Harry and his first wife Kate Gardner were married young (1912) and had 3 children in the Handsworth, Warwickshire area. They were: John F.W. Sennett (Jack, born 1912), Joan P.G. Sennett (1917) and Kathlyn M. Sennett (1921).
We don't know a lot about their marriage, but we do know that Kate & Harry were legally separated by 1937 (divorce not being an option then).
Kate died in 1943, her death was registered in Birmingham, under her married name of Kate L. Sennett.
Harry married his second wife Keturah a few months later in Wednesbury, and then they moved up to Jesmond, Newcastle - they were certainly living there in 1946 as my Grandma stayed with them for a little while after she was married.
I haven't any real information about whether Harry kept in contact with his 3 adult children after the separation. My instinct is that Harry did have some contact with them, as my Gran's brother (Austin, 1914-1991) knew a little about them.
Austin was the source of much of the family history / gossip! He remembered "Jack, and two girls. The girls later married; one to the Director of the Austin Motor works; another to someone from Jacobs Tailor shops (?) and had a son, Jack" but was a bit sketchy about which was which! It's understandable that he would remember the Austin detail - as it was also his name! But actually, he was an engineer and interested in cars, too.
Anyway - Uncle Austin would only have known of details like this thru what Harry told him, as Austin lived in Durham & they were all in the Midlands (presuming they stayed there?). Harry stayed in Rushall and similar area until around 1945 when he & his second wife moved to live together in Jesmond.
Some possible matches on the marriage registers here (FreeBMD):
1938 - Joan P.G. Sennett marries Rex Hancock in the Bromsgrove district.
1946 - John W. Sennett marries Marjorie I. Worth in the Hinckley district. (No hits for a John F. W. Sennett.)
1949 - Kathleen Sennett marries Noel A.F. Jubb in the Hull district. (Jubb...Jacob...??)
Contact Made
Well, we are gradually getting closer to these children! Thanks once more to Genes Reunited, we are now in contact with a niece of Joan Sennett. So, many thanks are due to Heather for sharing the tale with us (as well as the images below). They were able to confirm for us that we see our relative's daughter in the marriage registers for 1938, as shown above.
{Those of you who have already read the post about our link with Tony Hancock will have said Ooh to yourself when you read the groom's surname?!! No connection, so far as we know... though several of his Hancock family live(d) in the Kings Norton area, where the comedian Tony Hancock was born.}
The young man who was Joan's groom was a farmer, and he was born in 1915. The couple had several children - a few sons, and then a much younger daughter. Heather also confirmed that both Rex & Joan are deceased.
Rex's father, Alfred John Woodgate Hancock, had a rather interesting life - he was a Director of the Austin Motor Company. You can see his picture in this page from the Advocate; the owner's newsletter, in 1926.
See also an advert for Austin cars in a 1921 issue of the BMJ.
The Austin Federation was a useful source for information on the staff for Heather. They pointed out (from a biography of Lord Austin) that Hancock joined Wolseley in 1903 as a draughtsman, and also advises that Hancock was Austin's Chief Designer by 1921. He left the Austin Motor Company in October 1941.
A lovely tale about the early Motor Show - such a contrast with the modern methods.
"Mention is also made of Hancock and Davage selling Austin cars from the Du Cross Mercedes Limited stand (No. 42) at the 1905 Motor Show held between 17th and 25th November. Their only selling aids were drawings but they managed to secure a number of orders."
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So now you can read more about Harry Sennett's early life & first marriage; or about his second marriage to Keturah, or his third marriage to Lilian 'Hancock' and in his death in 1965.
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