Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living
2. Living
3. Living

Living + Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ronald married May Beatrice FISHER on 7 Dec 1925 in St. Saviour's Anglican Church, Vermilion, Alberta, Canada. May (daughter of Harry HOBB and Florence FLETCHER) was born on 21 May 1904 in 11 Clare Rd, UD, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; died on 18 Sep 1991 in Richmond, BC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• School: 20 Jul 1908, Easton, Bristol, England; St. Mark's School
• Census: 1911, 9 Harford Square, Redcliff, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
• Immigration: 21 Oct 1919, England to Quebec, Canada
• Census: 1921, Vermilion Valley, Battle River, Alberta, Canada
• Residence: 8 Jul 1928, 1224 16th St, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; This address was given on brother Albert FISHER's border crossing document from US to Canada on this date.

Notes:

School:
Admission Number: 1914
Date of Admission: 20 Jul 1908
Name: Fisher, May
Name of parent or guardian: blank
Address: 11 Clare Rd.
Date of birth: 6 May 1904
Date of last attendance: 30 Oct 1908
Cause of leaving: Removed

William married Louisa Caroline HIGNETT on 12 Feb 1884 in Cheshire, England. Louisa was born in 1864 in Malpar, Cheshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1881, Charles The Martyr, Plymouth, Devonshire, England
• Residence: Dec 1881, 28 Well St, Plymouth, Devonshire, England; Residence just before his marriage to Thurza COCKS.
• Residence: 31 Dec 1891, Nelson St, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; Location at the time of his wife's death.
• Census: 1901, The Grapes Hotel, 22 Rounceval St, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England
• Residence: Jun 1909, The George Hotel, High Street, Shirehampton, Bristol, England; Residence at the time of marriage to Rosa Caroline CARY
• Census: 1911, The George Hotel, High Street, Shirehampton, Bristol, England; aka George Inn

Notes:

Name:
Harry HOBB (b 17 Feb 1855), was the owner of the Grapes Hotel in 1901 when Florence was living there. He was a widower and had 3 children, two of whom also lived in the Hotel. I can't prove there was ever a connection between Harry Hobb and Florence, but I suspect there was. For one thing, barmaids in hotels were usually family members or wives of the owner. Harry lived there with 2 of his children with no other domestic help. Florence also gave her children names that were quite similar to Harry's. Harry's children were: Alice Maud Thurza, Edith Emily Beatrice, and Albert Henry George. Florence named her children: Edith Florence Alice, William Henry, May Beatrice, and Albert Edward.

Harry Hobb lived in Bristol from about 1887 until about 1896 and then went to the Grapes Hotel in Chipping Sodbury. In In 1904 he was back in Bristol and in 1909 he remarried. He remained in Bristol until his death in 1921. The only relatively stable time in Florence's adult life seemed to be between the years of 1903 and 1908 when she lived at 11 Clare Rd in Bristol, possibly coinciding with Harry's return to Bristol.

Harry's children immigrated to Canada and Florence would eventually do the same. There is no mention of Florence or her children in Harry Hobb's will.

The 1901 census took place on March 31, 1901, so Florence was about 3 months pregnant with
William Henry FISHER. But she already had a daughter, Edith Florence Alice FISHER (b in 1900), who is not living with her in the hotel.
Florence lists her name on the census as "Florence Fletcher", and states she is single, but William and Edith's birth certificates state
that her name is Florence FISHER and that she is married to Harry FISHER. Where are Harry and Edith?

Update 2016: DNA evidence seems to suggest that the father of Florence Fletcher's first two children, Edith and William, was Harry HOBB.

Harry + Florence FLETCHER. Florence (daughter of Alfred Manby FLETCHER and Ann WARRINER) was born on 22 Jun 1871 in Sheffield, Yorksire, England; died on 06 Jul 1927 in 688 Magnolia, St. Paul, MN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1891, St. Mary Magdalene, Sussex, England
• Census: 31 Mar 1901, 22 Rounceval St, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England
• Residence: 1 Nov 1901, 22 Rounceval St, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England; Just before giving birth to William she was living at the Grapes Hotel according to his birth certificate
• Census: 1911, 9 Harford Square, Redcliff, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
• Immigration: 21 Oct 1919, England to Quebec, Canada
• Census: 1921, Vermilion Valley, Battle River, Alberta, Canada

Notes:

Immigration:
The final big mystery in Florence's life is that when she immigrated to Canada she indicated that she was going there
to "marry W. Bindon" in Vermilion, Canada. There was in fact a William BINDON, widowed, living in Vermilion at the time
but there is no evidence that she ever did marry him. In the 1921 Canadian census she is living with William BINDON and listed as a "servant". William BINDON also came from the Somersetshire area.
Florence immigrated in 1919 with 2 of her children, William and May. In 1921, Edith and Albert joined her in Vermilion.
May married Ronald BIRD in 1925 there. Florence died at her daughter Edith's home in St Paul, MN in 1927.
UPDATE 2018: Florence apparently did marry William Bindon 2 years after she immigrated to Canada. I will add the marriage certificate when I receive it from the Alberta Archives.