The mystery engagement

My plan for this post had been to tell the story of the other 'missing' son of Charles Gabriel  and Susannah Baker, Edward Ernest Baker, born 1861, brother of (Charles) Alfred Baker, who I wrote about last month in Another Mystery Unravelled.

But I came across something intriguing this week which I'd like to share instead. I'd also like to challenge your imagination to come up with ideas as to the mystery behind the story.

I've written before about my grandfather, Herbert Henry Coules Colley, also known by his stage name, Ken Barton. He was an actor and comedian, treading the boards and touring the country's "rep" theatres which is where he met my grandmother, who became his second wife. She was a trained opera singer but decided variety entertainment was more lucrative a career. You can read more about both of them on my post Panto time!

Before the dream

Before Herbert followed his dream to become a "theatrical artist", he worked in the newspaper industry in the printing rooms supporting his mother and siblings, after his father, Edward Henry Coules Colley, left the family home (or may well have got kicked out by Herbert's mother, Frances, on discovering that he was leading a double life – read the full story here).

It was during this time, before he married his first wife, Ada Dean, that Herbert appears to have been engaged to a Mary Ann Fry. She was a "Paper packer" which could well be a packer of newspapers and where she met Herbert. But it's at this point that the intrigue begins.

Reading of the banns

In late November and early December 1889 the banns were read in St John's the Evangelist, Walworth announcing the forthcoming marriage of Herbert Henry Coules Colley and Mary Ann Fry, bachelor and spinster of the parish respectively. But it seems that the marriage never took place and the entry on the banns record is crossed out.

What makes the story unusual, than perhaps a jilting at the alter, is that less than 3 months later, in March 1890, another banns record appears for Herbert Henry Coules Colley and Mary Ann Fry. Again there is no record that the marriage actually took place and again, the entry has been crossed out.

What's the story?

So what occurred? Was the first wedding cancelled due to illness? Did either party change their mind and then change it back again, to try a second time the following year? Did everyone arrive at the church, only to witness the bride – or the groom – not turning up? Or did someone, in true dramatic fashion, stand up and declare there was an impediment to why these two people could not be joined in matrimony?

I'd love to hear your suggestions. So do let me know what you think the story could be. (Along with ideas as to how I might go about finding out the truth of the tale!)

As a postscript, you may be interested to know that 6 years after the second banns reading, Mary Ann Fry went on to marry Herbert's uncle, his father's brother Robert Colley. Perhaps therein lies a clue.