An unusual marriage

As we continue to research the families of the Farnhill WW1 Volunteers we are coming across little snippets of information that are sometimes quite surprising. Here’s just one such item.

On the 26th June 1915 (it was a Saturday) Thomas Beckwith Spencer of Oakbank Farnhill married Louise Johenna Fredericka Dorothy Hirth, originally of London, in Kildwick Church. He was a soldier, aged 32; she was 25 and didn’t give a profession. They probably met through her twin brother, as he and Thomas Spencer were lodging in the same house in Leicester at the time of the 1911 census. But what is so remarkable about all this (apart from the fact that it shows how marvellous the project’s researchers are) ?

Well, both of Dora’s parents were German. Yes, that’s right: in the middle of the war Thomas Spencer married a German !

If you would like to help us research more about the Farnhill Volunteers and their families, please contact us.