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Hello all
I’ve only been doing research for two months and have already made some startling discoveries but I am asking for your help/advice regarding my great grandfather Albert Stagg born c1876 in Yeovil district, Somerset (Parents Louisa and James Stagg).
** Albert was blind from birth **
The family moved from Martock, Somerset and Albert was baptised in Cardiff in 1879.
In the 1881 census he listed at Bertram Street, Cardiff.
On the 1901 census, Albert aged 24 is listed with his family in 162 Portmanmoor Road, Cardiff and his occupation listed as a newsagent. The family ran a shop there for many years.
He married my great grandmother Elizabeth Cash in Cardiff in 1905 and they had two sons, Albert Edward in 1906 and Ernest James in 1908.
The rumour in the family was that Albert had a lot of gambling debt and vanished.
By 1910 Elizabeth and her sons are listed as paupers with a note next to the entry stating ‘husband away’ (I have seen the book in the local archives).
The following year she is listed on the census with her sons in Lyndhurst Street, Cardiff and the pauper book records that she has been deserted.
Shortly after, Elizabeth and her sons become inmates in Cardiff Workhouse.
No-one in the family ever saw or heard of Albert again.
In 1918 Elizabeth remarries and on this certificate she is listed as widow.
So far, I cannot find any death for Albert and I would dearly like to find out what happened to him.
I cannot find him on the 1911 census.
I have checked the passenger lists for ships but don’t believe any of the possibilities are likely.
Another family member contacted the Blind Institute in Cardiff in case they held any info but they stated their records were destroyed.
I have also tried searching local archived papers, with no joy.
I am waiting for his birth certificate but not sure if that will provide any additional details that would assist.
Does anyone have any ideas if there is anything else I can check?
Any advice would be most welcome.
Regards
Cath

People used to be under the impression that if someone was missing for seven years then they could be presumed dead and the surviving spouse could remarry

If you haven't found his death then it looks like she remarried under that presumption

It may help to know his actual birth date from his birth cert

Births Dec 1876
STAGG Albert Yeovil 5c 429

His birth didn't give him a second name but he has one on the 1901 census


1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
162, Portmanmoor Road, Cardiff, Roath, Glamorganshire, Wales

Print transcription View image Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
James Stagg Head Married Male 45 1856 General Labourer Stoke Suthamben, Somersetshire Transcription
Louisa Stagg Wife Married Female 43 1858 - Martock, Somersetshire Transcription
Albert Tho Stagg Son Single Male 24 1877 News Agent Martock, Somersetshire Transcription
Rosina Stagg Daughter Single Female 16 1885 General Box Machinist Cardiff, Glamorganshire Transcription
Alice L Stagg Daughter Single Female 14 1887 - Cardiff, Glamorganshire Transcription
Florence A Stagg Daughter - Female 8 1893 - Cardiff, Glamorganshire Transcription
Beatrice M Stagg Daughter - Female 5 1896 - Cardiff, Glamorganshire Transcription
Lillian M Stagg Daughter - Female 3 1898 - Cardiff, Glamorganshire Transcription


Have we looked at this before cos FMP tells me I have looked at this entry before ??

He didn't marry as Albert Thomas

First name(s) ALBERT
Last name STAGG
Marriage quarter 2
Marriage year 1905
Registration month -
MarriageFinder™ ALBERT STAGG married one of these people
ELIZABETH ANN COOKSLEY, ELIZABETH CASH
Spouse's last name -
District CARDIFF
District number -
County Glamorganshire
Country Wales
Volume 11A
Page 615
Record set England & Wales marriages 1837-2008

Thank you Shirley.
This is my first request.
I've got the marriage certificate dated 1905 and there is no middle name for Albert.
What is FMP?

FMP is Find My Past website that is a subs site that has many records including the BMD,s parish records etc etc

does the marriage cert confirm his dads name

My initial thought was blind form birth how could he be a newsagent which requires reading skills

Shirley there is this thread which is probably why you are getting a match on FMP

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/ancestors/thread/1308323?page=1

Thinking about it I replied to a post a few days ago that I had found when searching for Albert as it mentioned his marriage to Elizabeth Cash to help the author establish he was unconnected to his research...hope that makes sense!

I know what you mean - bit of a disadvantage being a newsagent and being blind!
The certificate states father is James Stagg occupation Haulier.

sorry....and Albert's occupation listed as newsagent on marriage certificate...!

The 'tho' added to the 1901 is a transcription error actual image looks like 'do' for ditto.

Ok, thank you Gritty

Totally unrelated...

but I thought a blind newsagent was odd too and then I saw this article 15 September 1917 :

SWANSEA"S BLIND NEWSAGENT


http://welshnewspapers.llgc.org.uk/en/page/view/4110530/ART20/A%20stagg%20newsagent

His wife was blind too! You obviously didn't need to see to be a newsagent :)

I don't see why being blind has anything to do with being a newsagent - you don't need to be able to read to sell books or magazines do you! They're just objects after all.
More of a problem is how he could manage to disappear so completely - earning a living, travelllng etc would have been very difficult, wouldn't it.
Jan

is this his father 1911?

162 Portmanmoor Road Splott Cardiff
Parish Cardiff
County Glamorganshire
Country Wales
Registration district Cardiff
Registration district number 588
Subdistrict East Cardiff
Subdistrict number 2
Enumeration district 29
Piece number 32096
Schedule number 340
Census reference RG14PN32096 RG78PN1845 RD588 SD2 ED29 SN340

James Stagg Head Married Male 55 1856 Somerset Dock Labourer
Louisa Stagg Wife Married Female 52 1859 Somerset At Home
Ann Stagg Daughter Single Female 18 1893 Cardiff Card Board Box Maker
Beatrice May Stagg Daughter Single F 16 1895 Cardiff Card Board Box Maker
Lillian Maud Stagg Daughter Single Female 14 1897 Cardiff At Home

It states 10 children born, 7 still living. Have you traced all the other children- maybe Albert is staying with a sibling or could Albert have been one of the children that had died?

28 November 1900 - Western Mail - Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales

WESTERN MAIL SHILLING FUND FOR THE CARDIFF INFIRMARY
Mr. Albert Stagg, Cardiff 5s

Chris :)

Blimey, he wasn't the only one then!

Brummiejan - that's why I thought I would ask the experts...I'm stumped..!
It has baffled the family for 100 years..! My grandfather lived until he was 96yrs and we often discussed what had happened to his father.
Gritty - James is his father, thank you.
Through my research I have contacted a distant cousin who I am meeting up with next month. He has done research on the siblings and told me the newsagents was a family business that passed down the family.
I have viewed his tree but he was also unable to locate his death.
Thank you Chris

it's an awful thing to think of but sometimes people's bodies were not identified

few people could swim so simply falling into a canal at night could be the end

a blind man could have become lost or fallen victim to any kind of people bent on harming him and been found dead and not identified

(I have an ancestor who drowned in a waterway in Cornwall in the 1790s ... death ruled accidental but from what can be found about her husband, I might wonder whether whether she intended ...)

if he gambled, perhaps he drank? drink and no sight could be a lethal combination ...

if you do a search at freebmd for deaths with surname 'unknown', in 1911 alone there are dozens and dozens, with estimated ages rounded to the nearest 5 (and a tragic number of age 0).

in 1912 in Cardiff the deaths of 4 men aged approx 35 whose names were unknown were recorded, just for example


the other possibility is just that he reinvented himself under a different name, if he was on the lam from gambling debts particularly, possibly marrying again ... but one would think this would have been difficult for a blind person who would have had great difficulty finding work ... or he could have entered a workhouse under a false name ...


a friend of mine who grew up in a city in Ohio in the US had the same thing happen with his own father ... he was a child in the 1950s when his father disappeared, amid rumours that he had large gambling debts to 'the mob' ... did he fall victim to foul play or did he choose to disappear? my friend is in his 60s and it seems he will never know.