Ernest Sawle / Lillian Marion

[Leanne_sawle]

I am trying to find out what happened to my Great Grandfather, Ernest Sawle of Beacon/Camborne, Cornwall.

It appears that Ernest married Lillian Marion Richards in 1905. We know they had two children; Ernest Henry Howard (my father's father), and Reginald Bennett, but searching the internet had led us to believe that there were two other children, Garfield and Clifford Gordon.

Ernest Henry Howard was told (by family who brought him and Reginald up)that his father died in a mining accident aged 26, and that Lillian abandoned the boys.
I can't find a death certificate for Ernest Sawle, and it looks likely that we may not have the whole story.

Does anyone have any information that may shed some light on what happened to Ernest, and indeed Lillian?

[John Slaughter]

In the GRO death indexes there is an Ernest Saull, aged 27, in Q1 1909, Redruth Registration District that looks very likely to be your great grandfather. This would tie in with the 1911 census which, as you will no doubt be aware, shows Lillian Marian as a widow residing at Rosewarne Road, Camborne with her two surviving children Ernest Henry and Reginald Bennett.

You mention possible further children. Curiously in the GRO birth indexes there are several more Sawle births where the mother's maiden name is given as Richards i.e. 1912 Joan M, 1914 Clifford G and James G, 1916 Florence A S, 1920 Evelyn M. The first three are in Redruth District and the last two in Portsmouth District. Clearly Ernest can not be the father if he died in 1909 and they may relate to a completely different family but I can not find another Sawle/Saull and Richards marriage that would fit.

Do you have any further information about Ernest that may help to identify his parentage?

[Leanne_sawle]

In the GRO death indexes there is an Ernest Saull, aged 27, in Q1 1909, Redruth Registration District that looks very likely to be your great grandfather. This would tie in with the 1911 census which, as you will no doubt be aware, shows Lillian Marian as a widow residing at Rosewarne Road, Camborne with her two surviving children Ernest Henry and Reginald Bennett.

You mention possible further children. Curiously in the GRO birth indexes there are several more Sawle births where the mother's maiden name is given as Richards i.e. 1912 Joan M, 1914 Clifford G and James G, 1916 Florence A S, 1920 Evelyn M. The first three are in Redruth District and the last two in Portsmouth District. Clearly Ernest can not be the father if he died in 1909 and they may relate to a completely different family but I can not find another Sawle/Saull and Richards marriage that would fit.

Do you have any further information about Ernest that may help to identify his parentage?

Thanks for this information. I don't have information on his parentage, but I have ordered a copy of the marriage certificate, so I'll at least find out thee father's name.
Using the information that you provided, I did some further searching today and found that all the children that you mentioned appear to be the half brothers/sisters of Ernest. Lillian must have moved to Portsmouth shortly after having the twins (Clifford and James), because I found that their deaths were registered in 1915 in Portsmouth. The last two girls, Florence and Evelyn appear to have Stenton as their middle names; another source reported Lillian became the Commonlaw wife of James H.H. Stenton of Portmouth.
I will continue looking into the other children, because I saw a post from a Michael Tucker, talking about Ernest Sawle/Saull was his grandfather.