Florence Fletcher

b abt 1873 in England, d 6 Jul 1927 in St Paul, MN

Florence Fletcher was born in the early 1870s. Her death certificate, where son Albert was the informant says that her date of birth was June 22, 1874. I have never been able to find a birth certificate for her, even though I found the birth certificates for most of her siblings. I think it is more likely that she was born in 1872 or 1873 based on the birthdates of her closest siblings. I assume she was born in Dalton, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, the same birth place as her siblings. Her father was John William Fletcher (b 24 Nov 1818 in Barnsley, Yorkshire) and worked as a bookkeeper. Her mother was Jemima Farnell (b 5 Aug 1843 in Market Drayton, Shropshire). John and Jemima were married in Manchester, Lancashire in 1864 and their first two children were born there. After that they settled in Huddersfield, Yorkshire and had 7 more children. John William Fletcher was married at least once before to Sarah Ann Horton (b abt 1820 in West Bromwich, Warwickshire), and had at least 4 children with her: Lucy, Samuel, Jane and Charles. But I was never able to find out what happened to any of them.

Florence had 9 siblings: Louisa, Thomas, Emily, Lillian, Albert, Harry, Walter, Ernest, Frank. Walter died as an infant in 1881. Around the same time, the oldest daughter, Louisa, got pregnant and married Joseph Hague. She gave birth to a daughter Ada in 1880. For some reason the marriage dissolved and Louisa ended up changing religions, marrying Patrick McCarrick, and moving to Manchester, Lancashire. No sign of what happened to her first husband, Joseph, or her baby Ada.

The family seems to be falling apart during the late 1880s and 1890s. The first real evidence of this is that in the 1891 census, John William Fletcher is in the Sheffield Workhouse and his condition is listed as "lunatic". Jemima and her children, Florence, Frank, Harry and Ernest, are in Willaston, Nantwich, Cheshire. Florence is 19 and lists her occupation as "unemployed barmaid". Brother Albert is in an Industrial School in Everton, Lancashire. Shortly after the census was taken John William dies on 28 Apr 1891 in the Sheffield Workhouse of "Paralysis and Influenza", at age 75.

After 1891 it looks like the younger boys, Harry, Frank and Ernest were either adopted out or sent to Industrial Schools. I can't find a death certificate for mom Jemima but find an interesting entry in the 1901 census in Fernilee, Derbyshire:

I believe that the entry for Ann Fletcher is most likely my Jemima Fletcher, since she is living next door to her daughter Lillian Hancock and gives her actual small town of birth, Market Drayton. So what happened? Why aren't her children with her and why the name change?

During the decade of the 1890s, Florence travels nearly 200 miles south and for the 1901 Census is in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire. She is working as a barmaid in the Grapes Hotel. The 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? In the map below you can see Florence's travels from the mid 1880s until 1911, when she is in the Easton section of Bristol, England. The red marker show where her sister, Lillian Hancock is living next door to Ann Fletcher, who I believe is Jemima.

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.

If a Harry Fisher did exist, he was probably William Henry Fisher b abt 1845 in Bath, Somersetshire, England. He came from a long line of confectioners. In 1901 he is a widower, living in Bristol and lists his occupation as "Wine and Spirits Merchant". This is the same occupation that Harry Fisher has on the birth certificates of his children. William Henry Fisher also helped with the family business and probably traveled to his brother's confectionary in Tewkesbury, which would have taken him right past the Grapes Hotel.

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. 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.