Maria Ann Voysey was a bit unlucky when it came to choosing a husband. It wasn’t that they ran off or were abusive. Not that I know of, anyway. What it was, was they kept dying. And, like a dark shroud of destiny, her husbands had the same problem with their wives. It was like an epidemic of spousal decimation.
Maria was born in 1860 in Greenwich, Kent. Her first foray into matrimonial bliss was in 1880 when she wed James Holland. Things were fine for a few years. They had a few children and, by 1881, were settled in Cottages In Brickfield No 1, along with her parents and siblings. James was a labourer, as were the Voysey boys.
In 1881, they already had a daughter, Elizabeth. She was soon followed by John James and Maria. Then, James Holland died. I haven’t found the exact date and I have no idea how or why. He was only 23 in 1881 so it wasn’t old age. Anyway, in 1886, Maria married Charles George Carey Tyler.
Now, Charles was a widower by 1886. Born in 1855, he’d married Elizabeth Davis in 1877 but poor Elizabeth died soon after and, on 7 September 1886, in Chatham, Kent, Charles married Maria.
In 1891, they already had a few kids and were living at 44 Foxwell Street, Deptford, Kent. Charles was a general labourer, like so many others in this family. Living with them were two of the Holland children as well as a couple of little Tylers. Most notably (I’ll explain later) Edward Victor Tyler was born in 1891.
Then, in 1893, tragedy once more struck with the death of Charles Tyler.
Maria managed to…well, manage until 23 April 1899 when she married another widower, William Forest, in Christchurch, Haringey.
William was born in 1859 in Plumstead, Kent. He, first off, married Elizabeth Renton in Bromley in 1880. In 1881, they were living at Lewisham and William was working as a brickmaker. By 1891, they had three sons and were living in Merrett Road, Lewisham. William was now working as a labourer.
Then, in December 1898, poor Elizabeth died. This left William with three boys to look after as well as working as a labourer. He solved this dilemma by married Maria four months after Elizabeth’s death.
Roll on to 1901, and Maria and William had moved to 32 Holland Road, South Norwood. I’m sure the name of the road was purely coincidental. They were still living there in 1911, by which time, their brood had grown by a few more kids.
Their marriage lasted a bit longer than the previous ones. But, of course, knowing Maria’s luck, William Forest died on 9 October 1927. 28 years was pretty good for Maria and, of course, by 1927 all the kids were able to support themselves. The ones who were still alive, anyway (I’ll explain later).
Maria didn’t bother getting married again. In 1939, she was keeping house with her son George Tyler who was working as a carpenter, still living at 32 Holland Road. She eventually died, a widow, in 1952 at the grand old age of 89. She outlived the lot of them, as well as a few of her kids. Most notably, and the reason I had to unravel all of this, her son Edward Victor Tyler.
Edward appears on the St Mark’s war memorial in South Norwood. My research was long and involved, trying to find his history but, eventually, and ignoring some pretty bad research carried out by someone else, I uncovered this whole, sorry tale.
Edward was born on 7 December 1891 in Brockley, Kent. He worked as a bricklayer’s labourer before enlisting in the Royal West Surrey Regiment and heading off to France on 1 June 1915. He returned to the UK badly wounded and died of his wounds on 31 May 1917. He was buried in Croydon Cemetery, aged just 25.
Edward received the Military Medal, which was awarded to soldiers for bravery in battle on land. Unfortunately, I don’t know the specifics. But, at least his life is now revealed.
