Person:Esther Marshall (4)

Esther Rosson Marshall was born in 1886 at Luton in Bedfordshire, daughter of a straw hat machinist named Sarah Marshall. Esther's father is not known. Just over a year after Esther's birth, her mother married a man named Edmund Edwards Dexter, and for much of her childhood, Esther was therefore known as Esther Dexter. However, when she married in 1908 she married as Esther Marshall - if Edmund Dexter had been her father, it seems reasonable to think she would have married as Esther Dexter.

The 1891 census finds Esther living with her mother and stepfather at 21 Occupation Road in Luton. In the mid 1890s, her mother and stepfather moved to London, but Esther stayed in Luton, living with her grandparents George and Rachel Marshall at 46 Albert Road. In 1899, aged 13, Esther gave evidence, alongside her grandmother, in a court case about one of their neighbours who apparently was not sending his daughter to school. (A transcript of the newspaper coverage is on Esther's grandmother's page). The 1901 census finds Esther still living with her grandparents at 46 Albert Road.

In 1908, Esther married a barman named Frank Locker Forknall. The 1911 census finds them living at 18 Tennyson Road in Luton.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Esther and Frank were living at 12 Albert Road in Luton, and Frank was working as a licensed victualler. Esther died on 20th December 1949, aged 63.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Esther Rosson MARSHALL, June Quarter 1886, Luton Registration District, Volume 3b, page 443, mother's maiden name -

2. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1272; Folio 81; Page 31, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: 21 Occupation Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Four rooms occupied
   Edmund Dexter, head, married, male, 30 [1860/1], Straw Hat Blocker, b. Old St S. Luke's, London
   Sarah Dexter, wife, married, female, 25 [1865/6], Straw Hat Machinist, employed, b. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire
   Esther Dexter, daughter, female, 5 [1885/6], Scholar, employed, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Edith Dexter, daughter, female, 3 [1887/8], Scholar, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Edmund Dexter, son, male, 1 [1889/90], b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Ann Dexter, mother, widow, female, 61 [1829/30], Living on her own means, b. Bow, London

3. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1516; Folio 105; Page 24, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 46 Albert Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   5+ rooms occupied
   George Marshall, head, married, male, 63 [1837/8], Straw hat maker, employer, working at home, b. Flint Houses nr. Luton, Bedfordshire
   E. Marshall, wife, married, female, 59 [1841/2], Straw hat maker, worker, working at home, b. Leighton, Bedfordshire
   Rose Marshall, daughter, single, female, 28 [1872/3], Straw hat maker, worker, working at home, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Esther Dexter, granddaughter, single, female, 15 [1885/6], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

4. ↑ England. 1911 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom: The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.))
   Class RG14; Piece 8996; Schedule 290, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 18 Tennyson Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Five rooms occupied
   Frank Forknall, head, male, 32 [1878/9], married 3 years, 1 child born, 1 child still living, Barman, worker, b. Leicester
   Esther Forknall, wife, female, 25 [1885/6], married, b. Luton, Bedfordshire
   Sydney Forknall, son, male, 2 [1908/9], b. Luton, Bedfordshire

5. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   Luton Municipal Borough, 29 Sep 1939.

   Address: 12 Albert Road, Luton, Bedfordshire
   Forknall, Frank Locker / male / 16 Nov 1875 / married / Licensed Victualler
   Forknall, Esther / female / 26 Feb 1886 / married / Unpaid domestic duties

6. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Esther Rosson FORKNALL, December Quarter 1949, Luton Registration District, Volume 4a, page 171, aged 63 [1885/6]

7. ↑ England. National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1858 onwards. (Ancestry.com).

   1950
   FORKNALL Esther Rosson of 12 Albert-road Langley-street Luton Bedfordshire (wife of Frank Locker Forknall) died 20 December 1949 Administration London 4 February to the said Frank Locker Forknall licensed victualler. Effects £920 6s. 9d.