I have been helping my friend to find out more about her 2xgreat grandmother Emma Stirk. There is a family story that Emma’s mother Elizabeth was in service & was dismissed for being “in the family way” Many years later two ladies arrived looking for her & were sent packing by Emma – “If my mother wasn’t good enough for you so you aren’t good enough for me”
We wanted to see if we could find if there was any truth in this story.
We found Emma on the census returns back to 1851 when she was aged 9 living with Edwin Verity & his wife Elizabeth and younger children. We also found the marriage between Edwin Verity & Elizabeth Stirk, so we were quite happy that we had the correct people.
Then yesterday Emma’s marriage certificate arrived.
She married Sam Verity – a cousin of her younger half-siblings. However on her marriage certificate there is a father’s name – Edwin Stirk.
My friend wonders if we should be looking for a different family, but I think that she has given her stepfather’s first name and the registrar has assumed that his surname was Stirk. Is it reasonable that this is what could have happened?
We still haven’t been able to shed any light onto the family story.
We wanted to see if we could find if there was any truth in this story.
We found Emma on the census returns back to 1851 when she was aged 9 living with Edwin Verity & his wife Elizabeth and younger children. We also found the marriage between Edwin Verity & Elizabeth Stirk, so we were quite happy that we had the correct people.
Then yesterday Emma’s marriage certificate arrived.
She married Sam Verity – a cousin of her younger half-siblings. However on her marriage certificate there is a father’s name – Edwin Stirk.
My friend wonders if we should be looking for a different family, but I think that she has given her stepfather’s first name and the registrar has assumed that his surname was Stirk. Is it reasonable that this is what could have happened?
We still haven’t been able to shed any light onto the family story.
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