Ellen Finch

The last few days have been a sort of emotional roller coaster in research relating to Richard Finch and has created more questions about Ellen Finch. Just who was she, who did she originally marry and what was her birth name? Why wasn't she a beneficiary of Richard's will?

I received a copy of Richard's will after waiting for a month or so and that was a big event after all the waiting. That Richard didn't leave anything for 'the second wife', was hard enough to understand. That he didn't mention his second set of children is quite amazing. However, we have to remember that the eldest son Richard was possibly involved and my money rests on Richard being his father's favourite and being the person who decided on what happened after the death of his father. How much say did Ellen have over the bequests of her husband and did the law even allow Ellen to claim her husbands estate? Was she left with nothing or was it that she didn't need anything? Even so, there is an atmosphere of 'disloyalty' created by Richard towards Ellen. Despie this the late second marriage of Richard to Ellen (who had a previous marriage) may have seen Ellen as a woman left wealthy or at least comfortable.

The idea of Richard (Jr) being a significant player with influence rests on the limited material available. We can see that Richard (Jr) was an engine driver and that he followed in his father's footsteps. Richard is the first mentioned in the will and he lives in Burnley as opposed to another son, William, who moves away. I suspect that Richard (Jr) argued for the burial of his father 'up-North', but that is pure conjecture and the stuff of TV drama. Perhaps a widowed Ellen felt unable to argue with Richard's own son in such matters?

Ellen Finch is someone that we need to pay greater attention to as we try to peel away the layers of history and gain some idea of the past.