Tidying the desk for Christmas, I came upon a folder of miscellaneous documents. One of the these was a record of the Monumental Inscription on a headstone in the graveyard of Christ Church, West Bromwich, Staffordshire.
Listed are Sarah (died 1836 aged 45), wife of William Cooksey, their son, William Mallin (died 1845 aged 30) and a daughter, Marie Louisa (died 1850 aged 35).
Sarah’s maiden name was Mallin, hence son William’s second given name. I have often wondered at the relationship between William’s first wife, Sarah Mallin, and his second wife, Hannah Mallin. I have researched, so far without success.
Coming upon the MI set me thinking again about William’s first wife and family. I knew that in 1841, by which time William had married Hannah and had a 2 year-old child, that the three children from his first marriage were not living with them. Where were they? Living together, is the answer, in Great Bridge, West Bromwich, with two other men (whose occupations are too faint to read) and a female servant.
The census entry produced a surprise: a fourth Cooksey, a Sarah, aged 20 – born apparently about 1820.
I have now added William and Sarah’s 4 children to the family tree.