A Wedding in Barbados
Alice Jackson married James Wigglesworth, a soap maker, in the Parish Church, Wakefield, on August 12 1884. James was 28 years old, and Alice was 20. James was the son of James, a Gentleman, while Alice of Guisley on the Hill (?) was the daughter of Hugh William Jackson, also a Gentleman.
Alice gave birth to a daughter, Violet, in 1888.
Before her marriage to James and children, Alice, aged seven (1871), lived in St John’s. A governess is one of the inhabitants. Was Ellen E Turner the governess of Alice and her two siblings? By 1891, and now a married woman, Alice lived at 25 Market Street; in 1901, the family and a servant lived at Holme Field, Denby Dale Road.
June 28, 1888, was a memorable day for the Wigglesworth couple, as Alice gave birth to a baby girl, Violet. James Alice and probably family and friends attended Violet’s baptism on September 9, 1888, in All Saints Church, now Wakefield Cathedral.
James died in 1907.
1910, Alice and Violet set sail from England. They arrived in Barbados just in time for Violet’s marriage (later the same day) to Commander William Heron Coombs, widower, in the Cathedral and Parish Church of St Michael, Barbados.
Marriage in newspaper
William was born in 1851 in Stoke, Devon, the son of James Martin Coombs, a banker, and Frances Augustus Evans Griffiths. At the time of his marriage, he was living at “Short Hall”, S Anns.
Entry in Parish Register
In 1916, William was living at The Little House, Waltham St Lawrence, and a newspaper article detailing his career was published in honour of his 65th birthday. “He entered the Royal Navy in 1866, and from 1876 to 1884 served under the Government of India as Assistant Superintendent of Marine Surveys, being principally employed on the harbours of Madras, Colombo, and Goa. He retired from the naval service in 1894 with the rank of commander, but afterwards held the office of Protector of Immigrants in the colony of Trinidad and Tobago, where he was also a member of the Legislative Council and a J.P. Mr Coombs is an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical and Astronomical Societies.” Extracted from Reading Mercury, Oxford Gazette, Newbury Herald, and Berks County Paper April 1 1916.
During WWI, William was a Shipping Intelligence Officer. In August 1918, an application was made for his appointment as Companion of Imperial Service Order—the request was refused even though he had served the required time on Overseas Duty.
He died in Pension Leighton, West Park, Jersey, on April 28 1931. Probate was granted a few months later.
Pension Leigh, West Park, Jersey, after 1931, was a small hotel
A few lines in a newspaper with a couple of names and dates now tell a short story of a couple. Both had been married before and came from good families. One travelled the world, while the other stayed in Wakefield. How did William and Alice meet? Did they have a friend in common? Did their parents know each other? Were they penpals?
Can anyone fill in the gaps?