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Help please - Rachel Box (Cook) b 1861, d ?

Looks like the correct census to me, Mary (Houghton) is Hepzibah's daughter from her first marriage and be a great coincidence that Charles Box was living next to a girl with the same name as his future wife.

Don't always see deceased next to fathers on marriages when they are.
i agree mark....on the 71 living in garbett st ladywood hepzibah cook is a coal yard minder but ive never seen this written on a census before..."living in a coal shed 8ft by 10ft occupied by 4 people" 1 being young rachel aged 9... i really shudder to think what conditions they were all living in

lyn
 
Back for more coincidences.

Interesting to read what Lyn said about Harding St (Rachel Cook's residence in 1871) becoming Moorsom St because strangely enough Rachel Speed (nee Edwards) is living on Moorsom St in 1901.
 
yes back to trying to find rachel after the 1891 census...thinking out loud we have to consider that maybe after her husbands death and son william being sent to canada in the the mid 1890s rachel may have taken up with someone else took his name as a married couple athough not marrying and died under that assumed name....it did happen in which case we have no chance of finding her...im not giving up just yet though

lyn
 
Thanks Lyn! Yes, I have seen the 1881 census. It makes me smile - he literally married Rachel, the girl next door. Maybe that was a happy hopeful time for them.
 
Thanks for your help as well MWS and pjmburns. I didn't know about the other children. I noticed the Houghton family but didn't think to try to trace any of them. My mom sent for his Middlemore records. That is how we know that Rachel wrote to Mrs Isenor in Nova Scotia inquiring about William. I will have to check with mom to see if the letters had any return addresses or dates on them.
 
"Living in garbett st ladywood hepzibah cook is a coal yard minder but ive never seen this written on a census before..."living in a coal shed 8ft by 10ft occupied by 4 people" 1 being young rachel aged 9... i really shudder to think what conditions they were all living in" Wow! I can't even imagine. That must have weighed on her mind when she thought about trying to give William a better life.
 
Thanks for your help as well MWS and pjmburns. I didn't know about the other children. I noticed the Houghton family but didn't think to try to trace any of them. My mom sent for his Middlemore records. That is how we know that Rachel wrote to Mrs Isenor in Nova Scotia inquiring about William. I will have to check with mom to see if the letters had any return addresses or dates on them.
hi carrie yes it may prove useful if you could find out if rachel left a forwarding address on those letters she sent to mrs isenor and the dates if possible...

this is just an observation but on rachels marriage cert 1881 a john houghton is one of the witnesses the other is rachels mom.... i also noticed that rachel could not read and write so could not sign her own name on the cert so maybe she got someone else to write those letters to mrs isenor on her behalf or of course she may have learned to read and write after she married....

lyn
 
I've been looking at a Rachel Smith on the 1911 census, who is living with a husband, a son and 2 others in Bham.

Age is ok and there appears to be no marriage to match the date given on the 1911 census. Proving or disproving that it is the correct Rachel though would seem to be extremely difficult, not only is it Smith but her 'husband' only seems to appear on the 1911 census, at least under the name Donald.
 
The address on the 1911 is 5 Rose terrace Cromwell Street (if I have the right record). On the 1920 eroll DANIEL and Rose Smith are listed at 5 back of 96 Cromwell Street. Is this them?
1641386334627.png
The only birth of a Thomas Harold (see below) in 1901 has mmn Cooper.
1925 eroll has Daniel, Rose and Thomas Harold Smith at 5 back of 96 Cromwell street.
1641386819932.png
I can't find a Cooper/Smith marriage.
 
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Thanks, that looks like the right ones. There is a birth for a Rachel Cooper registered Aston, Mar 1861 and I think she is at Lupin St on 1939 register.

So another one ruled out.
 
Yes - think I saw Lupin Street.
Thomas stays at 5 back of 96 even after his marriage.
I am getting more convinced she moved in wth someone and changed her name.
 
Yes - think I saw Lupin Street.
Thomas stays at 5 back of 96 even after his marriage.
I am getting more convinced she moved in wth someone and changed her name.
yes so am i jan in which case the chances are at best very slim of finding our rachel...it happens but if we cant find definitive proof it just has to be chalked up as a for always mystery however i am still happy to keep looking for a while

lyn
 
Yes - think I saw Lupin Street.
Thomas stays at 5 back of 96 even after his marriage.
I am getting more convinced she moved in wth someone and changed her name.

I agree, I thought Rachel Wright and Smith were reasonable chances but it becomes more of a case of disproving (which you did) rather than confirming and more difficult.

Hopefully the letters can give a clue.
 
Rachel Box (Cook) was the granddaughter of Thomas Box and Rachel Lea. She was born in 1858 in San Francisco, California. She married Henry Cook in 1883 at Mariposa, California. She died in 1938 in Citrus Heights, California. Rachel was my great-great-grandmother.
 
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