Cause of death - breast cancer. There must have been some doubt about whether Emma's husband was still living. On the death certificate it states that Emma was ‘Wife or widow of…’, with 'Wife or' added as an afterthought. Had William left them seeking work elsewhere perhaps and then disappeared? It is clear that his daughter Emma didn’t know whether her father was dead or alive at this point. The 1881 census indicates that this was the case for at least two years prior to his wife’s death.

113 Praed Street was a lodging house.

By the time of the 1881 census the Redman family were completely separated – all three women living in separate households, with no sign of William. The wording of the Emma's death notice in The Cornish Telegraph indicates that William may still have been alive. What circumstances led to the separation of the family by 1881? Their daughter Emma (16) was listed as a dressmaker and visitor at 43 Queen St, Penzance. Her mother Emma (48) was listed as a servant (occupation given as seamstress) at 4 South Parade, Penzance. Mary (19) was listed as one of four servants at a lodging house at 1, Marine Terrace, Penzance (10 doors down from the former home of her grandparents Gabriel and Ruth Blewett, where her mother Emma grew up and lived until 1859).