Rob From Amersfoort wonders if the subjects in the prompt image for this week are a man with his two wives. This idea resonated with me and sent me scurrying to my online images to find a picture that told us that Mr Geniaus' ancestor, James Ball, had two wives. It was on a visit to Rochdale Cemetery during our first genealogy holiday in the Mother Country about twelve years ago that we found James' grave in that Cemetery and learnt that James had had two wives and that the threesome were resting together for eternity. After this find we raced around to the Local Records Office and bolstered the British economy by buying more BDM certificates.
The photo is of very low resolution, I hope that I can find the original or we may have to return to Rochdale to take another picture but next time it won't be in January.
Loved your post..... Fancy them all being buried together !!!! Makes you think!
ReplyDeleteJackie
Scrapbangwallop
Curious both wives in the same grave. Of course, in the future with same sex marriages we might see an influx in similar headstones!
ReplyDeleteWhat a discovery! Assuming James first wife died, I suppose it is natural for he and his two wives to be united in burial.
ReplyDeleteHere's the inscription:
ReplyDeleteI think Betty was the first and died young. Fanny came along later. They're together for eternity though.
Loving Memory of James Ball
of 44 Albert Street, who died
May 1, 1911, Aged 73 years.
also of Betty, his wife,
Died Jan. 18th, 1876, Aged 48 yrs.,
"Her end was peace."
and of Fanny, wife of the above, James Ball,
Died May 18 in 1928, aged 84 years.
I think it's nice that neither wife was left to rest alone. Maybe they were friends before the first wife died.
ReplyDeleteSo, wife #2 outlived the other two; she must have been the one to get everybody together at the end (or join them in the end). At any rate, it's unique!
ReplyDeleteJames was apparently younger than Betty. Fanny was 6 years younger than James. Fanny was 16 years younger than Betty. I wonder who decided they should all be buried together. Sometimes it was a financial consideration...one headstone being cheaper than three. I doubt Betty had much say in the matter.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandad (mom's father) had two wives, (both were sisters). One died after giving him 6 children, then she died. A year later he married his dead wife's sister and she gave him 3 children, (one died in infancy). So, that is the tale of the two sisters who married the same man!!
ReplyDeleteThe way you started I thought maybe he had two wives at the one time! Pays to read the whole story doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I read the stone that I realized that he probably didn't have two wives at the same time.
ReplyDeleteHow very cosy. Let's hope they al got on togethert. That's a very interetsing headstone.
ReplyDeleteSo his second wife died last - she must have known that he was buried with his first wife. But who decided that Fanny should join the.
ReplyDeleteA fine post. I enjoyed following the thread and reading the comments. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWere they sequential or concurrent...could be a good gossipy story.
ReplyDeleteBoy, o boyo, this gravestone got me thinking. An old friend died a while back, buried with is first wife --- but 2nd wife was very intent on being top wife. I heard that she died recently, so someday I may have to go and see just what story plays out of that gravestone. Thanks for an interesting twist.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Fanny got a frosty reception when she arrived late, as the spare wheel?
ReplyDeleteWow, clearly he was a man that truly loved both of his wives very much! What a great find.
ReplyDeleteWell this post has made me think. My tree has a woman with six children who then marries her late husband's brother and has another six children. I hadn't thought to investigate the burial arrangements ! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell this post has made me think. My tree has a woman with six children who then marries her late husband's brother and has another six children. I hadn't thought to investigate the burial arrangements ! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks, all for your comments. Wife 2 must have been happy to go in with the others. My other issue is trying to work out how the second James Ball fits in to the family.
ReplyDelete