One Lady, Three Husbands
This article is about one of my ancestors who married three times. However she did not commit bigamy as she was a widow once and obviously a spinster once, at marriage.
Firstly, her birth name was Hannah Harding, born 26 September 1792 in West Buckland, Somerset to John and Mary Harding (Mary née Lane), the second of seven children.
She moved to Witham Friary, where she met Joseph Clarke, a turner and spade-tree maker, and married on the 17 November 1811. She had nine children with him before his death in 1831, aged 45.
After four years of living alone, bringing up her children, the oldest being 23, she married Joseph Hodges (alias Taylor) on the 1 March 1835 and had two more children: Joseph Clark Hodges and William. Joseph Clark Hodges, was probably named after Joseph Clarke and Joseph the father, so probably an easy choice of name. However in 1851, she became a widow for the second time as Joseph died aged 67.
Finally, on the 8 September 1853 she marries again, this time to William Urch, a widow, originally from Wells, but moved to Witham Friary with his first husband and son. However, this is where it gets a bit weird, for me, as I am also descended from William Urch as he had children from his first marriage. But because of this, they may have met each other through their grandparents. Shown below is a little diagram explaining this.
Firstly, her birth name was Hannah Harding, born 26 September 1792 in West Buckland, Somerset to John and Mary Harding (Mary née Lane), the second of seven children.
She moved to Witham Friary, where she met Joseph Clarke, a turner and spade-tree maker, and married on the 17 November 1811. She had nine children with him before his death in 1831, aged 45.
After four years of living alone, bringing up her children, the oldest being 23, she married Joseph Hodges (alias Taylor) on the 1 March 1835 and had two more children: Joseph Clark Hodges and William. Joseph Clark Hodges, was probably named after Joseph Clarke and Joseph the father, so probably an easy choice of name. However in 1851, she became a widow for the second time as Joseph died aged 67.
Finally, on the 8 September 1853 she marries again, this time to William Urch, a widow, originally from Wells, but moved to Witham Friary with his first husband and son. However, this is where it gets a bit weird, for me, as I am also descended from William Urch as he had children from his first marriage. But because of this, they may have met each other through their grandparents. Shown below is a little diagram explaining this.
However, in 1867, aged 71 William dies - leaving Hannah a widow for the third time. This time she does not remarry and in the 1871 census is living with her son James, weirdly under the surname Clarke again and as a lodger - which could be a mistake by the enumerator or maybe as she is listed as a lodger, her son James did not agree with her marriages after his father had died, but as she was his mother, he allowed her to live with him and his family and just told the enumerator to write that.
In 1875, aged 83, Hannah dies and becomes reunited with her three husbands.
This week would have been her 222nd birthday, gone, maybe forgotten and then rediscovered...
Published: 25 September 2014
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