Alice Maud Goode

Birth:	19 June 1882, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire.
Father:	Albert Richmond GOODE (1860 - 1940)
Mother:	Mary Jane WALE (1862-1904)
Spouse 1:	Arthur William BLACKSHAW
Marriage:	23 December 1905, Birmingham
Spouse 2:	William? UNKNOWN aka William Blackshaw, Arthur William Blackshaw
Death:	13 November1969, Hillsborough, Worcester

 

At first glance the life of Alice Maud Goode seemed unremarkable. She was born in Birmingham and at the age of 23 married Arthur William Blackshaw in Birmingham 23 December 1905. Their first children were twins Arthur and William, born 28 February 1906 in Coventry, but both died shortly after birth. Another six children were born, the first, Alice Louise in Shirley, Southampton in 1908, followed by William Yapp in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1911, followed by four born between 1914 and 1924 in Worcester. Alice registered her husband's death in Worcester February 1939 and he was buried 8 February 1939 in the graveyard of St. John's Church, Worcester. She died 13 November 1969 at Hillsborough, Worcester and was buried in the same churchyard 17 November.
The basic facts do not bear close scrutiny. Arthur and Alice's marriage took place at St. Pauls's Church, Birmingham and Arthur was a 29 year old engineer.

The birth of the twins the following year is consistent with the information from the marriage:

6 Little Church Street is the address occupied by Arthur William and his mother since at least 1881, and the informant was his mother Mary.
The birth of the next child was in Shirley, Southampton:

The address of 1a Chilworth Road, Shirley Warren, near Southampton, is that of the Workhouse Infirmary, and the informant was an official of the hospital. Note that the father's name is now William, rather than Arthur William, and he is a silversmith. It is not clear why 'of Southampton' has been added to the mother's name, that is unusual.
They are in Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire when the next child was born:

Once again, the birth was in the Workhouse Infirmary (217 Horton Lane, Horton, Bradford). William Blackshaw was now a General Hawker, and the informer was a hospital official.
This takes us up to 1911, when the census was taken.
As men and women lived separately in the Workhouse, Alice was not recorded with her husband, and the family were not recorded as a unit. There were four Blackshaws in Bradford Workhouse:

Name	Age	Status	Years Married	Children born	Children Living	Occupation	Birthplace
Alice Blackshaw	29	Married	7	2	2	Silver finisher	Warks, Birmingham
William Yapp Blackshaw	< 1 mo						Yorks., Bradford
Alice Blackshaw	3						N[ot].K[nown]
William Blackshaw	35	Married				General labourer	Warks., Birmingham

However, Arthur William Blackshaw was enumerated still living with his mother at 6 Little Church Street, Coventry. While it is not unknown for individuals to sometimes be listed in two places, it seems unlikely he would be with his mother in Coventry one day, and a few days earlier of later be in the workhouse in Bradford, forcing us to believe that the William Blackshaw in Bradford is not the man that Alice married.

Arthur has also recorded that he has been married for 5 years (correct), and two children were born to the marriage, both of whom died. (This information has been crossed out as it is only meant to be recorded by married women.) This would imply that he parted from Alice after the twins were born in February 1906, but before the birth of Alice in January 1908.
Further evidence that the marriage had broken down is provided from World War One Records. Arthur attested for the Labour Corps 11 December 1915 and was initially posted to the Reserve. He was mobilised 28 March 1917 and assigned to 152 Coy Labour Corps., serving with the Devonshire Regiment. He was posted to France the folowing month. He was discharged 28 Jul 1919, physically unfit for active service. The record also states the next of kin to be his mother, and not his wife, despite also saying he was married. He died July 1921 in Coventry.

There is no doubt that this is the man that Alice married - he was still living at the address he occupied when he married her.
A partial second set of war records were found for 'Arthur William Blackshaw' who served with the Hampshire Regiment, giving his address as Severn Side, Hylton Road, Worcester, and his wife as Alice Maud Blackshaw. His full service record has not been found, and is probably among those lost owing to second world war bombing of London. It is believed he was that Arthur William Blackshaw who enlisted in the Worcester Regiment 25 October 1915 but was discharged sick 4 August 1916. When he enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment is not known, but he was discharged 20 May 1920 with chronic bronchitis, aggravated by his war service, and was awarded a 20% disability pension.

There is also a record of Alice notifying the Ministry of Pensions of the death of her husband in February 1939.
Further anecdotal family evidence of the change of husband can be found. Alice's true husband was born 9 October 1876. One of his granddaughters gave birth to her son on the same date. Having learned this only after her grandmohter's death, she wondered why her grandmother had never commented on the coicidence. It became obvious when she found out that the man she knew as her grandfather did not have that birthday.

So who was the man that shared Alice's life for over 30 years?? - We have not yet been able to answer that question. The only possible clue is the inclusion of Yapp as the middle name of one of his sons. Is that his surname, was he really William Yapp? One candidate with that name who disappeared from the records has been identified, but other researchers believe he is a William Henry Yapp in Massachusetts U.S.A., although he had no middle name when he was in England. As he cannot be found in England in 1910, it is unlikely to be our man.
This leaves us with this tree for Alice:

Any input to solve the conundrum is welcome.

 

 

Family Tree