John Michell Quick

[Cornish Terrier]

Well, well, well ..... now that really is very interesting!

The is only one conclusion that can be reached on reading the transcript of this Will ............ and that is that the residual legatee and executrix can only be one person. We do not have to look for another person named Mary Jane Barnes Veal because she has been hiding right under our noses the whole time.

The Residual Legatee and Executrix (Mary Jane Barnes Veal, spinster) was HIS 2nd WIFE!

The question now is why was she referred to as 'spinster' and 'Mary Jane Barnes Veal who has for many years past resided with me'? The logical answer would be that his 1887 marriage to Mary Jane was annulled or declared void because his first wife was still living and there had been no divorce. That would not have affected the fact that John and Mary Jane continued to cohabitate and the wording of the Will would make sense.

BUT - a new can of worms would then be opened because the first wife of John Michell Quick (i.e. Mary Polmear Noall) herself remarried in 1880 to Richard Williams ...... seven years prior to the marriage of John Michell Quick and Mary Jane Barnes Veal!

It is also worthy of note that the second marriage of Mary Polmear Quick (nee Noall) to Richard Williams produced two children, Martha Maddern Williams 1884 and Richard Williams 1886, with the mother's maiden name recorded in the GRO Index as NOALL!

CT

[Deleted]

Good evening

The Residual Legatee and Executrix (Mary Jane Barnes Veal, spinster) was HIS 2nd WIFE!

Mary Jane had a brother - Matthew Barnes VEAL, born around 1861 at St Ives.  He is found through the various census up to and including 1891 in St Ives.  Then I have a note that in 1901 he is in Wales but I do not have access to that census to confirm that.  Could someone assist please as I wish to know if he is single/married in the 1901 census.

The reason being is that I have him as single in 1901 but there is a record that he married a Jane QUICK in 1893 in the District of Redruth.

Trinklady.

[jacob]

I will send a copy of the census to your email address.

[Cornish Terrier]

I tried to follow up on some more of this family way back when I updated my information on Mary Jane's marriage to John Quick. The brief results are as follows:-

Matthew son of William and Grace (nee Barns) Veal was baptized at St Ives 27th November 1861. He married Ann Couch Cocking (nee Watty) in the Penzance R.D. in 1904.
Ann Couch Watty was baptized at St Ives 16th September 1855 daughter of William Henry Kingcom Watty and his wife Susan. She was first married 13th May 1877 at St Ives to John Hollow Cocking who was buried at St Ives in 1892.

Matthew Veal died at Gill, Springfield, Massachusetts in 1926 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery at Gill.
Ann Couch Veal died at Gill in 1945 and is also buried in the Riverside Cemetery.

Records of these deaths can be found on Find A Grave.

CT

[Deleted]

Hello again

Thank you for the census image Jacob.. and I note that he was listed as being single in the 1901 census.

Matthew Barnes Veal, aged 31 years, son of William Dunn Veal, married Jane Quick, aged 36 years, in Camborne in February 1893. Jane Quick was said to be a widow, and the daughter of Nathaniel Paynter (deceased).  That, I am guessing, opens a real can of worms.

Is this a repeat of his sister Mary Jane's attempt at marriage?

Trinklady

[Cornish Terrier]

Well, I have now spent several hours looking at this problem again and although not totally satisfied I do think I might finally have found the answer!

Jane Quick was said to be a widow, and the daughter of Nathaniel Paynter (deceased).

That, I am guessing, opens a real can of worms.

DEAD RIGHT!!!

The above is new information to me and armed with those new clues I attacked with renewed hope! In fact I was feeling very confident ............... until ................

The first difficulty has always been that after all my years of work on the Quicks I simply had no unaccounted for (and available) Jane Quick who might conceivably have married Matthew Veal in 1893. And even with the above information I end up with just ONE possibility .............. yet all evidence around this possible bride tends to suggest that she could not possibly be the right person either.

However, having turned everything upside down, sideways and inside out it does seem that my solution must be right ... so here goes.

Nathaniel Thomas Paynter married Jane Quick at St Ives in 1850 after his first wife (Betsy Cogar m. 1830) died. The first child from this second marriage was a daughter named JANE QUICK PAYNTER. There were a further two known children from this marriage and then Nathaniel Paynter died in 1886.

Jane Quick Paynter married James Wallis, a widower, at St Ives in 1871 and had seven children between then and 1887.

It is from this point onwards that the waters become very murky!!

In the 1891 Census Jane Quick Wallis and her children were at St Ives. She was recorded as still married but her husband was living over at Phillack and also listed as being married.

For the remainder of the explanation I think it is probably much easier if I present the events in sequence:-

March Qtr 1893 - Matthew Barnes Veal marries Jane Quick (widow, daughter of Nathaniel Paynter deceased) - FreeBMD
20th January 1894 - James Wallis, widower, marries Annie Tucker at St Paul's, Truro - Truro St Paul Parish Register
23rd June 1894 - Jane Quick Wallis dies at St Ives - Barnoon Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions
27th June 1894 - Jane Quick Wallis buried at Barnoon Cemetery (Barnoon Cemetery Burial Register)

The dates and sequence here suggest that this could not possibly be the woman who married Matthew Veal. Even her age would be incorrect as Jane Quick Paynter was born in 1851 and was age 40 in 1891. (The information above suggests that the Jane Quick who married Matthew Veal was only 36 in 1893 and therefore born about 1857)

Points to consider in reaching my conclusion:-

1. the age is rather immaterial. Matthew Veal was born in 1861 and so would have been 10 years younger than his bride so a 'minor adjustment' on the part of the bride is 'acceptable'.
2. the fact that Jane and James were living in separate Parishes in 1891 does not necessarily mean anything except that James may have been working away from home at the time. But on the other hand it might suggest that the couple had separated and, possibly, divorced.
3. I've checked and there seems no doubt that the man who married Annie Tucker is the same James Wallis who had married Jane Quick Paynter yet he marries as a 'widower' six months BEFORE his ex-wife died!!!
4. Jane Quick Wallis is now the 'favourite' to have married Matthew Veal and, like James Wallis, she is recorded as a 'widow' at the time.
5. Between 12 and 15 months after marrying Matthew Veal we find the death and burial records for Jane Quick Wallis.
6. Matthew Veal appears in Wales in 1901 now recorded as being 'single'.

Item 5 seems to be the main problem although if the marriage to Matthew Veal was a very short one then perhaps not so unusual - especially when Matthew is 'single' in 1901.
If a Divorce was involved then it would help explain why both James and Jane said they were widowed when they remarried even though in both cases the previous spouse was still living.

Given the information available, especially that Jane was the daughter of a deceased Nathaniel Paynter, then it does seem to me that there can be no other explanation. Therefore my conclusion is that it has to have been Jane Quick Wallis nee Paynter who married Matthew Barnes Veal in 1893.

CT

[londoner]

From the Cornish Telegraph 26 Mar 1891:
Jane Wallis summoned her husband for desertion and refusing to contribute to the maintenance of her children. He stated that they had been married for 20 years and their life had been a most miserable one. He was willing to live with his wife provided he received proper treatment. She said she would not live with him.
The Bench dismissed the case saying she had not proved her case for desertion.

So I guess either she tried again with more success or just gave up and pretended to be a widow! But, and this is quite a big but, when she died, 23 Jun 1894, of Academy Place St Ives, probate was granted to her husband James Wallis, carpenter! And her death was announced in the Cornishman as wife of James Wallis.

I also found that on 11 Oct 1891 Jan Quick Wallis ( presumably their daughter) married Ralp Curtis at Penzance Register Office.

[Cornish Terrier]

Thanks Londoner - that does add another twist to this problem but it is in keeping with the information I have already presented. The dating of the judgement certainly coincides with the fact that James and Jane were in different Parishes at the 1891 Census.

I seem to have exhausted all possibilities and my conclusion is still that it must have been Jane Quick Wallis who supposedly married Matthew Barnes Veal in 1893. But there is still the question of whether or not the indexed marriage did proceed. (It is also a little curious that the marriage is supposed to have taken place in the Redruth R.D.)

I cannot be absolutely certain just yet but from the Page No in FreeBMD (333) this would seem to have been a Non-conformist marriage which were usually indexed after the Register Office.

Perhaps the only thing that might solve this problem once and for all is the marriage certificate or, if possible, if someone were able to determine which register was involved and have an opportunity to view the record.

BUT!!!! - I have just looked at the National Probate Calendar entry and note that Probate on the estate of Jane Wallis did not take place until 31st December 1906!

That Probate was not granted until 12.5 years after the death could be very significant given the evidence presented so far!

CT

[Cornish Terrier]

I also found that on 11 Oct 1891 Jan Quick Wallis ( presumably their daughter) married Ralp Curtis at Penzance Register Office.

No, not possible - Jane Quick Wallis, daughter of James and Jane, was born at St Ives 1st April 1881 and would only have been age 10 at the time of this marriage. She was baptized at the Methodist New Connexion Chapel at St Ives 14th April 1881.

Hmmm - I see that in 1901 Ralph Curtis himself was only age 21! AHA - the dreaded typo strikes again .... the marriage took place in 1898 (not 1891). So yes, that was the daughter of James and Jane.

CT

[Deleted]

Good evening

CT, I think you have hit the nail right on the head and that is exactly the same conclusion that I came to. For me the clincher was the deceased Nathaniel Paynter, the only one fitting the bill was the father of Jane Quick Paynter - Nathaniel Thomas Paynter who died in 1886.

I was intrigued to read the desertion notice from the newspaper and for me it clearly showed the environment all this was happening in and makes it easy to imagine a marriage, that like John Michell Quick's, was destined to be annulled or such like.

I do not have the certificate but I was sent a summary some years ago through the Cornish-Gen site...

The marriage was at the United Methodist Chapel, North Parade, Camborne. Matthew was resident at Front (sic) Street, St Ives, and Jane was resident at Dolcoath Road, Camborne.  I do not have the witnesses etc as I only scribbled down the main facts at the time it appears.

I am happy with the outcome and prepared to move onto the next unknown.  My thanks to all those who have participated.

Trinklady