I always knew that my great grandmother was 'born' Mary Ann Elizabeth Williams (although she was known as Polly in the family) and that she married my great granddad, Alfred George Gibbons, in 1905 in Bermondsey London. His family have been relatively easy to trace (hurrah for ancestry and their London records) but there are so many Mary Ann Williams in London I was a bit stuck, even with the additional info from the marriage certificate that her father's name was Edward. He was listed as a labourer and he was deceased by the time of their marriage. So, I had decided that this would be a brick wall I would never probably knock down.
However, a (fairly distant) relative has just given me a copy of her birth certificate and a request for the birth certificate made out a week before her 13th birthday (it's a Schedule and something to do with The Factory and Workshop Act 1891). The birth certificate gives her date of birth as 19 December 1882 at 36 John Street, which also the residence of her mother the informant, Eliza Williams, formerly Blake. Her father is, again, listed as Edward. His occupation given as Dock Labourer. The District of registration is St George in the East and the Subdistrict is St Mary. The "Schedule" document, dated 13 December 1895, repeats the information on the birth certificate but gives a new address for Eliza Williams (the mother) - 36 Egremont Street, Glemsford, Suffolk.
The only census I can find is the 1911 one (when she is married to my gt granddad) and her place of birth is listed as St George in the East.
So, where are they before she gets married? I cannot find a marriage for Edward and Eliza and cannot find them in any censuses. Am I really out of practice (I haven't done any research for 5 years!) or are they just missing? I was trying to work out if I can find out who lived at 36 John Street in the 1881 census (the year before Mary Ann Elizabeth was born) but can't remember how to do that
If anyone fancies trying to track them down for me I would be very, very grateful. I have both FMP and ancestry now - and still, nothing. Argghhhhh....
However, a (fairly distant) relative has just given me a copy of her birth certificate and a request for the birth certificate made out a week before her 13th birthday (it's a Schedule and something to do with The Factory and Workshop Act 1891). The birth certificate gives her date of birth as 19 December 1882 at 36 John Street, which also the residence of her mother the informant, Eliza Williams, formerly Blake. Her father is, again, listed as Edward. His occupation given as Dock Labourer. The District of registration is St George in the East and the Subdistrict is St Mary. The "Schedule" document, dated 13 December 1895, repeats the information on the birth certificate but gives a new address for Eliza Williams (the mother) - 36 Egremont Street, Glemsford, Suffolk.
The only census I can find is the 1911 one (when she is married to my gt granddad) and her place of birth is listed as St George in the East.
So, where are they before she gets married? I cannot find a marriage for Edward and Eliza and cannot find them in any censuses. Am I really out of practice (I haven't done any research for 5 years!) or are they just missing? I was trying to work out if I can find out who lived at 36 John Street in the 1881 census (the year before Mary Ann Elizabeth was born) but can't remember how to do that
If anyone fancies trying to track them down for me I would be very, very grateful. I have both FMP and ancestry now - and still, nothing. Argghhhhh....
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