The CD containing the marriage records of St Mary, Alderley, includes the wedding which took place on the 27th December 1851 between Mr John Bruce of Liverpool and Miss Maria Josepha Bell of Alderley.
Miss Bell was the daughter of the late Rev Isaac Bell; at the time of the 1851 census Maria and her older sisters were teaching at their mother's school for girls at Heawood Hall, Alderley. I don't think that the Bells were a wealthy family but, by virtue of being the daughter of the well-known Reverend Bell, this was quite a large and important wedding and was noted in the Manchester Times in January 1852. The witnesses were Eliza Bell, William Bell, John Garniss and Thomas Garniss. After the wedding the couple settled in Liverpool.
But who was John Bruce? Neither the bride or the groom were giddy young people, John Bruce was about 40 years old and Maria was about 35 years old. John Bruce had been a clerk in Liverpool's HM Customs office and his older, unmarried, sister lived with him; there was usually also a younger relative living with them as part of the family. According to the marriage certificate, John Bruce was the son of another John Bruce, manufacturer, and had been born in Northampton, possibly at All Saints. Quite possibly John's father had died before the 1841 census, but I may have found him in an 1825 census, as a manufacturer of ladies' shoes in Northampton.
How did John Bruce of Liverpool and Maria Bell of Alderley meet? Geographically they were miles away. True, train journies were relatively easy, but they were unlikely to meet, for example, at the shop or at a concert. Was there a third party? Did any of Maria's siblings live in Liverpool? Did John Bruce have any occasion to visit another family in Alderley?
Answers on a postcard! (email of course!) Because, as yet, I can't find this missing link!
