section_path: Marriage
section_name: Marriage
paragraph_text: Marriage
  
  On 29 January 1972, Fred and Rose married. The ceremony took place at Gloucester Register Office, with Fred falsely describing himself as a bachelor on the marriage certificate. No family or friends were invited.
  
  Several months later, with Rose pregnant with her second child, the couple moved from Midland Road to an address nearby: 25 Cromwell Street. Initially the three-storey home, located close to Gloucester city centre, was rented from the council; Fred later purchased the property from the council for £7,000 (equivalent to £117,000 in 2023). To facilitate the Wests' purchase, many of the upper-floor rooms were initially converted into bedsits to supplement the household income. To maintain a degree of privacy for his own family, Fred installed a cooker and a washbasin on the first-floor landing in order that their lodgers need not enter the ground floor where his family lived. Only Fred and his family were permitted access to the back garden of the property.
  
  On 1 June, Rose gave birth to a second daughter. The date of her birth led Fred and Rose to name the child Mae June.
  
  On 29 January 1972, Fred and Rose married. The ceremony took place at Gloucester Register Office, with Fred falsely describing himself as a bachelor on the marriage certificate. No family or friends were invited.
  
  Several months later, with Rose pregnant with her second child, the couple moved from Midland Road to an address nearby: 25 Cromwell Street. Initially the three-storey home, located close to Gloucester city centre, was rented from the council; Fred later purchased the property from the council for £7,000 (equivalent to £117,000 in 2023). To facilitate the Wests' purchase, many of the upper-floor rooms were initially converted into bedsits to supplement the household income. To maintain a degree of privacy for his own family, Fred installed a cooker and a washbasin on the first-floor landing in order that their lodgers need not enter the ground floor where his family lived. Only Fred and his family were permitted access to the back garden of the property.
  
  On 1 June, Rose gave birth to a second daughter. The date of her birth led Fred and Rose to name the child Mae June.