Another find from eBay last month.

These two CDVs were taken by Photographer Edward Hill, who was active at 39 Darlington Street, Wolverhampton, from before 1871, according to the 1871 census, and later, by 1881, at 51 Merridale Road, Wolverhampton.

Edward was born in 1840 in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and married Ann Susannah Neale in 1867; they had seven children. By 1891, he had moved with his family to Cockington, Devon. The family stayed there, and Edward Hill died there in 1916.

Knowing their family history facts, my theory is that these old photo images below of my couple were actually taken in 1866, when they were married, according to the fashion, then after Susannah died in December 1871, William had these two photos reprinted by the photographer Edward Hill, as the back of the CDVs is more likely to be early 1870s. Plus, they both have green edging. These coloured CDVs began appearing in the early 1870s, in pink, green, and other colours.

It says on the back of the CDV that “she is the daughter of Samuel Tonks and Ann Rogers. She married William Rudge and died in 1871“.

That was a great help when researching this couple. I compiled a small family tree on Ancestry for them: RudgeTonks Family

This is the only census where the couple are together, just eight months before she died.

I wanted to know her cause of death at such a young age, so I ordered the digital record from the GRO online.

1871. Phthisis, Greek for “wasting away,” was the standard medical name for pulmonary tuberculosis. During this year, it remained one of the leading causes of death worldwide, often referred to as the “Great White Plague” or “Consumption”.

In 1871, the medical community was still debating whether phthisis was hereditary or infectious. It would take another 11 years before Robert Koch discovered the Tubercle bacillus in 1882, proving it was a germ-borne disease.

William and Susannah’s story.

In the smoky, industrious town of Wolverhampton in the late 1830s, where the clang of metal and the rhythm of workshops shaped daily life, William Rudge was born in the autumn quarter of 1838. His parents, William Rudge and Mary Ann (Ann) Gould, were already in their mid-thirties, and their son was born into a world that was both hardworking and close-knit. As a small boy in 1841, he lived among familiar streets and neighbours, growing up in a town that would remain the anchor of his entire life.

By 1851, young William had moved with his family to nearby Wednesfield. At thirteen, he was coming of age in a rapidly industrialising England, learning responsibility early, as many boys did. A decade later, at twenty-three, his life briefly took a different turn. He left Staffordshire for the bustle of London, lodging in St Pancras and working as an ironmonger’s assistant. The capital must have felt vast and restless compared to Wolverhampton, yet something, perhaps family ties or the pull of home, drew him back again.

Meanwhile, in Wolverhampton itself, Susannah Tonks was growing up in a lively household. Born in September 1840 to Samuel Tonks and Ann Rogers, she was the fifth born of nine, in a family that soon filled with younger siblings, Mary, Emma, Clara, and, later, a brother, Thomas.

Ann, Elizabeth, Samuel and William came before Susannah.

Her childhood was marked by both warmth and hardship. In 1850, when she was just nine years old, her father died in Dudley, leaving her mother to raise the children. From then on, Susannah likely took on responsibilities beyond her years, helping to care for her younger brothers and sisters.

By 1861, both William and Susannah were adults; he had returned to Wolverhampton, and she still lived there as a daughter in her family home. Their paths, shaped by the same town, finally joined in October 1866. William was twenty-eight, Susannah twenty-six, when they married in Wolverhampton.

Their married life, however, was brief. They set up home in Wolverhampton, and by 1871, William was recorded as head of the household, with Susannah by his side. William’s occupation was a Commercial Clerk (Hardware). The couple had no children.

Tragedy came swiftly that same year. On 18 December 1871, Susannah died at just 31 years old from phthisis, which we now know as tuberculosis. At the time, its cause was still a mystery, debated by doctors who did not yet understand the invisible bacteria behind the disease. For William, her death must have been devastating. They had been married only five years.

Susannah was buried in Wolverhampton a few days later, the town that had been both her beginning and her end.

William lived on as a widower. By 1881, he was working as a commercial clerk, still in Wolverhampton, his life quieter now. He never remarried, and there were no children to carry their names forward.

In September 1884, at the age of 46, William Rudge died in the same town where he had been born. His life had come full circle, never straying far from Wolverhampton, shaped by it in youth, love, loss, and death.

Together, William and Susannah’s story is not one of grand events or far travels, but of something equally meaningful: two ordinary lives lived in one place, bound by family, work, and a brief but genuine marriage.

You can contact me either by commenting here or via email at lynnswaffles@gmail.com. 

Till next time then………