Thread: Florence Lottie Catton / Cotton and John William Salthouse

Florence Catton was my great grandmother and there are several mysteries surrounding her.



She was born c. 1880 but her husband John William Salthouse, my g grandfather was born c 1897. They had 2 sons, Wilfred and Albert Dennis and Florence lost all 3 men in 11 years:



John William was killed in 1940 when a bomb hit his police station. Wilfred followed a few years later when he was shot down over Hamburg and Albert was killed on duty as a police officer c 1952.



Florence refuse point blank to tell my family her age or date of birth and took this information with her to her grave.



We have since discovered this is probably because she was so much older than John. Furthermore, it seems she was married before to a William Horrobin and had 3 children, at least one of whom survived into the early 1990s.



Florence and John had no contact with their families after their marriage as far as we can make out and we would love to her from anyone who can shed some light on what happened.



We are particularly interested in the Horrobins and in Florence and John's families.

Could you clarify what you are looking for? - living relatives? - particular records?

Gillian

I have found records in the censuses for both Florence and her her second husband, John William Salthouse.

I'm hoping for more information on Florence's first marriage and the children it produced. I'd also love to know the circumstances of the breakdown of that marriage and why neither hers not my great grandfather's families ever spoke to them again.

I realise a lot of this is personal information, rather than things that can be looked up. However, I have found several relatives before and am hoping to find someone who knows what happened to this family.



Florence has three children from her first marriage - 2 girls and a boy. The boy was Gerald Horrobin and I found a reference to a death certificate in 1993.

Hi - you may have this already but just in case...

Marriage Dec 1906 Salford 1d 1 Florence Lottie Catton to William Horrobin

Birth Jun 1914 Maldon 4a 1451 Gerald W Horrobin mmn Catton

Birth Mar 1922 Maldon 4a 1378 (female) Horrobin mmn Catton

Gillian

I had found the marriage and the birth of Gerald. However, the second child being born in 1922 casts some doubt on Florence actually being my relation, despite this having been tracked down by 3 different members of the extended family.

I now need to go back and locate a marriage certificate for John William Salthouse - it has so far proved elusive and we have nothing left from that part of the family.

Thank you for all your help.



Abi