samesizedfeet
27-08-10, 17:51
Paid a visit to Holborn Probate Office today with the lovely Georgette and got my first set of Wills :)
The Will for 4 x great grandfather George Alfred Hodson in 1869 is most interesting because he leaves everything to a lady who is not his wife and specifies the legacy will have to be given back:
"In consequence of her years of devotion and struggling with me, for her many acts of kindness and goodness to me in illness and in health the said Kate Kennedy to have and hold the same for her sole use and benefit but with the proviso that she does not marry again or cohabit with anyone but keeps herself strictly to herself during the remainder of her life"
I was aware of her existence before because she has a long theatrical partnership with George. They appear together regularly from the early 1860s. I would like to try and trace her a bit more now I know she was more than just a friend.
I have found her in Wales in 1871 census where I know (from Gale) she was the director at a theatre:
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1871wales&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=kat*&gsln=kenedy&sx=&=%2c%2c1%2c+%2c%2c%2c1%2c+&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-c
But I can't find her before this or after it. She disappears from the theatrical adverts/reviews on Gale a few years later and I can't spot anyone obviously her on any census.
If anyone has time to have a look I'd be very grateful.
Z
x
p.s. incidentally out of his estate of £300 he leaves £10 each to 2 of his daughters and to one of his sisters, nothing to his 3rd daughter on "account of her good fortune" and he also mentions a son called George which is a bit of a bombshell as that's the first I've heard of him!!
The Will for 4 x great grandfather George Alfred Hodson in 1869 is most interesting because he leaves everything to a lady who is not his wife and specifies the legacy will have to be given back:
"In consequence of her years of devotion and struggling with me, for her many acts of kindness and goodness to me in illness and in health the said Kate Kennedy to have and hold the same for her sole use and benefit but with the proviso that she does not marry again or cohabit with anyone but keeps herself strictly to herself during the remainder of her life"
I was aware of her existence before because she has a long theatrical partnership with George. They appear together regularly from the early 1860s. I would like to try and trace her a bit more now I know she was more than just a friend.
I have found her in Wales in 1871 census where I know (from Gale) she was the director at a theatre:
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=uki1871wales&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=kat*&gsln=kenedy&sx=&=%2c%2c1%2c+%2c%2c%2c1%2c+&gs1co=1%2cAll+Countries&gs1pl=1%2c+&year=&yearend=&sbo=0&sbor=&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=5538&ti.si=0&gss=angs-c
But I can't find her before this or after it. She disappears from the theatrical adverts/reviews on Gale a few years later and I can't spot anyone obviously her on any census.
If anyone has time to have a look I'd be very grateful.
Z
x
p.s. incidentally out of his estate of £300 he leaves £10 each to 2 of his daughters and to one of his sisters, nothing to his 3rd daughter on "account of her good fortune" and he also mentions a son called George which is a bit of a bombshell as that's the first I've heard of him!!