Henry Sweney MBE and Mary Louisa Efford

Christchurch tramway

Henry Sweney (b. 13 Jan 1874) son of John Henry Charles Sweeney and Susannah Harvey, married divorcee, Mary Louisa Ansley, in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 Nov 1901. Born Mary Louisa Efford on 16 Sep 1869 in Torquay, Devon (Volume 05B Page 161), daughter of John Ash Efford Jnr and Louisa Fulford, she had previously married Frederick William Ansley (b. 23 Jan 1866 in Oldbury, Staffordshire), son of Alfred Ansley and Emma Cooper, also in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 1 Nov 1887, with whom she had three daughters: Mary Louisa Ansley, b. 16 Aug 1888; Rose Amelia Ansley (1889-90) and Emma Miriam Ansley b. 18 Apr 1891.

Henry Sweeney had joined the Royal Marines on 8 Apr 1889. He gave his date of birth as 8 Feb 1871, making himself three years older in order to enlist. He was actually only 15, but at already 5 ft 5⁷⁄₁₀in had been tall enough to get away with it. His record confirms his father as John, of 1 Stephensons Cottages, Condor Street, London. Henry grew to 5ft 9½in at final discharge; he had a fresh complexion, brown hair, grey eyes and a tattoo of a basket of flowers on his forearm. 

After initial training at the Royal Marine Depot, Walmer (Deal, Kent) and at Portsmouth Division until 5 Dec 1890, ships that Henry Sweney served on included: HMS Agamemnon (1879) until 1892, while she was part of the Mediterranean Fleet; from 1892 to 1894, HMS Camperdown (1885), again with the Mediterranean Fleet. Henry will therefore have been aboard HMS Camperdown on 22 Jun 1893, when she collided with and sank the battleship HMS Victoria with 358 deaths, off Tripoli, Lebanon. The report here offers the explanation, "Following an order by the admiral to carry out a dangerous and near impossible manoeuvre, taking into account the positions of the vessels, the Camperdown rammed HMS Victoria, off the Lebanon, which sank with heavy loss of life. Camperdown was also badly damaged, but managed to limp into port." 

Henry's final ship was HMS Rapid (1883), then serving on the Australia Station and on 30 Sep 1897, was Discharged by Purchase at Sydney.

The Lyttleton Times on 13 Dec 1898, reported on: ANSLEY V. ANSLEY

This was a case in which Mary Louisa Ansley petitioned for the dissolution of her marriage with Frederick William Ansley of Wanganui on the grounds of cruelty and bigamy. Mr Cresswell appeared for the petitioner. The respondent did not appear, and was not represented by counsel. The evidence of the petitioner showed that she had lived six and a half years with the respondent, who had commenced to ill-treat her two days after the marriage. During the last six years they had been separated by mutual consent, owing to ill relations arising from the cruelty referred to. Amelia Stevens [1], sister of the petitioner, gave corroborative evidence. The written evidence of William T Clapham, clergyman, of Brisbane, taken by the Registrar on Nov 25, showed that he married the respondent to a woman in Brisbane on August 6, 1896 [2]. The respondent subsequently disappeared, and witness heard that he was already married and in New Zealand. His Honour granted the petitioner a decree nisi, with custody of the children and costs against the respondent.

[1] Amelia Efford married Archibald Stevens, in 1896. In 1911, Archibald and Amelia Stevens were listed on the New Zealand Electoral Roll at the Sailors Home Lyttelton, of which Archibald was the Superintendent.

[2] Frederick William Ansley (30) Bootmaker, who was listed on the Australia Electoral Roll in 1896 at 1 Downing Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane, Australia, married [Ellen] Nellie Ashton, in Queensland, Australia on 6 Aug 1896. Frederick, who died on 20 Apr 1956 (aged 90) and is buried at Aramoho Cemetery, Whanganui, [bio] appears to have been very partial to wedding cake, having had a total of five marriages (including the bigamous one).

In 1911, the New Zealand Electoral Roll places Henry Sweney, Hairdresser, at 89 Lower High Street, Christchurch East with Mary Louisa Sweney, Married, and Mary Louisa Sweney Jun (Jnr) (Mary Louisa Ansley). 

Step-daughter, Mary Louisa Ansley Sweney it appears married Herbert Charles Ford in 1916 and went on to have five children. [Source]

In 1925, Henry Sweney, Commission Agent, and Mary Louisa Sweney were listed at 64 Abberley Rd, St Albans, Christchurch.

Then Mary Louisa Sweney died, at 65, on 22 Jan 1934 and is buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Block 31. Plot 14.

Some five years later, Henry Sweney remarried to Kathleen Elizabeth Hocking Raddon (b. 10 Mar 1892 in Christchurch, New Zealand), daughter of Captain Hugh Hocking Raddon and Elizabeth Ann Jackson, who was the widow of James Arthur Taylor, on 21 Feb 1939, in New Zealand. 

In the 1955 New Year Honours (New Zealand), Henry Sweney was awarded an M.B.E. for social welfare services. This bio offers some background: 

"Henry Sweney came to New Zealand in 1897 after purchasing a discharge from the Royal Marines after 8 1/2 years service. He was house manager of Christchurch Musical Society and Christchurch Harmonic Society and a worker for charity and patriotic funds for nearly 60 years.

In 1909 he and several others founded the Christchurch Competitions' Society. Henry worked as a stage manager and had his own concert party which gave charitable entertainment. He raised money for children's homes and was Justice of the Peace in Christchurch."

Henry Sweney died on 3 Jun 1963, aged 89, and was also buried, on 6 Jun 1963, at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Block 31. Plot 14.

Kathleen Elizabeth Hocking Sweney died on 5 Mar 1977, aged 85.

Photos of Henry Sweney provided by Jon Gilbert, descendant of Rosina Sweeney 

James Maslin and Ann Jones

Former St James church, New Cross
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Stephen Craven - geograph.org.uk/p/843636
St James, Hatcham was created in 1845 from Deptford, St Paul. The church
was designed by W Granville and consecrated on 17 October 1854.

James Maslin (20) Blacksmith of 9 Clifton Hill (Clifton Rise?), son of William Maslin, Brass Finisher, married Ann Jones (20) of 10 Vance Street, Deptford, daughter of John Jones, at St James Hatcham on 22 Oct 1877. Witnesses to their marriage appear to be William Campbell and Ann Rugg. However ...

In 1881, James Maslin (23) Blacksmiths Labourer was living as husband and wife with Jessie 'Maslin' (21) Collar Ironer, reputedly from Southwark, in the household of James' parents, William George Maslin and Charlotte Bland. 

(There was a death of an Annie Maslin, aged 19, in Greenwich, in 1878, but after much research, I'm convinced this relates to the unmarried daughter of a Joseph Maslin in Deptford, so I can find no further records, that can be corroborated, of Ann who had married James Maslin. And I'm certain that Jessie isn't Ann using a nickname as there are too many differences.)

James and Jessie had three children:

1. Jessie Elizabeth Maslin b. 1883 J Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 994, bap. 6 Jul 1883 in Hatcham, presumably St James Hatcham
2. Florence Charlotte Maslin b. 1886 J Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 1021, bap. 23 Jan 1890 at St James Hatcham
3. James Thomas Maslin b. 1890 M Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 1032, bap. 23 Jan 1890 also at St James Hatcham

(Hatcham largely corresponds to the area around New Cross.)

All three children have the mother's maiden name listed as Dunford. On Jessie Elizabeth's baptism, her mother's name is also Jessie Elizabeth; on those of Florence and James, their mother is listed only as Jessie. Those records are the only sources for identifying who she was, because I found no previous records of a Jessie or Jessie Elizabeth Dunford anywhere, let alone near Southwark ~1860. There's no record of a marriage between James and Jessie either, and if they knew he wasn't free to marry, that makes sense.

In 1891, one of two families living at 15 Batavia Road, New Cross were James Maslin (33) Blacksmiths Labourer, Jessie Maslin (31), Jessie (8), Elizabeth (5) - surely, they mean Florence Charlotte - and James (1).

Jessie Maslin died, at 35, in 1895 M Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 905. She was discharged from the Poor Law Hospital in Greenwich (St Alfege's Hospital), having died there at 8:35 am on Saturday, 2 Mar 1895.

In 1901, James Maslin (43), listed as single, and employed as a Potman (a man employed in a public house to collect empty pots or glasses), was living at the (Common Lodging House), (formerly Brunswick House), 124, Tanners Hill, St Paul Deptford (Common Lodging Houses, also known as the doss-house, were an option for those who could scrape together a few pence to stay out of the workhouse, though they were scarcely any better and notorious for overcrowding); Eldest daughter, Jessie E Maslin was employed as a General domestic servant in the household of Sydney T Wayment (33) Grain merchant at 194, High Street, St Nicholas Deptford; Cannot be sure of where Florence Charlotte was in 1901, but at 15, she was almost certainly also in a situation somewhere as a domestic servant; Son, James Maslin (11) from New Cross, Surrey, was a boarder in the household of Edward Cheeseman (39) Potman (public house) at 4, Morden Street, Greenwich. 

James Maslin died, aged 44, in 1901 D Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 667, having been discharged from the Poor Law Hospital in Greenwich on 26 Dec 1901. Reason for discharge, simply reads 'Dead'.

• In the 2nd quarter of 1910, Florence Charlotte Maslin married Albert Robert Williams, in Woolwich. In 1911, Albert Robert Williams (25) Soldier A S Corps, Sergeant, from Clonmel, Tipperary; Florence Charlotte Williams (24) from Deptford and their one-and-a-half month old son, Robert Ronald Williams, were living at Caxton House, Godfrey Hill, Woolwich. 2nd child, Irene Dorothy Williams, was born, in Woolwich, in 1912.
• James Maslin (21), in 1911, was with the 2nd Battalion The King's Shropshire Light Infantry, in Trimulgherry (Tirumalagiri), India.

Daniel Thompson Botterill and Jessie Elizabeth Maslin

St. Nicholas' Church, Deptford Green, SE8 - porch
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Quinn - geograph.org.uk/p/1499613

Daniel Thompson Botterill (b. 1882), engineer, son of Dan Stephen Thompson Botterill and Mary Jane Harris, married Jessie Elizabeth Maslin (b. 27 Mar 1883), daughter of James Maslin and Jessie Elizabeth Dunford, at the church of St Nicholas, Deptford Green, on 2 Sep 1905. Witnesses were William Wilson and Florence Charlotte Maslin, the bride's younger sister.

Daniel and Jessie then had two sons: 

1. Joseph Daniel Botterill b. 1907 S Quarter in WOOLWICH Volume 01D Page 1203. Died 1908 M Quarter in WOOLWICH Volume 01D Page 761 and was buried on 25 Jan 1908 at Charlton Cemetery
2. Daniel Thompson Botterill b. 1908 S Quarter in GREENWICH Volume 01D Page 1064

Both birth registrations list the mother's maiden name as MASLIN. The second boy, like David Copperfield, was a posthumous child, because Daniel Thompson Botterill had died, aged 26, in 1908 M Quarter in WOOLWICH Volume 01D Page 760, at 26 Inverine Road, Charlton and was buried, on 18 Jan 1908, also at Charlton Cemetery (Greenwich). 

Not unsurprisingly, Jessie Elizabeth Botterill remarried, in 1910, to Welshman, Evelyn John Gutton Budge. Confirming that I'd found the correct spouse, Jessie Elizabeth Budge was living with her son, Daniel Tompson Batterell (sic) (2), in 1911 in Gillingham, Kent. Her new husband, however, was boarding in the household of a Henry Webb in Chatham. That doesn't seem far enough away for him to be boarding there for work, so I'd suspected an estrangement, but I've found no evidence for a divorce.

In 1912, Jessie Elizabeth Budge was listed on the Electoral Register at 80 Queens Road, Peckham (2nd floor), a mystery in itself as she would not have had the vote until at least 1918 and only then if she had enough wealth.

Evelyn John Gutton Budge arrived in Quebec, Canada in Jun 1911 and appears to have travelled alone. In 1913, he crossed the border into the United States, where he appears to do Military Service during WWI and, in 1917, married nurse, Mabel Dorothy Morris. They applied for Naturalization in 1918 and he died in Los Angeles, California on 2 Sep 1969.

Jessie Budge (37) and son her Daniel (11) - listed incorrectly with his surname dittoed as Budge - are shown sailing on the RMS Empress of France (1913) from Liverpool to Quebec on 8 Jun 1921. Their last address in the UK was given as 5, Clarence Mansions, Bromells Road, Kent (Clapham, London) and their country of intended future residence as Canada.

Jessie Budge bearly stepped ashore when she married, for a 3rd time, to Gerald Foll (b. 30 May 1865), son of John Foll and Sarah Anne Linnell of Stowe, Northamptonshire, on 20 Jun 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gerald Foll died on 10 April 1947 and is buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg. 

Jessie Elizabeth Foll died on 24 Sep 1965 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Searches reveal that Jessie's first cousin, Arthur Andrew Maslin, son of her father's eldest brother, Joseph Maslin, died in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 26 Dec 1955, which may explain why she was in that area.

Daniel Tompson Botterill married Edith Evelyn Benson, in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1939. They had three children. Daniel died in Winnipeg on 18 Jul 1964.

Con Colleano and Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail

Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail and Con Colleano

Cornelius Sullivan (b. 26 Dec 1899 in Lismore, New South Wales), Theatrical, son of Cornelius Sullivan and Julia Robinson, married my grandmother's 2nd cousin, Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail (b. 16 Sep 1900 in Lambeth, Surrey), Actress, daughter of Herbert Fleming Trevail and Alice Maud Stanley Blazey on 10 July 1926 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. The marriage licence states they were married by the Associate Pastor of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, from which I deduce that the venue was the Central United Methodist Church (Detroit), although they were resident in Brooklyn, New York. Both stated they'd not been married before.

While researching, I found a record of a marriage of a Winifred C Trevail, in Victoria, Australia, in 1919 to a Leonard Mendoza. Even sounded like Winnie's "type" and I knew I would need to obtain the certificate to confirm, but just how many people named Winifred C Trevail were there likely to be, and in the same area? As expected, the record clearly tells us that the marriage between Leonard Mendoza (24) Bachelor, born in Melbourne, Victoria, son of Charles Mendoza, Carpenter and Annie Gordon, and Winifred Constance Trevail (19) Spinster, born in Brixton, England - both list their occupations as 'Theatrical' - in the Parish or Church District of Melbourne on 15 Aug 1919, lists her father as Herbert Trevail, Carpenter and mother as Alice Blazey, so there can be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that this was indeed 'our' Winnie.

It's said that Winnie met Con, in Melbourne, Victoria, when she was 22. What can have happened to Leonard Mendoza in those 3 years? If he'd died, or they divorced, Winnie would have listed that she was a widow or a divorcee when she married Con, so I'm certain Winnie was committing bigamy in 1926.

We know Winnie was in Melbourne before that first marriage, because in the Victoria Police Gazette of 11 Apr 1918, appeared the following report: "TREVAIL, WINNIE theatrical, 7 McKenzie Street, Melbourne, reports stolen from the dressing-room, Bijou Theatre, Bourke Street, Melbourne on the 3rd inst. a diamond cluster ring, diamond in the centre set with other stones around, the centre stone is set a little to side, gold band at side of setting is wavy. Value £8." There can be no doubt who made this report either. 

Several articles mention that Winifred "claimed descent from the Earls of Derby" and it appears the source is her brother, Eric, so I assume the story was perpetuated within the family. It is very tempting to dismiss this entirely as theatrical fantasy, but there's a chance this is actually true, because Winnie's great-grandfather on her mother's side was Augustus George Stanley, a Tehsildar (revenue officer) in India. The family name of the Earls of Derby, is also Stanley, so if a link can be found between Augustus George Stanley and one of the Earls, then this would indeed confirm the story. (That would be an immense research project for another time.) On the other hand, I can confirm that Winnie was a cousin of Silvanus Trevail, famous architect and former Mayor of Truro. Her great-grandfather, Joseph Trevail, was the younger brother of Philip Trevail, Silvanus Trevail's grandfather.

Known professionally as Con Colleano, Cornelius Sullivan, was the most famous and highest paid "swashbuckling circus performer with matinee idol looks" of his time, “The Australian Wizard of the Wire”. A member of the Circus Hall of Fame, Con Colleano is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to prefect the forward somersault on the tight wire. 

"Mrs. Winnie Colleano (neé Trevail) was herself a well known Australian Vaudeville Soubrette", dancer and trapeze artist." One article says that Winnie Trevail began appearing on the stage in Sydney as a child, but actually, she was performing before that in New Zealand. There in Lyttelton, New Zealand in 1909 - where her father's aunts, Ellen Higgs and Mary Ann Burn Trevail Bawden then lived - reports in the Lyttelton Times in Oct 1909 detail that Miss Winnie Trevail was appearing in one of the principle roles in a production staged by the Garrick Juvenile Opera Company, at the Opera House there. 

Trevail abandoned her own career in 1924 to travel with her husband.

Con Colleano on a slack-wire, circa 1920

Con Colleano, was of Aboriginal, Anglo-Irish and West Indian descent and adopted a Spanish persona and a costume of a ‘toreador’ or bullfighter.

Colleano’s Indigenous heritage was unknown to his fans – which included one of history’s most infamous racists - "Few people are aware of the fact that in the 1930’s, Adolf Hitler issued an Aboriginal Australian tightrope walker with a German passport so he could come and go as he pleased."

Passenger lists reveal that Cornelius Sullivan and Winifred C. S. Trevail left Southampton, England on 13 Sep 1924, on the RMS Berengaria (former SS Imperator), The first Cunard "Queen". This was their first trip to the US, so their port of arrival was the infamous Ellis Island, New York. Clearly they were let in. Various sources tell us that, in 1924, Con made his debut at the New York Hippodrome before returning to the circus with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

There's also record of Cornelius and Winifred C Sullivan Colleano travelling from Southampton to New York, on the Berengaria, on 24 Feb 1937.

On 7 Jan 1938, Cornelius and Winifred (Sullivan) Colleano, left Sydney, bound for California, on the luxury ocean liner, SS Mariposa (1931).

On 8 Sep 1939, Cornelius and Winifred Sullivan, listed as British, boarded the Italian ocean liner, SS Rex, leaving Genoa, bound for New York.

In 1940, they are shown arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

These, I'm sure are just the tip of a globe-trotting iceberg, but it was finding these records of voyages that led me to discover more of their story.

The former Albion Hotel (pub) at Forbes, New South Wales, Sheba, CC BY-SA 2.0

"Sadly Con and Winnie ultimately lost all their money indulging in a luxurious lifestyle, giving it away to friends and making a disastrous investment in a pub in outback Australia in the 1950s (what were they thinking?)."

Con Sullivan died, in Miami, Florida, on 13 Nov 1973 and in his obituary in The Stage, the wife of Con's brother is quoted as saying, "His wife WINNIE has cabled that she is broken-hearted because she found my dear brother-in-law lying dead, obviously she is too shocked to tell me more."

Winnie returned to Australia, where she died, in Sydney, in on 5 Jan 1986. 

Con Colleano home movie: circus preparations (1928)

Sources (many of these links contain images):

1. Con Colleano From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. “The Australian Wizard of the Wire”
3. AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE
4. Inducted into the Ring of Fame: 1992
5. Meet the true circus wonders
6. Con Colleano: Australia's 'Wizard of the Wire'
7. Con Colleano: Wizard of the Wire
8. Colleano, Con (Cornelius) (1899–1973)
9. Circus pays homage to wire wizard
10. Interview with Eric Trevail, brother of Winnie Colleano
11. The Aboriginal tightrope walker who duped Hitler & Mussolini

Videos:

1. Con Colleano rehearsing his tight wire act at his home, circa 1939
2. COLLEANO, CON, Australia's tightwire wizard (USA, c.1929)
3. COLLEANO, CON, a life commemorated, (Australia, 2005)
4. COLLEANO, CON, mini-doco of tightwire artist (Australia, 1994)
5. Con Colleano home movie: circus preparations (1928)

Further reading: The wizard of the wire : the story of Con Colleano 

Thomas Back and Mary Drake

Church of St Paul, Durnford Street, East Stonehouse, Plymouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/5625201

Thomas Back (39) married Mary Drake (42) at the Chapel of St Paul, East Stonehouse on 22 Jun 1852. Both gave their address as 20 George Street, which is in Devonport. Thomas was listed as a Labourer, son of Thomas Back, Shipwright and Mary Drake as daughter of Thomas Drake, Shipwright. This, I believe, is all nearly true. Thomas Back, bap. 24 Oct 1813 in Stoke Damerel, was actually the son of John Back, Shipwright and Martha Norton. 

Mary Drake b. 20 Apr 1810 and baptised in Stoke Damerel on 15 Dec 1812, was the daughter of Thomas Drake, Shipwright and Frances Poad.

In 1841, Mary Drake (30) had been among a long list of people residing in Hill Street, St Helier, Jersey, along with her mother, Frances Drake (75), Edward Drake (9) and Mary Drake (5). There is a baptism for this latter child, in St Helier, Jersey on 25 Jun 1837, illegitimate daughter of Mary Drake.

We next find Mary Drake (44) Unmarried, Tayloress (sic) in Stoke Damerel Workhouse in 1851, accompanied by Mary Drake (14) born in St Helier, Jersey; George Drake (8) and Thomas Drake (0). George Drake, was born 23 Jan 1843 and bap. 30 Jul 1843, illegitimate son of Mary Drake with abode given as Workhouse. Thomas Drake b. 1850 D Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 09 Page 429, has no mother's maiden name (illegitimate). He was later known as Thomas Back and named Thomas Back as his father.

After their marriage in 1852, the couple added a daughter:

1. Eliza Back b. 1853 S Qtr in STOKE DAMEREL Vol 05B Page 266

On the 1852 marriage, Thomas Back was listed as a Bachelor, however, it is my belief that he had previously married Eliza Stafford on 7 Aug 1837 at St Andrew's Church, Plymouth. On this marriage, Thomas Back was listed as a Mariner, son of John Back, Shipwright. (There is a Thomas Back b. 1813 listed among Britain, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857.) In 1841, Thomas Back (25), Eliza Back (20), Eliza Back (2) and Mary Back (0) were among a long list of people (boarders perhaps) in Pembroke Street, one of Devonport's principal streets, with a great number of retailers and public houses.

In fact, they had the names of the their daughters transposed. Mary Ann Elizabeth Back was born in 1838 J Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 09 Page 418 (mother's maiden name confirmed as Stafford). Eliza Ann Back, for whom I cannot find a birth registration, was born around Sep 1840 and died on 26 Aug 1842 (1842 S Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 09 Page 332). This second child was buried on 30 Aug 1842, in Stoke Damerel.

In 1851, William Still (32) was living as husband and wife in Stoke Damerel with Eliza 'Still' (36) 'Wife', his three daughters (presumably from a previous relationship) and Mary A Back (12) described as his Daughter-In-Law - which I've often seen used interchangeably, as here, to mean Step-Daughter. While I can find no evidence of a marriage between Eliza and William Still, this does suggest, unless she had died by the following year, that Thomas Back may have been committing bigamy in 1852. As yet I've found no further records for Eliza Back or as Eliza Still to confirm or deny the situation. Although calling himself a bachelor and misnaming his father on the 1852 marriage might be seen as evidence of Thomas Back attempting deliberate subterfuge. It also didn't add up that Thomas and Mary's marriage took place in Stonehouse when they lived in Devonport and I think this is probably the reason why.

We lose sight of Thomas and Mary also until, in 1881, when Thomas Back (70) Labourer and Mary Back (72) Tailoress, were found living at 40, Cannon Street, Devonport, seemingly in a separate household, but the very same address as their daughter, Eliza and her husband, Samuel Eastabrook.

Mary Back died in 1883 J Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 05B Page 226, with age estimated at 75. Thomas Back died five years later, in 1888 D Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 05B Page 217, age given as 78.

Mary Drake's children:

1. Edmund Drake b. 5 Oct 1831, bap. 22 Jan 1849 in Stoke Damerel, Devon, son of Mary Drake, Single Woman. Mary's eldest illegitimate child was listed, in 1841, as Edward Drake, born around 1832 on the Isle of Jersey. On both of his marriages, Edmund named his father as Edmund Drake (often correct, but also common is saying the same as one's own name when the father is not known). He also lists his father as a Tailor. Mary was a Tailoress and again, when people make stuff up for the records, there's usually a grain of truth in it, as we can see here.
2. Mary Drake (bap. 25 Jun 1837 in St Helier, Jersey) died on 3 Jun 1878 (1878 J Quarter in STOKE DAMEREL Volume 05B Page 261) with age estimated as 38 (she was 40). She was buried on 7 Jun 1878, with her abode on the burial record as 40, Cannon Street, Devonport.
3. George Drake b. 23 Jun 1843, bap. 30 Jul 1843. George Drake from Devonport, Devon, with date of birth listed as 23 Jun 1843 joined the Royal Navy at the Royal William [Yard] on 31 Jul 1857 as a Boy 2nd Class. In 1861, at 17, George was with the "Royal Navy At Sea And In Ports Abroad". He appears to have served until 13 Feb 1868, when he was invalided. He next turns up, in 1881, aged 39, as a boarder in the household of Cornwallis Johnson from Shelford, Cambridgeshire at 19, Pitt Street, Stansfield, Todmorden, Yorkshire, employed as Cellarman at cotton mill. After that, we lose sight of him unfortunately.
4. Thomas Drake, later known as Thomas Back b. 1850