Enid & family in the 1911 census

[bavers]

Judicial Separation is not a divorce. The parties remain married in name only but there is a marital separation and all the normal marital obligations come to an end. Judicial separation rather than a divorce is used where one or both of the parties refuse to divorce - usually although not, I think, in this case because of religious objections. Certainly the received understanding has always been that Theresa refused to divorce and this petition bears this out. Furthermore, in the UK all the pleadings in matrimonial matters are sealed for 100 years by operation of law. In this instance the file is stamped with the words “Closed until 2013”. Hence it has only just been released.

I suppose when I read the affidavit it all seemed so convenient that Thomas came home for the month of the census before committing adultery in Woodhall Spa on 11 April 1911. So I wondered whether the pair of them had been somewhat economical with the truth re the census with the result, of course, that Theresa would then be unable to gainsay this under oath on the affidavit. Of course one will never know.

However, when I read the affidavit I found too found myself feeling so very sorry for Theresa and truth be told not a little angry at Thomas.

Bavers

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks very much for the clarification, Bavers. All these details help us understand a bit more about the situation.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Thanks very much for posting that situation, Bavers. As Anita has said, it all helps us to understand more about the situation.

[Ming]

Thanks for sharing the details, Bavers. It really is fascinating to know more about Thomas and Theresa, and I too feel rather sorry for Theresa Blyton.

[Katharine]

Bavers, thanks for explaining the difference between a Judicial Separation and a divorce. I wrongly assumed that when Theresa filed for the Judicial Separation, that it was the beginning of divorce proceedings. I don't know whether that exists nowadays. As I understand it, after 5 years of separation a person can file for divorce regardless of the other partner's wishes.

I've checked with my parents, and divorces were definitely listed in our local newspaper for a number of years, up until about the late 1970s/early 1980s I think. Although I don't know when this practice started or whether it was just our local paper that printed this type of information. It didn't list full details, but it did list the reason for the petition, such as adultery. Quite rightly it was stopped. In one case my parents remembered, the wife suffered from depression so the husband was granted a divorce on the grounds on mental health issues (or similar wording), not at all pleasant for their children to have the whole world know such personal problems.

I can sympathise with both Thomas and Theresa. While I don't condone him having an affair, it would appear that at least he had genuine feelings for Florence, and he didn't just have a 'fling'. I also feel very sorry for Theresa. I know perhaps she was unfair towards Enid by trying to stifle her creative side, but I can also understand that as someone who placed so much importance on the domestic side of life, it must have been difficult for her to understand Enid's personality. Also, I think she did in her own way try hard to 'do the right thing' by keeping a clean house, and an air of respectablility. It just makes me wonder though why they ever married in the first place, as they don't appear to have had much in common.

The other point I think the divorce raises is Enid's attitude towards Hugh. After the pain of being separated from her own father I can't understand why she would then do the same with her own children. Of course that's easy for me to say based on attitudes in the 21st century.

[CliffBeckenham]

RALPH ERNEST ATTENBOROUGH was the second of the sons of Attenborough & Sons. The following entry is from the RECORD OF SERVICE OF SOLICITORS AND ARTICLED CLERKS WITH HIS MAJESTY'S FORCES 1914 -1 9
PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & CO. LTD. LONDON 1920

Admitted Oct. 1904. Member of Attenboroughs, of 15 & 16 Thavies
Inn, Holborn, E.C. Served as Sergeant Inns of Court O.T.C. Subsequently
gazetted 2nd Lieut. Inns of Court O.T.C. and promoted Lieut. Lieut. Machine
Gun Corps.

It is interesting that Holborn was very close to the Carey Blyton Mantle Busines. And also that Carey's son saw war service in the Machine Gun Corps, after being in the OTC (or similar) of th City of London School whic he attended after leaving Craven College.

I think that Theresa was very close to the Armstrongs geographically and on social terms. I do not agree with the Barbara Stoney account suggesting that Enid fled to the Attenboroughs to escape from what Anita has described as 'being at the mercy of her mother'.

How was it that Theresa used the Armstrongs to draw up her petition for separation? I think that Grandpa John Armstrong, when he learned of Theresa's fears that Thomas was committing adultery, offered his services to Theresa. When the details of his affair with Florence became apparent, Enid was distraught and understandably wanted to get away from the home where her father had deceived her.

I think Theresa understood and might have suggested that it would be a god idea if she moved into the Attenboroughs' new home a mile or so away in Oakwood Avenue where she would be with the understanding and supportive Mabel Attenborough.

There were no neighbours to worry about in Oakwood Avenue. As to her sons, Hanly was in boarding school and Carey Charles, now aged 8, was also at an age when boys could be sent to boarding school.

Theresa could thus have been alone and could justifiably tell any neighbours that her husband was away on business.......... And, how did she cope with being potentially a fallen woman; a failure for not being able to
keep her husband? She was most fortunate to have had Armstrong & Sons to act for her.

Would John Attenborough have behaved as I suggest? Well we know that he commissioned a check on Hugh Pollock before giving Enid his blessing for her first marriage. What was in the letter from John that upset Enid so much. Had he made some reference to the conduct of her father and warned her that was what she might expect from a divorcee?

I will pause at this point but next time I would like to discuss what Enid had in mind when she wrote the poem "Have you .......? - her first known published work.

CliffBeckenham

[Anita Bensoussane]

Nice to see you posting, Cliff, though I'm unclear about some of the things in your post.

It is interesting that Holborn was very close to the Carey Blyton Mantle Busines. And also that Carey's son saw war service in the Machine Gun Corps, after being in the OTC (or similar) of th City of London School whic he attended after leaving Craven College.

Who was Carey's son? Or did you mean Thomas's son Carey?

I think that Theresa was very close to the Armstrongs geographically and on social terms.

Who were the Armstrongs?

When the details of his affair with Florence became apparent, Enid was distraught and understandably wanted to get away from the home where her father had deceived her.

I think Theresa understood and might have suggested that it would be a god idea if she moved into the Attenboroughs' new home a mile or so away in Oakwood Avenue where she would be with the understanding and supportive Mabel Attenborough.

If her mother was so understanding, I wonder why Enid Blyton let Gillian and Imogen believe that Theresa was dead and that she (Enid) had been brought up partly by the Attenboroughs? Also, much later on Hanly is said to have asked Enid to visit their mother when she was ill and dying, but Enid didn't go and see her.

Would John Attenborough have behaved as I suggest? Well we know that he commissioned a check on Hugh Pollock before giving Enid his blessing for her first marriage. What was in the letter from John that upset Enid so much. Had he made some reference to the conduct of her father and warned her that was what she might expect from a divorcee?

I wonder if Enid ever tried to encourage Hugh to keep in touch with his son (Alistair) from his previous marriage? Gillian and Imogen didn't even know they had a half-brother until Imogen bumped into him at a family wedding in Scotland when she was sixteen.

[Katharine]

I wonder if Enid ever tried to encourage Hugh to keep in touch with his son (Alistair) from his previous marriage? Gillian and Imogen didn't even know they had a half-brother until Imogen bumped into him at a family wedding in Scotland when she was sixteen.

I didn't realise that Hugh had a son from his first marriage. If Gillian and Imogen didn't even realise they had a half-brother until they were virtually adults, I think it unlikely that Hugh had much contact, if any, with him whilst married to Enid. To me this raises a couple of issues. Firstly, as Enid appears to have had a habit of excluding anything from life that she was uncomfortable with, I think it's unlikely that she would have encouraged Hugh to keep in touch with Alistair. Secondly, if Hugh had limited contact with his son, how much is Enid to blame for his lack of contact with Gillian and Imogen?

Although I don't doubt Enid would have made it extremely difficult for Hugh to have access to any of his children, can any of the 'blame' lay with Hugh? Was he so happy to be with Enid that he wasn't bothered much about seeing his son? Did he keep away from the girls purely because of Enid's attitude, did he believe they would be happier without now they had a new 'father', or was he so happy with his next wife (Ida?) that once again he wasn't too bothered about seeing children from his past relationships?

I'm not condoning Enid's behaviour regarding keeping the girls from their father, it must have been an extremely traumatic time for them, but as with many marriage breakdowns, I do wonder if the situation wasn't quite as black and white as Enid's critics would have us believe?

[CliffBeckenham]

Anita,
1. Carey Blyton & Co was the name of Thomas Carey (TC) Blyton's mantle business. TC's son was Hanly.
2. My apologies I am prone to use Armstrong instead of Attenborough. So it should be @Attenboroughs'.
3. Enid lived with the Attenboroughs from either 1912 or when she left school when she was 18. i do not know why Enid declined.
4. Hugh and his first son iare not an area I have looked at.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the explanations, Cliff.

I didn't realise that Hugh had a son from his first marriage.

If I remember correctly, he and his first wife (Marion Atkinson) had two sons, but one died as an infant.

[Katharine]

I wonder if Enid ever tried to encourage Hugh to keep in touch with his son (Alistair) from his previous marriage? Gillian and Imogen didn't even know they had a half-brother until Imogen bumped into him at a family wedding in Scotland when she was sixteen

I've just discovered the following:-

"Blyton had written to Crowe, informing her that her husband was marrying for the third - not the second - time. Crowe writes: "It was a deliberate attempt to turn me against him. It could have succeeded but Hugh said he had not bothered to tell me because he did not think it important. He loved me and that was all that mattered. I burned the letter immediately".

This appeared in the Telegraph in October 2002, and was quoted as being said by Ida Crowe. To me it suggests that Hugh didn't keep in touch with his son, otherwise Ida would have know about his first marriage. Whether it was Hugh, his first wife, or Enid who was the reason he didn't keep in touch with him I don't know.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hugh doesn't come across all that well even in Ida Crowe/Pollock's autobiography, despite the fact that she appears to have loved him right to the end.