Ellen Bradshaw

William met a young woman at meeting in about 1854. Her name was Ellen Bradshaw. She and her family also lived in Sheffield, England. Ellen was a small woman, 5 feet and 2 inches in height, with brown hair (or blond auburn hair) and blue (light) eyes. She was artistic and had a very nice contralto singing voice.
Her parents were Henry and Harriet (Wright) Bradshaw. Their family were very devout Christians and belonged to the Presbyterian Church. They observed the Sabbath day. Henry Bradshaw would read the scriptures to the family. They always said grace at meals. They had their children say their prayers and also observed family prayers.
They were all very musical and each played some musical instrument. They would gather around the piano and sing in the evenings, or on Sundays. Ellen would remember with fondness gathering around the piano with her family to sing in the evenings.
They were a well-to-do family. They had a fine home with splendid furnishings. They all dressed well and in good taste. The women had dresses of good material trimmed in silk and satin. They wore fine hats, and top coats.
Ellen learned to be a fine cook and a good seamstress. She was very artistic in her tastes, in trimming hats and clothing .
There were ten children in the Bradshaw family: Elizabeth, Ellen, John, Henry, Joseph, Mary Ann, Francis, James, Hanna Maria, and George William. Ellen was born on the 28th of June 1835 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
Ellen, was of a religious frame of mind. When she was seventeen years of age [about 1852], she attended the street meetings conducted in her town by the Mormon Elders. The things they taught sounded good to her. She believed them to be the truth.
Ellen's father was shocked to find she had been attending the meetings of the low-down Mormons. He felt humiliated to have his daughter attending Mormon street meetings. He threatened to lock the door upon her if she went to any more.
Ellen however felt that the things that she had been learning were the truth. She felt that she must continue to listen and gain what she could from their teaching. So she went once again to attend a Mormon street meeting. She did not think that her father would really go so far as to lock her out of the house. However when she returned home that night, she found the door locked. She was shocked and bewildered. What could she do?
Ellen went to her cousin George Lee, who was a member of the Church. He took her in and kept her for six weeks. Her father loved her very much and was sorry for turning her out. He was very hungry to see her and after six weeks he came to take her home. He said, "If you really think this religion you have been hearing about is what you want, or that seems good to you. I will not further forbid you hearing about it. But I cannot stand your being away from home. You must come back." So, she returned to her father's house.
Not long after this, Ellen was baptized on 16 February 1854. In this same year she met William Fowler and they began a courtship . William must have been very glad to have found a young woman who appreciated the Gospel as much as he. William continued his missionary labors while also working and getting ready to marry. They were married on 24 January 1855 at Ellen's home in Sheffield. Ellen was nineteen years old and William was twenty-four.