Henry Caddy and Selina Mary Ann Harcus

St Mary, Dock Road, Chatham
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Kemp - geograph.org.uk/p/4674626
The church, now closed, is mainly late C19 but a few Norman features still remain.

Henry Caddy (24), Shipwright, son of John Henry Caddy and Sarah Kirkby, married, Selina Mary Ann Harcus (20), daughter of John Harcus and Selina Patrick, on 18 Dec 1870 at St Mary's Church, Chatham. Witnesses were her brother Henry George Harcus and Sarah Caddy, Henry's sister.

In 1871, Selina Caddy (21), Henry Caddy (24) Shipwright, were living with Selina's widowed mother, Selina Harcus (47) Licensed Victualler at the Chest Arms, 55 High Street, Chatham.

Henry and Selina Caddy then had one daughter: 

1. Selina Sarah Caddy, b. 15 Jan 1872 (1872 M Quarter in MEDWAY Volume 02A Page 470), bap. 11 Feb 1872 at St Mary's Church, Chatham.

Selina Mary Ann Caddy was one of the witnesses to the marriage of her brother Henry George Harcus and Susan Alice Tubb, on 29 Dec 1872.

Then in the forth quarter of 1874, in Shoreditch, Selina Mary A Caddy married either Lewis Betjemann or Christopher Court Harmes (Jane Edmunds married the other), but without buying the certificate, it's not clear which one married which. None of the combinations are listed on subsequent census returns. 

This is a mystery, because one might assume that Henry Caddy had died ...

However, in 1881, we find Henry Caddy (34) Shipwright presumably alive therefore, listed as married, living in the home of his father, John Henry Caddy (59) Joiner (he had been a Joiner at the Dockyard) and his second wife Elizabeth Caddy (61) at 50, Church Road, Gillingham, Medway, Kent, but with no mention of Henry's wife or child. (Henry's mother, Sarah Caddy, had died in 1866 and John Henry Caddy had married widow, Elizabeth Fowler, on 26 Mar 1874).

After that I can find no more records for Henry Caddy, not even a death.

Selina Sarah Caddy doesn't appear on a census either, until 1891, when we find George Lewis (47) Caretaker from Mile End, Middlesex at James Allen's School, Townley Road, Camberwell (James Allen's Girls' School), with wife Selina Lewis (41) Housekeeper from Chatham, Kent; daughter listed as Selina Lewis (19) also from Chatham, Kent, with two Assistant caretakers in the household.

There is no obvious record of a marriage of George Lewis to a Selina anything in the relevant timeframe that I can find and it's interesting that Lewis is the surname here, where it was a forename on the 1874 marriages. Coincidence? Is it possible that Lewis Betjemann, for whom I can find no other record, Anglicised himself to George Lewis? Was that a bigamous marriage? Did Selina have a good reason to escape Henry Caddy? We will probably never know. Subsequent records, which I found first, show that these are the right people however.

In 1894, Selina Sarah Caddy (22) married William Slate (24) at the church of St Michael, Burleigh Street, Westminster (Initially a chapel within the parish of St. Martin in the Fields, closed 1905. The church was demolished.)

William and Selina Sarah Slate had five children:

1. Victor Alfred William Slate b. 30 Nov 1895 in HOLBORN 01B 683
2. Eleanor Selina Slate b. 11 Nov 1897 in HOLBORN 01B 687
3. Alfred John Slate b. 10 Aug 1900 in WEST HAM Vol 04A Page 469, bap 2 Sep 1900 at St. James' Church, Walthamstow
4. Doris Margaret Slate b. 13 Oct 1904 in WEST HAM Vol 04A Page 458, bap. 13 Nov 1904 at St. James' Church, Walthamstow
5. Lily Slate b. 12 Aug 1910 in WEST HAM Vol 04A Page 474, bap. 9 Sep 1910 at St. James' Church, Walthamstow

George Lewis (55) had died, in Camberwell in 1900.

In 1901, Selina Lewis (51) Widow, General shop dealer, from Chatham, Kent, was living at 52, Gladstone Road, Walthamstow, West Ham. William Slate (32) Bookbinder, was living at 81, Gladstone Road, Walthamstow, West Ham with Selina Slate (29) from Chatham, Kent; Victor (5), Selina (3) and Alfred (0).

In 1911, at 23 Camden Road Walthamstow, Walthamstow, were William Slate (41) Bookbinder, Selina Slate (39) from Chatham, Kent; Victor Slate (15) Junior clerk; Eleanor (13), Alfred (10), Doris (6), Lily (0) and Selina Lewis (61) Mother, Widow, Dressmaker from Chatham, Kent.

William and Selina Slate were still living in Walthamstow in 1921. There was nobody with the surname Lewis in their household, however, there is a Selina Ana Lewis (b. 1850), from Kent, also living in Walthamstow in 1921.

Selina M A Lewis died, aged 88, in Sep 1938 at 13 Forster Road, Walthamstow and was buried on 26 Sep 1938 at Queen's Road Cemetery, Walthamstow.

In 1939, William Slate (b. 1 Jul 1869), Groundsman and Sarah Selina Slate (b. 15 Jan 1872) were living at 13 Forster Road, Walthamstow. William Slate died, aged 89, in 1958 and Selina S Slate died, aged 95, in 1966, in Waltham Forest.