On finding the headstone of a soldier who died in WW1 in my local churchyard of St Peter’s in Formby I decided to research him. He was only 22 when he died so I assumed that it would be a short, uneventful story. How wrong I was! On researching his family I discovered a link to some pubs of Liverpool, a music hall and a scandalous divorce! Hidden thus far from history, I couldn’t resist a delve back into Liverpool’s past and divorce proceedings from 1900. In fact, until the second half of the 20th century divorce was a relatively rare event. In 1901 there were only 512 divorces in England and Wales. In 2001 there were 141,135. I would emphasise that from over 100 years ago it is impossible to be able to "prove" the facts of either parent as laid out in the divorce petition. No "guilt" or shame can be attributed using our modern day values. We will never know the full circumstances.. It was clearly a terrible time for the whole family.
William's grave. St Peter's
The young man who started me on my journey was William Henry Wright
who died of wounds in France on 29th August 1918, just 10 weeks
before the Armistice on 11th November 1918. He was a private in the
Royal Welch Fusiliers and is buried in Bagneux Cemetery France.
William was born in Southport in 1896. His parents were Thomas Prescott Wright and Isabella Jane Smith (much more of them later!) I have been unable to trace his occupation at the time he enlisted but his father and grandfather had both been publicans in Liverpool. William’s parents were married on 19 September 1877 During their marriage they lived in several addresses, including a public house in Wavertree. They had at least 7 children; one son died aged 12 months in 1887, another was stillborn in 1884 (or “ Mrs Wright was delivered of a dead child” as the couple’s divorce papers coldly stated) and one lived to be just 5 years old.
The Brook House Hotel, Rathbone Road
The address of an alleged assault by Thomas
William’s parents were clearly unhappy in their marriage and in 1900 Thomas filed for a divorce on the grounds of adultery. Isabella counter sued for cruelty. I have seen the divorce papers (on Ancestry.co.uk) and it’s very hard to conclude who is “to blame”. There is a newspaper report of the divorce proceedings. In it, Thomas details dates of the alleged infidelity in which he states that he knew a man was staying overnight in his wife’s bedroom because he heard him snoring! The correspondent (only ever known as “Mr Woods” – no first name. A shame as I would love to have traced him!) was a music hall pianist. When Thomas came downstairs, Mr Woods was washing himself apparently. When challenged he said he had come to tune the piano (rather an unintended euphemism if ever I had heard one!!)
Liverpool Weekly Courier March 1901
Isabella claimed various acts of cruelty including one that lead to the loss of the baby she was carrying. She alleged that Thomas smashed up furniture and wedding presents.in 1885. In return Thomas said she treated him with unkindness and cruelty which seriously affected his health and that she encouraged his children to call him names, throw crusts of bread at him and to make loud noises causing him great pain. Furthermore in 1899 she allegedly tried to kill him with poison. He moved to his brother in law’s for safety. According to the records, notwithstanding Isabella's counter claim, Thomas was granted the divorce on the grounds of adultery. The adultery claim was uncontested.
Tragically for Isabella, her brother in law, John Edwards was given temporary custody of her children:
Amy Prescott 5/12/1888
Henry Arthur 30/12/1890
Isabella 26/06/1893
Willie (William) Henry 11/3/1895
As far as I can tell, they never lived with her again.
Thomas’s brother in law and the children's guardian, John died of a heart attack while on a train, visiting him at his house in Gores Lane Formby. I have found two newspaper reports, the writing style somewhat dramatic! One called the death “something of a commotion” and another said that “instead of being welcomed as a living and happy guest at Greengate, his (John’s) dead body was taken into the house to await internment”
How very Victorian
A somewhat dramatic, overwrought description of William's guardian's death! 1906
Thomas and Isabella Wright -What Became of Them?
Thomas died in 1908. The probate registry notes that he was a brewer. He left £4,200 which I imagine was quite a sum back then. His sister (John Lloyd's widow) was granted probate
Death Notice of Thomas.
No mention is made of his wife or children
I have been unable to trace Isabella after the divorce. It is a very common name and her maiden name, Smith, is even more common! She may have remarried in which case I would not find her death certificate. I wondered, hopefully, if she married “Mr Woods” but can find no trace of a marriage. Of course divorce held a terrible stigma, even more so for “adulterous women”I have found her children in records after the divorce – none of them living with their mother.
What DID happen to the couple’s children and William’s siblings?
Amy Prescott Wright was born in 1888. In the 1911 census she is a draper’s assistant living in hostel accommodation provided by her employers, Owen Owen of Liverpool. They were known to be very good employers, who took care of their workers providing accommodation, events and bonuses. By 1939 Amy was living with her sister Isabella in Southport. She never married and died in 1975
Owen Owen Shop Assistances 1888
Isabella Wright was born in 1893., I discovered she was also known as Esther. This led to the discovery that both “Esther” and her sister Amy, were living in a boarding school in Formby in 1901. As an aside, I discovered that the famous novelist Beryl Bainbridge attended this school – but 30 years later! 1901 was the year of the divorce and I think we can assume that neither parent at that time had full custody of the children. Indeed, I also found Esther aged 16 in 1911 living with a married cousin. I do not know where she was living until 1939 or when she died.
Henry Arthur Wright was born in 1890. He appears to have followed his father’s profession – I have found a newspaper article that mentions a publican named Henry Arthur Wright in Liverpool. I have been unable to trace his death.
Newspaper report and photo of the pub mentioned
When I decided to trace the family of a young soldier who died in France at the age of 22, I had no idea that his family history would involve his parents divorce, the break up of his family and interesting stories about employment in Liverpool in the 1900s. . During 1901 the year of his parents’ divorce, his two sisters were in a boarding school and William was living with his aunt and her husband. I know that Thomas had moved to Formby and that within 7 years of the divorce he had died. I would dearly have loved to find what happened to his mother, Isabella, after the divorce. I suspect she suffered social isolation and much pain at not being able to live with her children.
And of course, the death of William far away in France in the service of his country.
Ancestry.co.uk
BritishNewspaperArchive
https://camra.org.uk/pubs/old-english-gentleman-birkenhead-132347
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/life-lost-department-store-once-31849851?shem=aimgspe%2C
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