William and Eliza

William & Eliza's marriage record 1834

 Having explored William Wheelock's world and surmised what we can about his character, it is time to consider some of the gaps in his timeline and some of the people who knew him well. William's first wife, Eliza Whitehouse, presents one of the first mysteries. She's there and then she isn't and I have found scant details about who she was. Let's start with the base facts:

1) Eliza married William in Handsworth, St Mary's in 1834.

2) Her marriage record states she was of the parish.

3) She was living on Weaman Street with William and his family at the time of the 1841 census.

4) The 1841 census states she was born out of county.

Now moving on to the maybes:

5) She may have been born in 1811. The 1841 census certainly implies she was older than William. While the census takers were supposed to accurately record the ages of children, they were supposed to round down the ages of over 15s to the nearest 5. Many ignored this rule, however. William's age is recorded as 24, giving his inferred birth year as 1817, which was correct. Eliza's age is 30, so if this is accurate she would have an approximate birth year of 1811.

And onto the unknown:

6) Where she was born.

7) Who her parents are.

8) Why she and William do not appear to have had any children.

9) What happened to her. 

So, there are a lot of unknowns there. I have searched the records for an Eliza Wheelock, a challenge made doubly difficult by the fact that William's sister-in-law was also an Eliza Wheelock (1815-1903). In nearly all cases the Eliza that shows up is the latter, whose maiden name was Harvey. There is one possible record that might contain the correct Eliza and that is a record of a confirmation at St Chad's Roman Catholic Church in 1850. St Chad's is very close to Weaman Street. Eliza Harvey consistently baptised her children at CofE churches, so it seems less likely that this is her. So, if this is William's wife, it would mean she was still alive long after he started seeing Hannah, and was still relatively close by in 1850. 

If Eliza was still alive in 1850 it would preclude William from marrying Hannah, which would explain why I have found no marriage record. When William marries Mary Ann in 1869 he states he is a widower, so in this instance we can assume he was referring to Eliza rather than Hannah. Either he knew she was dead, assumed so, or simply regarded her as such given how long they'd been apart. 

I have searched for a death record for Eliza in the years from 1841 onward and turned up nothing. Perhaps she found a new man and took his name, perhaps she reverted to using Whitehouse, or perhaps she died and I simply haven't found the evidence yet.

It is interesting that I haven't found any evidence of children from William's first marriage. There are a number of reasons why this might be. They may simply have been unable to have children, or may have had stillborn children that were never registered, or the couple may have been kept apart for some reason, or the children died and I haven't been able to find them in the records. This could ultimately have caused the strain on the relationship that made William and Eliza part ways (assuming that's what happened). We know William could have children because he had two with Hannah. 

Another factor that may explain Eliza's disappearance of course may have been William's treatment of her, but this is pure conjecture based on his later treatment of Mary Ann. If William was abusive, Eliza may have sought refuge with family. Neither she nor William could legally remarry until the other died.

There is one possible glimpse of Eliza in the 1871 census. Living at number 41 Hospital Street is a lady named Eliza Elock. She lives alone, is 54, and is from Worcestershire. She is a metallic pen maker and claims to be widowed. Hospital Street is very near the Wheelock households and her birth in Worcestershire is consistent with what we know about Eliza been born outside Warwickshire. Her year of birth is 1817,  the same as William's, so this lady is a possible contender. Her unusual surname may be a poor transcription of her own pronunciation. 

Eliza Elock in the 1871 census

 If this is William's wife it would mean she was still alive when he married Mary Ann. 

This is as far as I've got identifying Eliza. There's a lot more work to do as she remains a total mystery. In the next post we will move on to William's paramour, Hannah Genders.