It has not been unusual in Europe for marriages between cousins to take place, indeed several royal marriages can be found between cousins and these include Queen Victoria:
One perceived benefit of course was to retain inheritances within a lineage and although this would rarely have been a motivation outside the richest elements of society, it was still relatively common in Victorian England.
Examples of marriages to close family relations exist in most families and I have found the following examples within the Ennever and related families:
| Names (alphabetical order) |
Details |
| Charles Gordon McLeod Buchanan |
Charles Gordon McLeod Buchanan married his cousin Grace Jeanette Eager in 1915 at Scone, NSW, Australia. Both were descended from George Ennever, the forger, cobbler and innkeeper who was transported to Australia. |
| Ernest Albert Collins |
Ernest Albert Collins married Matilda Brandon in 1911 and William Clark first married Annie Elizabeth Collis and after her death in 1922 married Matilda's younger sister, Annie Brandon in 1929. William Clark's daughter, Annie, by his first marriage then married Ernest Albert Collins' son, Ernest John Collins. |
| John Shortland Baring Deck |
John married Betty Muriel Angus, who was the daughter of William Reginald Angus and Muriel Frances Thompson. William Reginald Angus's second wife was Lucy Mary Baring Deck, John's younger sister. |
| Elizabeth Ennever and Caroline Ennever |
Elizabeth Ennever married a Henry Thomas Ashenden in 1885 while her sister, Caroline, also married a Henry Thomas Ashenden, the uncle of Elizabeth's husband. Henry and Caroline also named their eldest child Henry Thomas. |
| George Alfred Ennever |
George Alfred Ennever, otherwise known as George Alfred Collins, was born out of the illicit relationship between Henry Collins and his wife's niece Mary Stothart Ennever (click here for details of this story). George's birth was registered as Ennever, with no father's name recorded, but at the time of his marriage was using his natural father's name of Collins. He married Caroline Old in 1899 in Bethnal Green and after her death in 1903 he married Susannah Parducci, also in Bethnal Green, in 1908. Caroline Old was the daughter of John Old and Maria Elizabeth Illingworth and Susannah Parducci was the daughter of Mary Ann Illingworth, Maria's sister. George had quite legally married two cousins ie a daughter of each of two sisters. |
| Henry Ennever |
Henry married Rebecca Peare in 1850 and after her death in 1898 he married Priscilla Ann Williams (nee Collins and formerly Jones and Williams). One of Priscilla's younger sisters, Emma, had married Henry's brother, Robert Ponder Ennever, in 1877. The two Ennever brothers had therefore, eventually, married two of the Collins' sisters. |
| Henry Nunns and Mary Amelia Ennever |
Henry and Mary were first cousins and married in 1864 in New York, both Henry's and Mary's parents having emigrated to the USA. |
| Henry Wade Ennever and Edith Jane Ennever |
Henry Wade and Edith Jane were brother and sister and married sister and brother, Florence Alice Huff and Henry Thomas Huff, respectively. |
| Nellie Frances Ennever |
Nellie Frances Ennever was born in 1878 in the Poplar area and in 1902 she married Leonard Percy Martin. Leonard was killed in France in the First World War and just over a year later she married one of his elder brothers, Hubert William Martin. |
| Robert Ennever |
Robert Ennever was born in 1818 and married Mary Stothart Thomas in 1839 and there were 2 children of the marriage, one being Mary Stothart Ennever. Mary Thomas died in June 1843 and six months later, in December, Robert married Mary's younger sister, Harriet Agnes. There were also 2 children of this marriage.
Additionally, Robert George Ennever, the eldest son of Robert Ennever and Harriet Agnes Thomas married Maria Eliza Collins, Henry Collins' sister, in Australia, Henry Collins being the husband of Mary Stothart Ennever's aunt. The other close relationships that existed between these two families can be found in the history of Mary Stothart Ennever here. |
| Henry Martyn Helmore married Elizabeth Pickard in 1889 in West Ham, Essex after the birth of their first child, Gerald H Helmore. In the 1901 census he is recorded as married to a Mary Ann and a marriage is recorded with Mary Ann Pickard, Elizabeth's older sister, in 1893. These marriages have yet to be proved but apart from the census and index data, Mary can be found staying with Henry and Elizabeth in 1891 and Henry's mother-in-law, Ann Pickard, nee Weston, is living with the family in 1901. No trace of Elizabeth's death or re-marriage has yet been found, however. |
| Robert Henry Helmore and Thomas Edmond Helmore |
Robert Henry Helmore married Elizabeth Gullock Sully in 1863 and Elizabeth's younger sister, Adelia Jane Sully, had married James Charles Western in 1860. On James's death, probably in 1869, Adelia Jane married Robert's younger brother, Thomas Edmond Helmore. |
| Edwin John Lensh and William Henry Lensh |
Two Lensh brothers married two of the Mullen daughters, Edwin marrying Frances Maria in 1888 with William having married Kathleen in 1883. Most of the earlier Lensh children were registered as Lynch, while all of the later children were registered as Lensh. This was probably reflecting the Irish pronunciation of Lynch, or was possibly to disguise their Irish background or possibly to disguise Daniel Lynch's financial difficulties even though his bankruptcy did not take place until 1868, some years after the first "Lensh" registration. |
| Frank Thomas Lubnow and Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vera Lubnow |
Frank Thomas and Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vera Lubnow were the children of Frank Lubnow and Elizabeth Wade Ennever. Elizabeth had married Wilhelm Einhorn in March 1901 but must have fallen pregnant in a relationship with Frank Lubnow about three months into the marriage, Frank Lubnow having been born in March 1902. No marriage has been found of Elizabeth to Frank.
The two children of the relationship with Frank Lubnow appear to have married a brother and sister, although this has not been proven. Frank married Beatrice Fergusson in 1927 and Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vera married an Albert Fergusson in 1934. |
| Arthur James Midlane and Frederick Midlane |
The two Midlane brothers married two Springall sisters, Elizabeth and Emma Springall while Ellen (Nell) Midlane, another sister, married George Enever. |
| Mary Ennever Morris |
Mary Ennever Morris, daughter of the forger George Ennever, married William Buchanan in Australia in 1858. After her death William married his wife's niece, Kate Ellen Anne Eager. |
| Elizabeth Harriet Paul |
Elizabeth married Arthur William Ennever (also known as Collins) in 1898, Arthur dying in 1909. The family believe she then married Arthur's elder brother, Robert, although the marriage registration has not yet been found. |
| Frank Pook and Jane Pook |
Thomas King Clothier and his sister Ruth married Jane and Frank Pook respectively, also siblings. Coincidentally, we lose track of both Thomas and Frank after their marriages which both took place in 1876. See the "Questions" page to see if you can help us trace them. |
| Alice Emma Willock |
Alice Willock was born in Mile End, London in 1889 and in 1912 married Arthur Herbert Ennever. Arthur died in 1924 at the young age of 36 and in 1933 Alice married Frederick James, Arthur's older brother, who had lost his wife, Rose Louisa (nee) Mason, the year before. |
If you have any information about other interesting marriages I would be delighted to hear from you.
