Biographical notes

The marriage of Mary Ann Brook and George Cardell at Shoreditch took place on 4 January 1846. Mary Ann Brook was a spinster but George Cardell is described as a widower from his first marriage to Caroline Fulcher. Mary Ann and George's first daughter registered as Rosina Cardall [sic] was born in the 6 November 1846.

Their second child, Sarah Cardell (Cardall in the BMD Register), born in December 1848, does not appear in the 1851 Census when she would have been aged 3. However, she appears with her father in the 1861 Census and later registration documents record her marriage to John Christopher Addison on 29 March 1868. Rosina is not with her father in the 1861 Census, but a Rosina Cardall [sic], born in Shoreditch, is working as a Servant, aged 14, at an address in West Hackney, Middlesex.

The family apparently appear in the 1851 Census (surname spelt Cardall, also indexed as Curdall), living at 86 Paul Street in Shoreditch. George has the occupation of a Cheesemonger (this agrees with the profession on his marriage certificate, and the birth certificate of his first child, Rosina), employing 3 servants, and a birthplace of Rochester, Kent. This birthplace and profession agree with later Census returns. The ages given are George 31, Mary Ann 26 and Rosina 9. Interestingly a Caroline Ann Brook (born in Shoreditch, age 16), is listed as a servant and is probably a younger sibling of Mary Ann (nee Brook). She later married Edward Lewis Holmes.

The birth of an illegitimate child, Mary Ann Southwell in 1852, effectively marks the breakup of this family with Mary Ann Cardell fleeing to Bristol with her lover Robert John Southwell. This must have happened by 1854 when their second child was born in Bristol. Robert Southwell stole the identity of his lover's husband (George Cardell), who remained in London.