Beatrice Cabrera

[LStear]

My 2× great grandmother Beatrice Cabrera is a mystery.
She appears at St Vincents Orphanage in Dec 1899 and in 1901 is a student at 36 Church Street, Kensington, England. In 1910 she married Frederick Coombs and listed her father as William Joseph Cabrera a steward. Also, the marriage has both their Cabrera names written as Cabarra, a spelling mistake. In 1911 the family lives at 37 Bazon Street, Lambeth. She has been classified as Mexican in the 1901 census and as from the USA in 1911, so not really sure which is true. She lives until 19 Nov 1948 when she passed away in Lambeth, England.
We have investigated a Cabrera family who lived minutes away from 36 Church Street in 1901 and there is a son named William Joseph Cabrera. The father is Gustavus. We wondered if it was possible she listed her brother as the 'father'. Interestingly, this Cabrera family is from Puerto Rico, and by 1911 the United States had taken Puerto Rico from Spain, which may explain the confusion over where she's from.
Please let us know your thoughts as this is a major family mystery!

[Anne in Carlisle]

Have you or any of your close family done a DNA test? This sounds like the sort of mystery for which DNA might at least point a direction.
Anne

[PhotoFamily]

Have you been able to recover admission records for entrance into the orphanage and the school? I've seen explanations for entry into a "Hospital" and wonder if the orphanage would provide a similar explanation.

Also, have you searched for a will for the brother that you wonder may be a father?

[GallowayLass]

Her age at death would make her born about c.1879 only 31 years after the Mexican Cession. Perhaps she came from a family who proudly hung on to their Mexican roots even after they would officially have been USA citizens?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Cession

Just a thought but she must have been 20 or so when she was still at the orphanage in 1899. Perhaps she was required to leave on her 21st birthday which would explain her different address in 1901?
Do you know what she was a student of and where she studied in 1901? There might be college admission records that could help?

[GallowayLass]

This is interesting from childrenshomes.org if I have the correct place
St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls, Carlisle Place, Victoria Street, Westminster.

“Up to 190 girls could be received into the orphanage, from infancy up to 14 years in age. They were provided with a 'suitable education', taught needlework, and trained for service, with a payment, of £10 to £12 a year required from the person placing the child.”

This would mean that she had to have been there at least 6 years earlier than 1899 as the upper age for receiving girls was 14 - unless of course she wasn’t admitted till she actually was 13/14? It also means somebody must had have had the money to pay for her to stay there. Given that the girls were trained for service, I am intrigued as to what Beatrice went on to study.

[cbcarolyn]

Have you searched in the papers for anything? I guess she is has Mexican parents, but maybe could have been born anywhere, the orphanage wouldn't know, or even Beatrice.

[cbcarolyn]

This is interesting from childrenshomes.org if I have the correct place
St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls, Carlisle Place, Victoria Street, Westminster.

“Up to 190 girls could be received into the orphanage, from infancy up to 14 years in age. They were provided with a 'suitable education', taught needlework, and trained for service, with a payment, of £10 to £12 a year required from the person placing the child.”

This would mean that she had to have been there at least 6 years earlier than 1899 as the upper age for receiving girls was 14 - unless of course she wasn’t admitted till she actually was 13/14? It also means somebody must had have had the money to pay for her to stay there. Given that the girls were trained for service, I am intrigued as to what Beatrice went on to study.

Do you think they were all definitely orphans.

Oddly I was reading about someone local to me on our local FB page "Miss Pawsey's orphan school for girls in Ampthill" these was much earlier - but same thing was a fascinating read. they did amazing embroidery https://www.rct.uk/collection/1140/s...B-EJIu90T9pKLM

Sorry I digress. The

[cbcarolyn]

You say you have researched the family nearby, have you got their wills? They are only £1.50 and if related they may mention them in the will.

Interestingly they were buried in Brompton on a family plot I guess, even though Emily died in Eastbourne

emily will.JPG

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageview...rce&pId=485551

she could be a some kind of relative.

[cbcarolyn]

In 1885 Gustavus Cabrera lists 4 children on his naturalisation papers

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/9156/images/42475_625537_11659-00544?treeid=171416310&personid=162275538308&hintid=&queryId=f4ab4c45d7f58905094d1e572d42537f&usePUB=true&_phsrc=RcU2628&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.24017146.1110017360.1616068165-789035568.1610383744&_gac=1.148222405.1614963506.Cj0KCQiAyoeCBhCTARIsAOfpKxgjnmlyKTNvRsK9Q1plVQ8c41dC8afpR0WwHi9_TJLgSTBiTk4prngaAkAeEALw_wcB&pId=74014

[GallowayLass]

On those papers he is given as a subject of the King of Spain.

[PhotoFamily]

She has been classified as Mexican in the 1901 census and as from the USA in 1911, so not really sure which is true.

From Wikipedia:
In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico.^[5][16] Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917,

So, there are two competing possibilities - changing borders and misinterpretation by the census taker. In 1901, it should have been a US territory, but not the US per se. The census taker may simply have put his/her own interpretation on the information. When the family fills out their own 1911 census form, they write USA, because it is a US territory.

[PhotoFamily]

This is interesting from childrenshomes.org if I have the correct place
St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls, Carlisle Place, Victoria Street, Westminster.

Yes, and further down the webpage, it says that records for admission and discharge exist. Text won't copy, but there is a link in it that doesn't work for contacting the Daughters of Charity of St Vincents de Paul. If you don't already have them, they might explain the circumstances of Beatrice's admittance (and discharge) to the Orphanage. My ancestor's admittance to Christ's Hospital gave much info, including his birth certificate, circumstances creating the need for admittance, and so on.

http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/WestminsterStVincent/

skip down to "Records"

[LStear]

Have you been able to recover admission records for entrance into the orphanage and the school? I've seen explanations for entry into a "Hospital" and wonder if the orphanage would provide a similar explanation.

Also, have you searched for a will for the brother that you wonder may be a father?

I have only just seen this and I am currently following your advice regarding reaching out to St Vincent's. The will of William Cabrera mentioned a friend and a solicitor George Frederick Coleman. Ironically, Frederick Coombs' first wife was an Agnes Mary Coleman. At this point there doesn't seem to be any relation but who knows.

[LStear]

This is interesting from childrenshomes.org if I have the correct place
St. Vincent’s Orphanage for Girls, Carlisle Place, Victoria Street, Westminster.

“Up to 190 girls could be received into the orphanage, from infancy up to 14 years in age. They were provided with a 'suitable education', taught needlework, and trained for service, with a payment, of £10 to £12 a year required from the person placing the child.”

This would mean that she had to have been there at least 6 years earlier than 1899 as the upper age for receiving girls was 14 - unless of course she wasn’t admitted till she actually was 13/14? It also means somebody must had have had the money to pay for her to stay there. Given that the girls were trained for service, I am intrigued as to what Beatrice went on to study.

hi I'm sorry I've only just seen this! The date is definitely confusing and leads us to consider that perhaps they lied about her age? Our knowledge of her birth date stems from both her marriage certificate and the 1939 register, which places her birth in around 1882. With regards to her future studies, she actually ended up working as a cleaner at the London Palladium for much of her life. We actually have a group photo of her on 7 July 1944, Black's forthcoming production Happy and Glorious, set to open at the London Palladium starring Tommy Trinder, Zoe Gail and Elisabeth Welch.