Mary \ Myra Sibley
When it comes to Daniel Madge Dart's bride, Myra Sibley, as usual things are not straight forward.
Facts
In the 1861 census we have what is almost certainly Myra Sibley living with her sister Mary and mother Rebecca. Rebecca records herself as married and a "sawyer's wife" which matches with the detail of Daniel's future marriage registration ie that his father-in-law was sawyer. No other Myra Sibleys or remotely matching Sibleys show up in the 1861 census for Wales.
1861 Census (3rd April) St Woollos, Newport RG9/4020 Folio 10 Book 15 Page 22
25 St ?????? Street, Newport
Name |
Relationship | Age | Occupation | Where Born |
| Rebecca Sibley | Head (Married) | 27 | Sawyer's Wife | Goldcliff, Monmouthshire |
| Mary | Daughter | 6 | Newport, Monmothshire | |
| Myra | Daughter | 4 | Newport, Monmothshire |
For the 1871 census we have a record of what is almost certainly Myra's sister Mary in the Lunatic Asylum. Why she was in the asylum is unknown and could range from a genuine mental problem, through "moral turpitude" - she may have had an illegitimate baby, to wayward teenager committed by exasperated parents.
1871 Census (3rd April) Abergavenny RG10/5311 Folio 64 Book "Joint Counties Lunatic Asylum" Page 20
Joint Counties Lunatic Asylum
Name |
Relationship | Age | Occupation | Where Born |
| Catherine Smith | Inmate | 47 | Domestic Serv. (Lunatic) | Herefordshire |
| Mary Sibley | Inmate | 16 | No Occupation (Lunatic) | Newport, Monmothshire |
No sign of Myra or her mother Rebecca has been identified in the 1871 census despite fairly intensive searching.
Daniel Madge Dart married on 29th May 1872. His brides name is given as Myra Sibley and her age is recorded as 17. Her father is recorded as Samuel Sibley, a sawyer.
There is a Mary Dart dying in the Newport Workhouse in 1876 aged 22 which would match the age of Daniel's wife, although obviously according to his marriage certificate he married a Myra not a Mary!
My grandfather, Herbert Dart, was born at 28 Palmer Street, Weston-super-Mare on 2nd July 1877. He was certainly the son of Daniel Madge Dart and Maria Dyer. This means that Daniel was no longer with the woman he married in 1872 by this time and probably at least since the beginning of 1877.
On 18 March 1881 Myra Sibley married a Thomas Howell, a mariner, in Newport. Aged 24 and with her father named as Samuel Sibley, a carpenter, I have little doubt that this is one and the same as "our" Myra Sibley. She identifies herself as a spinster.
The above "facts" do not fit in any simple form. I have two explanations which "work" but both are slightly out of the ordinary.
Scenario 1. (Most obvious)
Daniel did marry Myra Sibley although she would have been only 14 or 15.
Making her older than she was at the time of her marriage would not seem unlikely. Myra
and Daniel split up sometime prior to 1877 with Daniel going off with Maria Dyer. As far
as I am aware there is no divorce but to be honest I have not really looked. Myra
re-married (possibly bigamously) to Thomas Howell in 1881.
Scenario 2.
Daniel actually married Mary NOT Myra Sibley and for some reason her name was
recorded as Myra. This would fit with the age given. Whether the mistake in the name was a
genuine error on the part of the registrar or Mary gave her sister's name for some reason
I cannot say. Mary and Daniel split up with Daniel going off with Maria Dyer. Possibly the
abandoned Mary ends up in the Workhouse where she dies in 1876. The fact that Mary was in
the Lunatic Asylum for the census of 1871 may or may not be relevant!!
NOTE
It would be interesting to trawl the registers for the deaths of Rebecca and Samuel Sibley and to see if any record of a death of a Mary Sibley could be found which might match our Mary Sibley.