[list-cumbria] Bogus marriage: George GREATHEAD & Ada ELLWOOD

[Steve Hayes]

On 9 Jan 2024 at 17:13, Petra Mitchinson via list-cumbria wrote:

> I must agree, this is very odd.
> 
> I could find nothing in the newspapers about the marriage.
> 
> When I looked at passenger lists, I found two possible Ada ELLWOODs. One (by
> far the more likely one for the Ada born in Sawrey) in 1895 from Liverpool to
> New York for Ada ELWOOD aged 19, last residence Haverthwaite. The other was in
> 1900 - Ada ELLWOOD, spinster, no age given, travelling from Liverpool to
> Philadelphia. Very little detail given in that passenger list.

> What if your Ada travelled out to America in 1895, came back at some point,
> married George GREATHEAD in 1898, realised it was a big mistake, decided to
> leave him and go back to America, and reverted back to her maiden name,
> pretending the marriage to George had never happened?

That is certainly a possible explanation -- we were not aware of the second 
Ada Ellwood trip to the US, and it makes it seem more possible. Are their any 
records of passengers travelling the other way, from the US to the UK?

And, in the absence of any subsequent record of that George Greathead, is it 
possible that she murdered him and hid the body so well that it was never 
found?

> There were no GREATHEAD/EL(L)WOOD births between 1898 and 1917 in England and
> Wales.

The only Greathead births I could find that roughly matched the age at 
marriage were these: 

Surname 	First name(s) 	 	District 	Vol 	Page 

Births Sep 1870   (>99%)
Greathead	 George Bilton	 	 Darlington	 10a	4

Births Jun 1871   (>99%)
Greathead	 George Lumley	Richmond, Y.	 9d	551
Greathead	 George Lumley	Richmond, Y.	 9d	554

Births Jun 1873   (>99%)
GREATHEAD	 George	  	 Aston	 	6d		334

Births Dec 1873   (>99%)
Greathead	 George William	 Richmond, Y

George Lumley GREATHEAD seems a possible candidate.

Someone on FamilySearch had linked Ada ELLWOOD to this family, but I 
disconnected them, as it was clearly wrong:

Marriages Jun 1887   (>99%)
Greathead	 George William	 	 Hartlepool	 10a	179
Greig	 Ada	  	 Hartlepool	 10a	179

and this one seems equally unlikely. 

Marriages Dec 1902   (>99%)
Greathead	 William	  	 Hartlepool	 
Lamplough	 Ada	  	 Hartlepool

> 
> GREATHEAD appears to be a predominantly north east England name, with most of
> them in Yorkshire and County Durham.
> 
> I could not find another Ada ELLWOOD with a father called Thomas. 
> 
> There was a George GREATHEAD born around the right time in Birmingham with a
> father John, but he was a brass dresser, and his father John was a Carriage
> Lamp Maker. I could not find this George in the 1901 and 1911 census.
> 
> Another possibility is that George GREATHEAD usually went under a different
> surname, for example because he was illegitimate. That would make it very
> difficult to find him in any censuses and in general.

Thanks once again for all the lookups. I suppose all we can do is speculate!


-- 
Keep well, 

Steve & Val Hayes
Blog: 	http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com
Web:	http://www.khanya.org.za/famhist1.htm	
E-mail:	shayes at dunelm.org.uk or if you use Gmail, hayesstw at telkomsa.net
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