Ellis Claude Wroughton Hassall

[KiwiChris]

Here is another of my naughty clergy, which makes him difficult to keep track of. This is what I have so far!

AKA Ellis Claude David Wroughton Hassall and Ellis Claude David Jackson Wroughton Hassall.
Born 21 August 1902 Drayton Daventry co Northampton, son of Arthur Francis (Frank) Pittman HASSALL and Marie or Maria according to baptism 20 Sept 1902 Daventry
He claimed to be born 21 August 1895 with the clergy pension board.
1911 he was listed as Claude b 1902 and with his grandfather William Jackson Hassall in Leamington Warwick, William is a school master.
1926 he was in Dunedin New Zealand, and claimed to have been at Harrow school, and to have been a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and a prison chaplain.
1927 he left his wife and eloped to Australia with Mrs Elfrida Lucia Gale.
1928 was named as co-respondent in the Gale divorce
1929 had his Holy Orders permanently removed.
1934 he married again in NZ to Elspeth (Elsie) Euphemia Margate.
1969 he died in Brisbane Australia
1940s he seemed to have travelled UK to USA and back a few times.

I have not yet found his first marriage, to the clergy pension board he claimed that wife i) was born 22 November 1893, the year may be wrong, but the date is probably correct if his own claim is anything to go by.

Can anyone find his first marriage, and also his parents marriage?
I think I have found his father in 1891 as Frank Hassall born 1869 Rugby, as a boarder school teacher in Bowling Yorkshire, cannot find him in 1901 or 1911.

There is a Hilda Irene Hassall on the 1928 NZ electoral roll, but she has a husband in later rolls and it is not Ellis.

I have not found his divorce in NZ either.

PS, newspaper reports suggest that the unfortunate first Mrs Hassall was going back to the UK c1928


*Sits back and waits hopefully* :D

[Merry]

There is a Hilda Irene Hassall on the 1928 NZ electoral roll, but she has a husband in later rolls and it is not Ellis.

Depending on how much later, the husband couldn't me a son instead, could he?

[KiwiChris]

Archibald George Hassall is with Hilda in 1935. I have just found another newspaper report that Ellis married wife i) about seven years before he ran off to Australia, so that suggests a marriage c1920.
Hilda is at the same address in 1928 when she appears home alone as she is in 1935 with Archie, so she is most likely the same person.

However in 1968 I have Ellis in Queensland with someone called Kathleen Wroughton Hassall, so who is she then, and where is Elspeth?

[Merry]

I hate it when they pool a load of forenames and the apparently randomly pick from them!

The father, Arthur Francis (Frank) Pittman HASSALL , started out as just plain Arthur.

[KiwiChris]

I know, and this guy told so many fibs along the way heaven knows what names he chose for the first marriage, if it even happened at all!

[Merry]

Mother?

Deaths Dec 1904
Hassall Marie 34 Daventry 3b 67

[Merry]

Oh lol!!


Marriages Dec 1894
Hassall Frederick Frank P Newport M 11a 382
Pitman-Haseall Arthur F Newport, M. 11a 382
Pitman-Hassall Arthur F Newport, M. 11a 382
WARE Marie Newport, M. 11a 382

[KiwiChris]

Oh, well done, thanks!

Now if you could just find Ellis and wife i).......;)

[kiterunner]

Googling for his name comes up with a Navy List on the Internet Archive; looks to be from WW2:

Naval Forces of the Dominions (New Zealand)
List of Officers of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve
Temporary Lieutenants.

Ellis Claude Wroughton-Hassall

[kiterunner]

He appears on several Navy Lists on ancestry, using the surname Wroughton-Hassall, date of joining 9 Nov 1940.

[kiterunner]

However in 1968 I have Ellis in Queensland with someone called Kathleen Wroughton Hassall, so who is she then, and where is Elspeth?

Could just be a coincidence, but he is on a 1948 passenger list travelling to San Francisco and the next person on the list is a Kathleen Woods age 40, occupation pathologist, born Inverell, Australia, last permanent residence Santo, New Hebedris, same place as Ellis's last permanent residence. (His occupation is Ritered Nav Off.)

[KiwiChris]

He claimed to have been in the navy in 1926! I guess that if you are trying to create a life that is somewhat longer than your actual 24 years the armed forces will fill in a few of them!

[KiwiChris]

Ops, you posted again while I was talking on the phone and typing my last post! I wonder if that is his Kathleen. I have a death for Elspeth 1979 in New Jersey. So another runner maybe??

I have not stumbled over a daughter Kathleen anywhere.

[kiterunner]

Found this on TNA (I was actually looking for info about his supposed navy career!)


Reference: J 77/3025/3287
Description:
Divorce Court File: 3287. Appellant: Catherine Grace Hassall. Respondent: Ellis Claude Jackson Wroughton Hassall. Type: Wife's petition for divorce [WD].
Date: 1932
Held by: The National Archives, Kew

[kiterunner]

There is a marriage between Catherine G Hassall or Munro and Walter G Gaylor Oct-Dec 1933 Brentford, Middlesex. Munro is likely her maiden name.

[Olde Crone]

No use but a nit picking point - Frank was most likely a BOARD SCHOOL teacher, not a boarder! Board schools being the national school system in place back then, nothing posh at all, one in every town and village.

OC

[kiterunner]

National Probate Calendar:
1964
GAYLOR Catherine Grace of 5 Colemere Gardens Highcliffe Christchurch Hampshire (wife of Walter George Gaylor) died 23 March 1964 at Strathallan Nursing Home Owls Road Boscombe Bournemouth Probate London 6 May to the said Walter George Gaylor company director. £3060.

Her age at death on the GRO index is 79, so she was born about 1884-5 by my reckoning. Quite a lot older than Ellis.

[kiterunner]

No use but a nit picking point - Frank was most likely a BOARD SCHOOL teacher, not a boarder! Board schools being the national school system in place back then, nothing posh at all, one in every town and village.


No, his relationship to head is boarder, and occupation is Secondary Teacher.

[kiterunner]

FamilySearch has a Catherine / Catharine Grace Munro born 5 Aug 1885 East Nissouri, Oxford, Ontario, Canada, parents David Munro and Bella McKenzie. The date of birth is nothing like the date that Ellis said for his wife's dob but could be her?

[kiterunner]

Or there is a Cath Grace Munro birth 1899 in Outtrim, Victoria, Australia, parents Jno and Margt, but then her age at death would be way out.
Edit - also this one appears in several public trees on ancestry with a marriage to Arthur Albert Bliss and death in 1986.

[kiterunner]

20 Apr 1928 arriving London from New Zealand, ship "Arawa":
Hassall, Mrs Catherine, c/o High Commissioner for NZ, 415 Strand, WC. D'Duties, age 34, country of last permanent residence New Zealand, country of intended future permanent residence England.

[Mary from Italy]

There are two stillbirths registered in NZ, in 1926 and 1927, for Ellis and Catherine Grace Hassall.

[kiterunner]

Ah, looking through the New Zealand passenger lists on FamilySearch they have Mrs C G Hassall, 34, church worker, originally from Scotland, travelling from Wellington to Southampton on the "Arawa" in 1928. The passenger list is dated 8th March 1928; I think that is the departure date.

(Weird - that database is titled "New Zealand, Immigration Passenger Lists, 1855-1973", so I never realised it also included passenger lists for people leaving NZ!)

[kiterunner]

There is a Catherine Grace Munro birth in 1883 on Scotland's People - just narrowing down the birthplace using the free search...

[kiterunner]

Birthplace Kilmorack district, Inverness-shire.

[kiterunner]

I can't find a Hassall / Munro marriage, nor a Catherine Grace Munro or Ellis Hassall marriage to anyone in the right timeframe on Scotland's People, and Wroughton-Hassall is too long to fit in their surname box!

[kiterunner]

Ancestry has a Catherine G Munro listed on the 1891 census, age 6, born Beauly, Invernesshire, living at 336 Dumbarton Road, Govan, Lanarkshire, parents John and Annie.

(Beauly and Kilmorack are very close to each other.)

[kiterunner]

In 1901 ancestry have her as Catherine G Munro, 17, born Beanly, Invernessshire, tobacconist's assistant, living at 1 Stewartville St, Govan, Lanarkshire, parents John and Annie.

[kiterunner]

And Scotland's People says there is a Catherine G Munro age 27 at Dennistoun, Lanarkshire, on the 1911 census, but the free search doesn't give any more information than that, and the other sites don't have the Scotland 1911 census yet, so it could be a married woman for all I know.

[kiterunner]

Still in the NZ passenger lists on FamilySearch:

There is a female C Hassell, age 31, born England, travelling from Sydney to Auckland in 1921.

It's quite annoying searching through all the C Munro records because there is no way to specify gender = female as they have not transcribed the gender although you can usually get it from the image, but it means it takes much longer as you have to look at each one.

Also searching for all Hassalls arriving around the right time (to try to spot Ellis), it keeps messing up when I try to view page 2 of the results, so I'm getting nowhere!

[kiterunner]

6 Nov 1922 arrival at Sydney from Hongkong on the Yoshino Maru,
Mrs C G Hassall, British, age 38, nursing sister.

[Phoenix]

The J77 record Kite found should include the marriage certificate. I thought these records were on Ancestry now?

[KiwiChris]

Woohoo, thanks very much! I first looked at this man about 4 years ago and at that time thought the first marriage was a figment of his imagination! She was real and it did happen somewhere to ensure there was a divorce!

This time around I found heaps more about him, and you have filled in the more obvious gaps. Thanks heaps.

I wonder if I could hope for the appearance of a long lost letter from close to 100 years ago to tidy up the remaining gaps, like to 150 year old letter that came out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago to help solve my last clergy puzzle!:d

[kiterunner]

The J77 record Kite found should include the marriage certificate. I thought these records were on Ancestry now?

No, it's the older divorces that are on there.

[Mary from Italy]

I wonder if this article from the Straits Times is relevant?

http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19201221-1.2.86.aspx

I know Munro's a relatively common name, but still - the cutting hasn't been copied very well, but it relates to a nursing sister called Catherine Grace Munro who was injured in a rickshaw accident in 1920, probably in Singapore, because the accident happened in New Bridge Road, and there is a road of that name in Singapore.

The date, place and occupation are a reasonably good fit with this passenger list that Kate found:

6 Nov 1922 arrival at Sydney from Hongkong on the Yoshino Maru,
Mrs C G Hassall, British, age 38, nursing sister.

So the marriage may have taken place in Singapore or Hong Kong.

[Mary from Italy]

Can't see anything in the overseas BMDs, though.

Catherine passed her midwifery exams in Glasgow in 1919:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFMQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Frcnarchive.rcn.org.uk%2Fdata%2FVO LUME063-1919%2Fpage352-volume63-06thdecember1919.pdf&ei=_YdMUr--DqGM7Qaa-4Ag&usg=AFQjCNHRy9KUnwN_5Q0znt6nYlKSTfbtIg&bvm=bv.53537100,bs.1,d.Yms

[Mary from Italy]

In 1919 CG Munro, nursing sister, aged 35, travelled from Glasgow to Singapore on the Gorgon, future intended permanent residence FMS (Federated Malay States). so I would think the nurse in the rickshaw accident is definitely the right Catherine.

[Mary from Italy]

Could just be a coincidence, but he is on a 1948 passenger list travelling to San Francisco and the next person on the list is a Kathleen Woods age 40, occupation pathologist, born Inverell, Australia, last permanent residence Santo, New Hebedris, same place as Ellis's last permanent residence. (His occupation is Ritered Nav Off.)

No coincidence. There's a 1949 Canada to US border crossing manifest that shows Kathleen Hassall née Woods, age 41, as the wife of Ellis:

http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/1075/41253_B124231-07056/19131742?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.u k%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dCanadianBC%26db%3d%26so%3d2%2 6rank%3d0%26gsfn%3dellis%26gsln%3dhassall%26sx%3d% 26gs1co%3d1%252cAll%2bCountries%26gs1pl%3d1%252c%2 b%26year%3d%26yearend%3d%26sbo%3d1%26sbor%3d%26ufr %3d0%26wp%3d4%253b_80000002%253b_80000003%26srchb% 3dr%26prox%3d1%26ti%3d5538%26ti.si%3d0%26gss%3dang s-b&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults#?imageId=41253_B1242 31-07065

It says she was born in Inverell, NSW, which is confirmed by the NSW BDM index.

[Mary from Italy]

I can't find a Hassall / Munro marriage, nor a Catherine Grace Munro or Ellis Hassall marriage to anyone in the right timeframe on Scotland's People, and Wroughton-Hassall is too long to fit in their surname box!

You can choose "surname begins with...", but there are still no hits.

[Mary from Italy]

An E C Hassall was in the NZ army in 1918:

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=CHP19180716.2.8

I thought it might be your man, but looking at the Nominal Roll, I think it was Ernest Charles Hassall.

[KiwiChris]

Gosh what a lot of new information, thanks everyone for your help on this one, it has been amazing what you have found while first of all I was sleeping, and now while I have been at work! :D