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Topic: Durban - Brooks two adopted children ca 1903 (Read 278 times)
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Tjapaltjarri
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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The shortest line in our family trees is my first wife's grandfather: Harold Patrick Brookes born 'at sea' ca 1896. It seems that he and his sister Adela b ca 1898, possibly in America, were adopted in Durban South Africa ca 1902/3. I obtained the adopting parents marriage certificate from South Africa: They give their names as John Wesley Brooks aged 30 and Florence May Hill aged 28 married in the parish Church, Durban, on 2nd April 1902, but it states that the witnesses names were illegible. The minister was C.D.Robinson. He is said to have been a commercial trader/Sea Captain between Durban and Delagoa Bay and further afield (possibly China). Family tradition held tha Florence was born in Boston and was a nurse who came to SA during the Anglo-Boer conflict.
Harold's death Certificate says he was 65 years old when he died on 21/1/1962 and was born in London! and had emigrated to New Zealand immediately after his marriage in Holborn in July 1920 to Bessie Dawson. (A witness to the marriage was Bessie's brother-in-law/?uncle, Fabian Higgs aka Fred Raynham of silent movie fame - The Hound of the Baskervilles)
To have two siblings adopted suggests that something happened to the parents and that it was not simply a question of illegitimacy (?)
Harold volunteered, it is said aged 16 years for Service in WW1 and may have been a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. Every certificate I have gives different names for parents, and his father was said to be deceased when he married - but which father? He even altered his own name on his marriage certificate and crossed out an additional Robert.
According to family tradition his birth family made a bequest to the children but their 'parents' deemed they were doing okay and would have nothing to do with it - thus the link to the birth family was lost. Obviously some dark and terrible skeleton was here obfuscated. I interviewed every family member except Harold P Brookes (sic) who had died in 1962 and could get no further.
The information came from his sister Adela and his two former wives and his only daughter. There is no birth certificate for either Adela or Harold Brookes. The father's name on the marriage certificate is John Howard Brookes. This doesn't help very much if the birth parent's name is actually Robert Cholmondley or some such! The children may even have been given entirely new 'christian' names - not uncommon with adoptions.
The inclusion of the name Wesley may be significant of a connection with the Methodist Church. There was a prominent Brooks family of Methodist Missionaries in the Province since the mid 19th century.
This is a completely blind alley so far as I can see. I wonder how one might one trace this neglected will?
How easy would it be to identify from Shipping lists a brother and sister b ca 1895-99 accompanied possibly by adults who were not their parents? My guess is not as this must have been a very busy period for immigration.
There was a local story that a family had lost out on an inheritance in the USA because there had been a change of name and they couldn't prove their claim - anyone know of this?
TIA,
Howdie
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Attwood-WOR,Blackford-Blockley,Brightman-Spalding,Carey-Wainfleet,Cave-Spalding,Collop-Chigwell,Cook-Wickham Market,Cooper-Pettistree,Dabbs-Humber,Davis-Pancras,Foyster-LIN, Dawson-Gt Hale,Eastcott-Con,Fenton-nfk,Foord-Horsmonden,Goble-ssx,Howell-Glo,Kellow-St Teath,Kent-Southwark,King-Lamberhurst,Parmenter-Halstead,Penaluna-Con,Polglase-Falmouth,Press-NFK,Redgrove-SRY,Rice-N Ireland,Ruddell-Rotherhithe,Screech-Saltash, Skerry-NFK,Surman-WOR,Waghorn-KEN,Weatherhog-LIN,Williman-NFK
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Tjapaltjarri
RootsChat Member
Offline
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Update,
I recently found a website of Central New Zealand burials that gave me the death of the great aunt Adela Alice Ousten Tombleson (nee Brookes).
The middle name of Ousten suggests a Dutch/German or Norwegian ancestral link - although the name also occurs in the USA.
I am hoping there will be more information on the full electronic printout of the death registration - what a pity the lady couldn't give me the information when she was still alive and I went to visit her on a number of occasions.
Any help on this one desperately needed - my 35 year-old brick wall.
Howdie
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« Last Edit: Saturday 05 May 07 20:15 BST (UK) by Tjapaltjarri »
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Attwood-WOR,Blackford-Blockley,Brightman-Spalding,Carey-Wainfleet,Cave-Spalding,Collop-Chigwell,Cook-Wickham Market,Cooper-Pettistree,Dabbs-Humber,Davis-Pancras,Foyster-LIN, Dawson-Gt Hale,Eastcott-Con,Fenton-nfk,Foord-Horsmonden,Goble-ssx,Howell-Glo,Kellow-St Teath,Kent-Southwark,King-Lamberhurst,Parmenter-Halstead,Penaluna-Con,Polglase-Falmouth,Press-NFK,Redgrove-SRY,Rice-N Ireland,Ruddell-Rotherhithe,Screech-Saltash, Skerry-NFK,Surman-WOR,Waghorn-KEN,Weatherhog-LIN,Williman-NFK
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