X00392 Eleanor Westwell after 1882 - solved!

In an earlier post, I shared that I had been able to follow Eleanor Westwell’s trail only up to 1882, when she appeared as a witness at the marriage of Lawrence Ashton and Mary Ann Westwell. After that, she seemed to vanish from the records, and I wasn’t sure what became of her.

Some time ago, I came across a possible lead: an 1883 marriage entry for an Eleanor Westwell. I ordered the certificate, hoping it might finally shed light on her fate. When it arrived, the details aligned so neatly that it became clear I had indeed found the same Eleanor.

The marriage took place on 25 December 1883 between Edwin Hill and Eleanor Westwell. Several key pieces of information confirmed her identity:

• Eleanor is recorded as 18 years old, matching a birth year of 1865.
• Her occupation is listed as cotton weaver, consistent with earlier records for “my” Eleanor.
• Most importantly, her father is named as Robert Westwell, a cotton spinner - a perfect match.

With these points lining up, I’m confident this marriage record belongs to the Eleanor I had been tracing.

Once this connection was made, the rest of her story came together more easily. Eleanor and her husband Edwin appear in later census records, continuing to live in Blackburn, Lancashire, where she spent her entire life. The couple had at least one child, John Robert Hill, born around 1886.

Eleanor Westwell Hill died on 25 December 1937 at the age of 72, her cause of death recorded as myocardial degeneration.

It’s satisfying to finally follow Eleanor’s life beyond that 1882 marriage entry and to restore her place in the family’s story.

X00392 Eleanor Westwell after 1882

Eleanor Westwell was the daughter of Robert Westwell and Elizabeth Glover and was born 2 March 1865 in Blackburn, Lancashire England. I have found her in the 1871 and 1881 censuses living with the rest of the Westwell family. She then appears as a witness in the 1882 marriage record for her sister Mary Ann Westwell and Lawrence Ashton. But I have not found her in any records beyond that.

She isn't found living with the rest of the Westwell family in 1891 and I wasn't able to find another record for an Eleanor Westwell in the 1891 census that fits with the name, location and year of birth, which means that she had either died before 1891 or married before 1891 and was under a different name.

I had a look at the death records between 1882 and 1891 and again, nothing seemed to match with the name, location and birth year. But I did find a marriage record for an Eleanor Westwell in 1883 in Blackburn. The location, name and date does match. So I'm going to order the marriage certificate and see if that gives any clues. Stay tuned for more!