| Notes |
- 1871 English Census St George Parish, London, lists Elise H S Vane, Married, 30, as the wife of a retired teacher, born in Baden. Her husband is not listed but Minnie and Isabelle Vane (2 & 1) are.
1881 English Census St George Parish, London, lists Elise Criddle, Married, 40, Head of house, Housekeeper, born in Germany. No husband listed. Children are Minnie (12), Isabel (11), Edwyn (9), Harry (6), Cecil (5).
Apparently Percy never married Elise. When he was immigrating to Canada with is (real) wife and 4 children in 1882, he persuaded Elise to accompany them as a servant - promising farms etc for the children. Although the children had previously called themselves 'Criddle', he told them that their last name was now 'Vane'.
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https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Inside-the-Criddle-Vane-Saga-270487681.html
There are two portrayals of Percy. In the Criddle version, he's a kind of Basil Fawlty of the Prairies; the stuffy, hot-headed character made famous by comedian John Cleese of Monty Python fame. In Veldhuis's version, he's a cruel and heartless chauvinist and a parenting nightmare along the lines of Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest.
His great granddaughter, Oriole Vane Veldhuis, says:
... "the spoiled Percy was already getting into trouble with women at age 16, and that may have been a reason he was sent to school in Heidelberg, Germany." However, Criddle descendants maintain Percy had merely been sent to Germany to study music under German masters. Either way, Veldhuis maintains the studies didn't go well. She could only find documents proving Percy took a single course.
Elise's family, the Harrers (Vane is a name Percy made up for her when they immigrated to Canada, possibly taken after a family friend, Lord Harry Vane), lived kitty corner to where Percy was staying. They knew English and soon Percy was a friend of the family, and soon after that, he and Elise started to show interest in each other.
They were engaged within two years. Percy was 18, and Elise, 22. But in Heidelberg, they needed the government's approval to marry, and the government turned them down not once, but twice, because it didn't believe Percy could support his bride.
Percy had returned to London but continued a long-distance relationship for about four years. Then Elise became pregnant. The pregnancy changed everything.
During her term, she moved to London, perhaps so her family wouldn't find out. Veldhuis suggests Percy may have promised to marry her to persuade her to move. From later letters from her family, it is clear the Harrers assumed she was married to Percy.
Elise would have six children with Percy out of wedlock, the first one dying after eight months.
Elise had a residence in London near where Percy ran a wine shop, his vocation, but they did not live together. The Criddle family maintains Percy's mother kept up a relationship with the children and likely helped them financially. By all descriptions, he was a poor businessman. He spent freely as if part of the leisure class but didn't have a talent for making or managing money.
During the time Percy and Elise were having children together, Percy met Alice Nicol and carried on relations with the two women for several years. The philandering Percy didn't tell Alice about Elise and their five children until after the wedding. In fact, he continued conjugal relations with Elise right up until the nuptials. Elise's last child with Percy, named Cecil, was born April 19, 1875
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Singing Our Family Song
1844 - 1918 (73 years)
