The Story of a Bigamous SNEADE

Prologue

A story handed down over several generations (as they do!) - and originating from Barbara Spadea (a SNEADE descendant in the USA) - goes as follows.....

I feel pretty certain Frederick Alfred and Kate were married in England. The story of two wives I am sure came from there. Kate was in the in the grocery store one day; apparently at that time you charged your purchases. Another woman came in, selected items, and told the grocer to put them on her account, she was Mrs Alfred Sneade. Kate piped up, "You can't be Mrs Alfred Sneade, I am Mrs Alfred Sneade". Now I wish I had more on that family story, but, if I remember correctly, Clara would say at that point, "and that's how they found out Al had two wives".

So how did TWO Mrs Alfred SNEADE's come to be in the same store in the same place at the same time with the same name??

Who were their husbands??  Could they have been the same person?? 

We don't know - but the following evidence has been compiled by Barry and Patricia WOODS (nee SNEADE) that 'might' prove their husbands were the same person - and hence a bigamist!!

In family history, there are no 'certainties' - we can only look at the available evidence more than 100 years later and draw a conclusion based upon 'probability'. In this story, we have concluded that it is highly LIKELY but NOT CERTAIN that a SNEADE was in a bigamist relationship with two women - and this page seeks to provide the evidence as it exists - from which you, the reader, can draw your own conclusions.

Research carried out during 2005/2006. Links on this page mostly point to document images that you can download but some may point to other information sources - which I cannot guarantee will always work or for which you may need a subscription to view!!

The Players

The players in this story are one MALE (the bigamist) and two FEMALES (his wives) who we shall refer to in this narrative as follows:

FrederickFrederick Alfred SNEADE, baptised 2 Jan 1855 at Kidderminster, Worcestershire. He was son of Frederick Alfred SNEADE (carpet weaver) and Anne FREEMAN. Frederick has been identified in the records that follow as Frederick Alfred, Alfred Frederick, Alfred or F.A.
KateKate Jane BICKMORE, born about 1861 at Chatham, Kent. She was daughter of George BICKMORE (pensioner, Royal Marines) and Catherine UNKNOWN. Kate has been identified in the records that follow as Kate or Kate Jane
EstherEsther JONES, born about 1862 at Kidderminster, Worcestershire. She was daughter of George JONES (carpet weaver) and Elizabeth UNKNOWN. Esther has been identified in the records that follow as Esther

The Locations

Geographical location plays a large part in this story - who was in the right place at the right time??

WorcsVarious locations in the county of Worcestershire, England including Kidderminster and Kingswinford (Staffs)
LondonVarious locations in and around London, England - including Charlton, Woolwich and Geenwich
USAVarious locations in and around the USA - Philadelphia
Timeline and comment
DateLocationRecordEventComment
2 Jan 1855WorcsParish Rec
IGI		Frederick Alfred SNEADE was baptised at Kidderminster. His parents were Frederick Alfred SNEADE and Anne FREEMAN living at Back Queen St. To date, a GRO record has not been located. Since this baptism was only 2 months after Frederick (Snr) and Anne got married, we looked at the possibility that Frederick Alfred was actually base born to Anne FREEMAN - but have found no such record in the name of FREEMAN.
1861StaffsCensusLiving at Barker St, Kingswinford, Staffs. Frederick's father Frederick Alfred SNEADE (age 26, forge labourer) and Ann (FREEMAN). One child, son Alfred (age 6).

We have tried all other Frederick and Alfred combinations across the UK but cannot find any others that fit

2 Jan 1881LondonGRO marriageFrederick Alfred SNEADE (age 26, weaver) to Kate Jane BICKMORE (age 20). Frederick's father is shown as Frederick Alfred SNEADE (weaver). Address given as Chatham.Frederick signed as F. A. Sneade (which we see quite often). One of the witnesses was a Mary JONES.
1881LondonCensusAlfred SNEADE (age 26, Private Royal Marines) and Kate (age 20). Living at 4 Miller's Court, Chatham, Kent. Alfred's place of birth shown as Worcs - parish unknown. Kate born in Chatham.

If this is the same as the above marriage, he went from weaver in Jan 1881 to Private in the Royal Marines in Mar. But surely he must have been in Chatham as a Royal Marine before this time to have met Kate??.

Note - Chatham is a naval port in the UK so highly likely where a Royal Marine would be. Also, Kate's father was a retired Royal Marine.

1881WorcsCensusEsther JONES (age 10, born Kidderminster) living with parents George Jones (carpet weaver) and Elizabeth at 80 Sutton Rd, Kidderminster.

So at this point, Frederick Alfred (who came from Worcs) was with Kate in London and Esther was still living in Worcs

 

15 Oct 1888WorcsGRO marriageAlfred SNEADE (age 30, bricklayer's labourer) to Esther JONES (age 20). Alfred's father is shown as Frederick SNEADE (carpenter). Fredrick's address is shown as 8 Lease Lane, Birmingham and Esther's as 146 Pershore St, BirminghamA couple of anomalies here. Compare it with the marriage above. Its Alfred - not Frederick Alfred. Although his father is shown as Frederick, his father's occupation is shown as carpenter (not carpet weaver - transcription error?). Also, they were living in Birmingham and Alfred is now a labourer
20 May 1889WorcsGRO birthGeorge Alfred Freeman SNEADE to parents Frederick Alfred (carpet weaver) and Esther. Living at 44 Mill Lane, Kidderminster

Note child's 3rd name as Freeman - this was Frederick's mother's maiden name which would suggest that this Frederick Alfred is indeed the one we're looking for in spite of the anomalies when he married Esther -see above. Also, given the 7 months gap between this birth and Frederick marrying Esther, this would suggest Esther would have been pregnant at the time of marriage. And Esther is 13 years younger!

Note also - that Frederick and Kate don't appear to have had any children since they married in 1881. However, if they did have children who died early, this may not have been picked up as yet from the GRO records.

28 Mar 1890WorcsGRO birthEdith Gertrude SNEADE to parents Frederick Alfred (carpe weaver) and Esther. Living at 26 Habberley St, KidderminsterFrederick Alfred is now back in Kidderminster and a carpet weaver!
1891WorcsCensusAlfred SNEADE (age 35, carpet weaver), son-in-law to George JONES and Elizabeth, is living with Esther (age 22) at 25 (or 26) Habberley St, Kidderminster. With them are two children - George Alfred Freeman and Edit Gertrude.We cannot find any census record for Kate!!
13 Oct 1895LondonGRO birthSidney George Richard SNEADE to parents Alfred Frederick (dock labourer) and Kate Jane. Living at 28 North St, Charlton, Woolwich 
7 Feb 1897LondonGRO birthLena Rose SNEADE to parents Alfred (labourer) and Kate (registered the birth). Living at 28 North St, Charlton, Woolwich 
10 Aug 1897LondonGRO birthLena Rose SNEADE to parents Alfred (general labourer) and Kate (registered the death). Living at 28 North St, Charlton, Woolwich 
22 Nov 1897WorcsGRO birthSidney Philip Harvey SNEADE to parents Alfred (photographers agent) and Esther (registered the birth). Living at 73 Mill St, KidderminsterNote - Frederick Alfred already has a son 'Sidney' with Kate J!!

 

4 Sep 1898LondonGRO deathSidney Phillip SNEADE to parents Alfred (dockyard labourer) and Esther (registered the death). Living at 1 Prospect Place, Woolwich

Bingo!! Sidney was born 10 months earlier in Worcs. This is the first time we see Frederick Alfred with Kate AND Frederick Alfred with Esther in the same part of London at about the same time

16 Sep 1898LondonGRO birthCharles Lester SNEADE to parents Alfred (labourer at telegraph works) and Kate (registered the birth). Living at 28 North St, Charlton, Woolwich 
25 Jun 1899LondonGRO birthFrederick SNEADE to parents Frederick Alfred (dockyard labourer) and Esther (registered the birth). Living at 8 Albert Place, Charlton

Note the father is listed as Frederick Alfred and not just Alfred

 

2 Aug 1899LondonGRO deathFrederick SNEADE to parents Frederick Alfred (dockyard labourer) and Esther (registered the death). Living at 8 Albert Place, CharltonNote the father is listed as Frederick Alfred and not just Alfred
13 Aug 1899LondonGRO deathCharles Lester SNEADE to parents Alfred (labourer at telegraph works) and Kate (registered the birth). Living at 28 North St, Charlton, WoolwichThe deaths of the above three children (Lena Rose, Charles Lester and Frederick) were all due to marasmus - basically, malnutrition and still a common problem in third world countries today. What does this tell us about the conditions in which Frederick with both Kate and Esther were living?
1900USACensusNo evidence of Frederick Alfred or Kate J in 1900 USA census 
1901LondonCensusF. A. SNEADE (age 47, store holder ?? from Kidderminster) living with Kate (age 41) at 52 Beresford St, Woolwich, London. No children living there but 12 people (all male labourers) described as 'boarders' plus a female domestic servant.F.A.'s occupation is difficult to de-cipher as the enumerator has placed a black cross right across this field - see image. Was he some sort of store owner and could it be that Esther walked into Alfred/Kate's store??  Why did he have so many boarders and could afford a domestic servant??
1901LondonCensusEsther SNEADE (age 29, no occupation) living with children Edith G and George A - all from Kidderminster at 12 Cedar Grove, Charlton, London. Esher describes her marital status as MARRIED.The above two 1901 census records need to be considered together. What it says is that Frederick Alfred, Kate and Esther were all in close proximity in London, Charlton and Woolwich are geographically close together. Furthermore, the census 'piece' for F.A. is RG13/565 and that for Esther is RG13/562 i.e.. close together. However, without a street map of the area at the time, difficult to say how close. We've pin-pointed Beresford St but that's as far as we have got.
17 Nov 1901USAImmigrationFrederick Alf (age 47, weaver), Kate J (age 42) and Sidney G (age 6) going to 644 North St, Philadelphia, PA. Departed Liverpool on 6 Nov 1901 on SS Westernland - arrived Philadelphia 17 Nov 1901. Claims to have been in the USA - previously in Philadelphia.So Frederick and Kate are now in the USA - leaving Esther in England
1910USACensusNo evidence of Frederick Alfred or Kate J in 1910 USA censusSee below - It looks like they should be in Philadelphia - but we can't find them. This is not to say they weren't there - only that we haven't found a record based on variations of name spellings etc - not an exact science!!
31 Oct 1910USAImmigration
page 1

Immigration
page 2

From the Philadelphia Immigration Records.
Kate SNEADE (age 50) arrives in Philadelphia on board the RMS Haverford (departed Liverpool 19 Oct 1910). She claims to be married and last permanent address was Oldbury, Worcs. Name and address of nearest relative shown as Charles SNEADE, 160 Broadwell Rd, Oldbury, Worcs. In possession of $25. Left Aug 1910 and returning to F A SNEADE at 1626 Braddock St, Philadelphia. Height 5ft 5½in, fair complexion, fair hair, blue eyes. Place of birth is Chatham. Claims to have been in the USA for 10 years prior		No evidence of Frederick Alfred or son Sidney on the same ship. Looks like she was in the USA prior to 31 Oct 1910 and went back to visit in UK but no evidence on US Federal census for 1910 can be found

We can see no specific reason why she would have returned

We believe the Charles mentioned is Charles Henry SNEADE, her half brother-in-law

3 Feb 1920USACensusFrederick A SNEADE (age 65, weaver) living with Kate J (age 60) and son Sidney G (age24, no occupation) at address unknown (place of abode is given as 2186-81-95) in Philadelphia. Year of immigration is given as 1885 for Frederick and 1901 for Kate and Sidney. Frederick and Kate are 'aliens' but Sidney was naturalised in 1918.

The year of immigration for Frederick (1885) and Kate (1901) does not fit with them being in England in 1881, 1891 and 1901 census and children being born!! Regretably, the 1890 USA census is not available!

 

4 Feb 1930USACensusFrederick A (age 76, weaver) and Kate J living in Philadelphia (address code 2188-18-18). Also living there is Sydney G (age 35, weaver) and Catherine (age 24) together with their son Sydney F (age 6). Kate J's mother comes from India and Catherine's mother comes from France. Immigration into the USA are given as Frederick (1881), Kate (1885) and Sydney (1901).We still can't resolve why they appear to have been in the USA from 1885 - but had children in England (with both wives) during the period 1889 - 1900.

Catherine would be Catherine SHUTE and son Sydney Frederick

1933USADeathOf Kate JNo record available - not sure where this came from
1944USADeathOf Frederick AlfredNo record available - not sure where this came from
Conclusions
  • There is sufficient body of evidence above that Frederick Alfred SNEADE was in a
    bigamous relationship with both Kate Jane BICKMORE and Esther JONES
     
  • The two Mrs Alfred SNEADE's would have met in a grocery store somewhere
    near Charlton, Woolwich, London
     
  • The date of meeting would be most likely in the period
    Sep 1898     to Nov 1901

We rest our case - unless anyone knows different!!!