If David and Edith’s marriage, which altered the family tree in peculiar fashion, wasn’t surprise enough, a further twist in the Hassett-Wharton family lines emerged.

During the initial stages of searching for records of ancestors in the British Library, London, a number of records came to my attention. Surnames of Hassett and Wharton were seemingly everywhere, but at that point I couldn’t make the connections – if any – to the confirmed records I had found. I stored them nonetheless, in hope that they would come useful at some point. That, they did.

I’ve already documented the records of Hilda Mildred Hassett, but her records were the most intriguing to date (which is quite a feat after collecting the records of Edith Aileen Wharton). Unsurprisingly, Edith features in the latest twist.

Hilda married William Bernard Wharton in 1912. By my deductions, Hilda was William’s step-niece (although not blood-related). Their marriage effectively brought together the Hassett and Wharton families in peculiar fashion, and before the marriage of David Vincent Hassett and Edith Aileen Wharton (David was the brother of Hilda).

On paper, it can seem a little confusing and a bizarre set of circumstances. Hilda crosses over the ‘family lines’ and makes the family tree begin to look eerily circular.

As with the previous posts about the family tree, I drew the ‘family tree’ myself (sketches aren’t the best, but there are start and will be updated with improved artwork in the future):

Click image to enlarge

Hilda was not only an interesting discovery, but provided some valuable context to the Hassett-Wharton history. As if that wasn’t enough, additional layers emerged!

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