While her husband's disgrace would have been hard to deal with, as would his loss of pay now that he was a lowly sapper, the news from her parents and younger brother must have been concerning as the months of 1877 rolled by. Her brother, William J.S. Chubb, was in the navy, having trained for such a career while in his teens, but in May of 1877 he was in Haslar, the military hospital. He was back on a ship in June of 1877 but invalided out by July 6th. Unfortunately, none of the records I have found indicate what his malady was.
By the late 1870s, William J.S. Chubb and Henrietta's parents, William and Eliza, had moved from Weymouth, Dorset to St. Helier in Jersey. There was a regular shipping route across the channel between those two points so, the Channel Islands were a common place for people from Dorset to relocate in that era. It wasn't clear when the move took place but, sadly, any wishes for a better new life were soon over for William Chubb senior. The records of St. Helier's General Cemetery, available through Jersey Archives, state the following: “William Chubb décéde le 17 Novembre 1877 à l’áge de 58 ans 5 mois 15 jours inhumé le 21 Novembre 1877” or, in other words, William Chubb was dead by November 17, 1877 and buried by November 21st.
Was Henrietta able to visit with her family before her father's death? It wouldn't have been difficult to get from Portsmouth, where she was, to St. Helier to see her family. Perhaps she was able to visit more than once with William and Eliza's grandchildren in tow. Did her father get to meet his namesake, 7-year-old William, along with 6-year-old Florence Annie and 3-year-old Henrietta Maud? If Henrietta McKay got to see her parents, she would most likely have been pregnant.
1877 had ended sadly with the death of William Chubb senior but 1878 started on a more positive note with the birth of Henrietta McKay's third daughter, Mary Ellen, on January 12th. But the joy that new birth brought was not to last long for another death occurred in the Chubb family. This time the entry at the Jersey Archives read: “William John Stainer Chubb décéde le 30 Avril 1878 áge de 23 ans 3 mois inhumé le 3 Mai 1878.” Was his death at such a young age down to the same cause that had invalided him out of the navy? Unfortunately, no medical records relating to William J.S. Chubb have been found and the only Jersey death records appear to be burial records.
Eliza Chubb, Henrietta's mother was now by herself without her menfolk who she had lived with when she first moved to St. Helier. How would she cope living on the island of Jersey on her own? Henrietta may have been able to help a bit while she was still close by but the McKays were soon on the move again. This time they were enroute to India and, according to William McKay's military record, Henrietta was now officially recognized as William McKay's wife, something that would help when it came to claiming accommodation and they need all the help they could get in that direction with an ever increasing brood of children to house.
Sources:
Find My Past – British Army Service Records 1760-1915 Records of William McKay enlisted 23rd July, 1863
GRO pdf entry for the birth of Mary Ellen McKay in 1878 1st quarter
Jersey Archives records of St Helier’s General Cemetery https://www.jerseyheritage.org
The National Archives > Royal Navy Service Records 1853-1928 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-navy-ratings-service-records-1853-1928/
Images:
By georama, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49905304
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
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