summer of July 1923, A E married Isabel Hartley sum ten years his junior, in Belper, Derbyshire. Following the couple in the 1939 Register (which confirms I had the correct couple) they are living at Woodencroft(?), Alfreton, where A E said he was a Chief Clerk, Probate, Retired. A E again had a childless marriage.
Albert Edward Wales of Wodencroft (correct name from Probate Registry), Derby Road, Swanwick, died on the 20th of July 1946 at Kings College Hospital, Lambeth, London. Probate Nottingham 31 August to Isabel Wales widow. Effects £844 5s 4d. Isabel Wales of 126 Derby Road, Swanwick, died 30 May 1971. Probate London 28 June 1971. Effects £3117.
How convenient that both wives were called Isabel, it must have saved some upsetting moments.