Mumbles,
I also found nothing of Joseph Henry Fendall after 1901 and in desperation 'googled' him
Up came an article in the 'CDNC' - California Digital Newspaper Collection - about a case in the USA involving a swindler – calling himself Thomas Bayley Henry and claiming to be an English barrister– who was identified as a Joseph Harold Fendall from England. His fingerprints were matched to a Harold Fendall who had been jailed in London (Wormwood Scrubs) in 1906, for 12 months, for larceny. He was an 'ironmonger'. Findmypast has a record of his conviction. The article says he was born in Surrey in 1874 (and the court record has this date also) but I cannot find a BMD record of this. From the description of his conviction in England his occupation seems to have involved trading iron and not the modern version.
It may not be our man but, as you have shown, his 'wife' and children are in Ilford, near London in 1911 and his conviction falls between the dates of birth of the children with Ethel Hodgkins. It would also explain why he appears to have disappeared after 1901......
Of course, there is nothing in his family record until that time to suggest our 'black country' Fendall' could pass himself off as a lawyer
Someone with access to overseas records on Ancestry etc may be able to shine further light on this story.
H