When I wrote about James and Alice Cooper, it appeared that Alice had had a daughter who was not James's daughter, because she was listed in the 1871 census as Jane Reeve, and her relationship to Head of Household (James) was recorded as "Step Daughter". Jane Reeve, according to the census report, was born in 1845 and was a widow, whereas other records showed that James's daughter Jane Cooper was born in 1838. I couldn't find Jane Cooper in the 1871 census. This all led me to believe that there were two Janes, seven years apart in age, same mother but different fathers.
It now seems my inference of Alice having had an affair was a little unjust. I have found a marriage record of Jane Cooper to a Frederick Reeve, stationer, from William St North Meols on October 24th 1866, at St Paul's in Southport. Jane's father is recorded as James Cooper, Agent (which I think is something to do with book-keeping/accounting), Jane was 28 (thus born in 1838) and Frederick was 47 and a widower. I subsequently found a probate calendar entry for Frederick Reeve, of Railway Terrace, Southport, who died on December 10th, 1866, probate granted to Jane Reeve, widow the relict, of the same address. This all points to the Jane Reeve in the 1871 census indeed being James Cooper's daughter Jane.
A couple of questions arise out of the new findings however: why was Jane Reeve recorded as James's Step Daughter, and why was she shown as being 26 years old instead of 33? Part of the answer may lie in the preceeding summary sheet, in which there is an Eliza Read listed as Step Daughter on the same line of that sheet as Jane Reeve on the Cooper sheet. These census reports are not the forms filled in by the householders but are a summary sheet of the information from each householder. The enumerators would go door to door collecting the householders' forms and then copy the information onto their summaries. It's at this stage, I believe, that some of the errors we find from time to time occur. The enumerator possibly wrote "Jane Reeve", and "W" for Widow, then looked at the wrong form to get "Step Daughter", and wrote that in by mistake. As for the age difference, Eliza Read from the previous summary page was 8 years old, and her mother (presumably), Susan Palmer was shown as 33 years old, the age Jane Cooper Reeve should have been recorded as, if people were giving their "age next birthday" or rounding to the nearest whole year. I suspect that Susan Palmer may have been 26, and our enumerator got that mixed up also.
On this basis, I have merged Jane Cooper and Jane Reeve into one person on my Ancestry Tree, and included Frederick Reeve as her husband, albeit very briefly.
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On this basis, I have merged Jane Cooper and Jane Reeve into one person on my Ancestry Tree, and included Frederick Reeve as her husband, albeit very briefly.
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