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| Site contents © Copyright Michael Crouch, 2009. This web site was launched on 7 June 1998 |
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The Cook and Baker families Suffolk Further north in Kensington, London, Archibald Crouch married his second wife, Florence Alice Cook. Archibald had returned to England sometime since his departure back in 1916, and apparently separated from his first wife, Marjorie Edith Nicholls. What happened to her and their daughter is not known. Florence Alice Cook was the daughter of James Cook, an "ag. lab" (agricultural labourer) from the village of Barningham near Thetford on the Norfolk/Suffolk border and Eliza Baker. The Cooks and the Bakers had resided in the village for many years and had come together through marriage. Evidence of this has been traced through early census records as far as 1841 and shows how the two families grew, split and came together. It is thought that Florence Alice went into service and it might be this reason that accounts for her presence in Kensington. Archibald, often referred to now simply as Archie, and Florence married on May 31, 1928 at Kensington Register Office. Archie was 35 and Florence was 29. Archie was working for the Meadow Dairy Company as a clerk and had been living in Lambeth. Florence was living at 34 Kensington Park Gardens, Nottinghill. Curiously both of their fathers were recorded as deceased. We know however that John Baird Crouch died in 1951. Why he should be shown as deceased on Archibald's marriage certificate in 1928 is not known. It seems probably that Archibald genuinely did not know whether his adopted father was dead or alive. Given his sister Ruby's similar estrangement from the family some sort of rift or alienation seems likely. Whatever the true reasons we may never actually know. |