Abigail Naylor and James Allen met while working in the service of Mr. Wood, Abigail as a housemaid, James as a groomsman. James enjoyed an excellent reputation as someone who was good-looking, intelligent, and skilled in their job. For work, James would dress neatly in a uniform consisting of a waistcoat, collared shirt, cockade hat, buckskin breeches, and boots. James did not offer upward mobility for their bride but would have been a safe and familiar choice for a woman of similarly limited economic prospects. James and Abigail married in 1807 at St. Giles’ Church, Camberwell in the Southwark borough of London. Life was never easy for the couple, but they were hardworking, resourceful, and had each other. After numerous jobs, several relocations, and twenty-one years of marriage, things came crashing to a halt. James Allen was bashed in the head and killed by a falling piece of timber while working as a “bottom sawyer” for shipwright and builder Mr. Crisp in Mill Street, Dockhead, England in 1829. James was declared dead en route to St. Thomas’ Hospital. The end of James’ life was the beginning of Abigail’s nightmare. Not only had she just lost her husband of twenty-one years and the primary earner for the family, but everyone learned that her husband was assigned female at birth.