Charlotte Maria WINDEATT (1840-?1926), and her daughter Frances Maud

THIS PAGE: [Tree] [About Charlotte] [Parents] [Marriage] [Children] [Censuses] [Death]

                               More
                                  |
                                  |
Frederick SLOCOMBE      Charlotte M. = married 1858 William Henry HARTNOLL
                   !                                 |___________
                   !                                 |          |        |
            Frances Maud F.                Kate HARTNOLL   George HARTNOLL

Charlotte Maria WINDEATT (1847-1926)

In 1881, Charlotte, the ninth child of of ten brothers and sisters, was the only one left still living at home with her mother (see the census transcriptions below). She was aged 30 and still unmarried. However, the granddaughter, Frances M. F., living with them is her illegitimate child.

The full story follows:

WINDEATT v. SLOCOMBE. - An action for breach of promise of marriage. Mr. COLE, Q.C., and Mr. FOLKARD (attorney, Mr. CARTER) for the plaintiff, and Mr. EDLIN, Q.C. and Mr. St. Aubyn (attorney, Mr. FRYER) for the defendant. The plaintiff, who was twenty-five years of age, resided with her father at Teignmouth, and the defendant, who was two years her senior, also lived there. Last year defendant's wife died, and he then took up his quarters as a lodger at Mr. WINDEATT's. An intimacy sprang up between the plaintiff and the defendant, and under a promise of marriage SLOCOMBE seduced the plaintiff, which resulted in the birth of a child in November last. Three witnesses proved the case conclusively, and no witnesses were called for the defence. The jury gave a verdict for plaintiff - damages, £150.

-Trewman's Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser (Exeter, England),
Wednesday, March 20, 1872; Issue 5599

There is more news of SLOCOMBE in the Exeter Flying Post from three years later in 1875. It seems that, as a result of the case ,his partnership with a Mr. PHILIPPS was dissolved and he filed for bankruptcy. The rest of the report concerns a complicated case of debt between two other parties but which was precipitated by the SLOCOMBE being "hopelessly insolvent" (see Trewman's Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser (Exeter, England), Wednesday, June 23, 1875; Issue 5767). The initial reason for his debts was given as down to the fact that "at the March Assizes at Exeter, in 1872, an action for seduction was brought against a man named SLOCOMBE OF Teignmouth, by a young woman named WINDEATT and the jury awarded her £100 damages, which, with costs amounted to £200 or £300 (ibid.). Poor old Fred had tried to extricate himself and his partner from further debt by building 14 cottages "but the cottages had been built without proving as profitable as was supposed, and in the same month of July [1873], SLOCOMBE and PHILLIPS went into the Bankruptcy Court at Exeter" (ibid.).

We are not sure what happened to SLOCOMBE after this nor why he deserted Charlotte and her child. However it would appear that he married a Mary Jane SERCOMBE in the September quarter of 1872 in the Newton Abbot district and in the 1881 census he was living in Esplanade House, East Tynemouth, with his wife and three children and doing well as a "builder employing 25 men".

Parents and Siblings

John WINDEATT and Mary Ann FROOM and their children [ More . . . ]. Charlotte was the ninth of their ten children.
Link to Charlotte listed as a daughter aged 5 in the 1851 census with her parents in their coffee house.
Link to Charlotte listed as a daughter in the 1871 census with lodger Fred SLOCOMBE living as a lodger in the same house. This must have been just around the time that Frederick was seducing Charlotte because Frances Maude was born later that year in November.
Link to Charlotte listed as a daughter in the 1881 census together with her daughter Frances Maude who is part of the family.

1861 Census (taken 7th April) © Crown Copyright

Charlotte was absent from home in 1861 but she wasn't too far away. Here she is visiting a 77 year-old widowed Lace Manufacturer called Sarah CARSLAKE, also in Teignmouth. I am not aware of any relationship between the WINDEATTs and Sarah CARSLAKE. Perhaps Charlotte was just helping her out as a companion or even as some sort of job - although her occupation is given as 'scholar'.

Name	Relationship	Mar	Age	Occupation	Birthplace
Sarah CARSLAKE	Head	W	77	Lace Manufacturer	Devon, Bittadon
Charlotte WINDEATT	Visitr	U	13	Scholar	Devon, Teignmouth

1885 Marriage to William Henry HARTNOLL

According to the GRO index a Charlotte Maria WINDEATT married William Henry HARTNOLL in the June quarter of 1885 in the Exeter Register Office district. They would have been in their late thirties when they married and William had children by a former wife.

From information received we now know that William HARTNOLL had previously been married to Louisa EASTERBROOK [December quarter of 1871 in the Newton Abbot Register Office District]. William and Louisa had two children, Kate [born in the December quarter of 1874, in Teignmouth] and George Henry [born in the June quarter of 1879] also in Teignmouth. Louisa had died in the September quarter of 1884 in the Newton Abbot Register Office District) and it's likely that William married Charlotte so that he would have someone to look after him and his children. This seems to be a common pattern, i.e. that unmarried or widowed women who would otherwise be single were fairly quickly sought, recommended and married off to recently bereaved men with children.

William Henry was the son of a merchant seaman from Teignmouth [1861 Census: RG09/1400/79/13] and in the 1881 Census (RG11/2156/84/2) he is shown as a ‘printer (compositor)’ living at 1 Davis Court, Higher Brook Street, Teignmouth West. He was probably born around 1849 and died in 1910, aged 61.

Children

Charlotte doesn't appear to have had any children by William HARTNELL - at least there are none listed on the 1891 census which was taken almost six years after they were married. She claims to be 40 on the census and the same age as William but she must have been 45.

Frances Maud F(room?) WINDEATT (1871-?)

Born in November, 1871 [GRO Ref: Newton Abbot 5b 113]

We don't know much more about Frances other than the sad story of her birth and the fact that she became a dressmaker. I wonder if she and SLOCOMBE had any contact with each other after he left Charlotte?

A Frances Maud F WINDEATT married in the September quarter of 1895 to a Henry George TYRRELL, a carpenter from Dawlish [Newton Abbot, 5b 269] They had only one daughter (in 1896 in Dawlish) and seemed to be living comfortably. In 1901, Frances was working on her own account as a newsagent.

1891-1926

Married at last! And Maud is still living with her in a house with four rooms at 1 Gordon Cottages, Higher Brook Street, West Teignmouth [RG12/1693/4/66/2/10]

1891 Census

Name	Status	Marr	Sex	Age	Occupation	Employment?	Birthplace
HARTNOLL William H	Head	M	M	40	Printer Compositor (Em'ee)	Employed	Teignmouth, Devon
HARTNOLL Charlotte M	Wife	M	F	40	Furrier*	Neither	Teignmouth, Devon
HARTNOLL Kate	Daur	-	F	16	Scholar		Teignmouth, Devon
HARTNOLL George	Son	-	M	11	Scholar		Teignmouth, Devon
WINDEATT Maude	Step-Daur	S	F	19	Dressmaker(Em'ee)	Employed	Teignmouth, Devon

*: Occ. difficult to read

1901 Census

Now living at 15 Bitton St., West Teignmouth in a house with at least five rooms. An Anne ?TOLLEY, the headmistress of the Board School, a single woman aged ?30, is living in two rooms in the same house as a separate household.

Name	Status	Marr	Sex	Age	Occupation	Employment?	Birthplace
HARTNOLL William Henry	Head	M	M	40*	Printer Compositor (Em'ee)	Worker	Teignmouth, Devon
HARTNOLL Charlotte M	Wife	M	F	40*			Teignmouth, Devon
HARTNOLL George	Son	-	M	20	Carpenter	Worker	Teignmouth, Devon

I am not sure why their ages are given as 40 because they would have told the Enumerator 50, surely?

Both Kate and Maude have left home. Francis Maude is now married to Henry George TYRELL and living with him and their daughter, Gwendoline, in Dawlish in a house to themselves with at least five rooms [ ]

Name	Status	Marr	Sex	Age	Occupation	Employment?	Home?	Birthplace
Henry TYRRELL	Head	M	M	30	Joiner	Worker		Devon, Dawlish
Francis TYRRELL	WIFE	M	F	28	Newsagent	own A/c	at home	Devon, Teignmouth
Gwendoline TYRRELL	Daur	S	S	4				Devon, Dawlish

1910 Husband dies

William HARTNOLL died aged 61 in the December quarter of 1910 [Newton Abbot, 5b 6]

1911 Census

Charlotte was visiting the KISLINGBURY family in West Hendon. We have no idea why she would be here.

According to his declaration, William Henry KISLINGBURY had been married 16 years and had had only one child. Here he is with wife, child and mother living in a seven-roomed house,"Glendaragh", Graham Road, West Hendon [RG14PN7110 RG78PN349 RD130 SD3 ED9 SN273].

Name	Rel	Age	Status	Occupation	Working on Own account	Working at home	Where Born
William Henry KISLINGBURY	Head	41	M	Boot Manufacturers Traveller	Worker	-	St. Pancras, London
Annie Eleanor KISLINGBURY	Wife	44	Married			-	Mile End, London
Reginald William KISLINGBURY	son	14		School	Worker	-	London, Hampstead
Eliza Jane KISLINGBURY	Mother	71	Widow		Worker	-	Frome, Somerset
Charlotte Maria HARTNOLL	Visitor	64*	Widow			-	Teignmouth, S. Devon

*She actually gives her correct age here - perhaps now that William is dead, she no longer needs to pretend she is younger than her true age.

Her daughter, Francis Maud, meanwhile, is still living with Henry TYRRELL and has emulated her mother in only having one daughter. There is a servant living with them which seems somewhat strange as they couldn't have a had a lot of money. Henry was a working joiner and not running his own business. Perhaps they needed help in the house for one reason or another.

Name	Rel	Age	Status	Occupation	Working on Own account	Where Born
Henry George TYRRELL	Head	40	M	Joiner	Worker	Dawlish, Devon
Francis Maud TYRRELL	Wife	39	M			Teignmouth, Devon
Gwendoline TYRRELL	Daughter	14				Dawlish, Devon
Edith ASH	Servant	18	Single		General Servant (Domestic)	Puddington, Devont

Death

A Charlotte M WINDEATT died in the January quarter of 1926, aged 79, in the Newton Abbot Registry Office District [5b 149].

We don't know if there are living descendants of Charlotte and Francis Maude. If you know anything more about this family, please leave a message on the Message Board.

Last updated in February 2010