Were the parents really married?

[goddles1]

I have a birth certificate which shows a child born at Millbrook, Hants, in March 1907.  The father is recorded as William George TURNER (a ship's engineer) and the mother as Ellen Turner, formerly BUSH.  The informant was, Ellen Turner, mother, of Pond Side Farm, Millbrook.

To me, the details indicate that William and Ellen were a married couple but I have not been able to find an appropriate marriage record, nor anything else linking these two names.  Also, the child / family are not listed in the Millbrook parish baptisms.
 
The 1911 Census is no help.  Thanks to helpful responses to an earlier query about Pond Side Farm (where child was born) I know that neither parent (nor any Turner or Bush) was listed at the farm in 1911, nor in 1901.  Further, when the 1911 Census was taken the child was with adopted parents, not her natural parents.

The 'adoption' seems to indicate that the parents (or a parent) had died by 1911.  Alternatively, with no marriage located, I am wondering whether the mother was actually a single woman.

Regardless, the mother did exist and I am left with the following questions,
* Why can't the marriage record be found?
* What happened to Ellen (the mother) and what are her origins?
* Who was William George Turner, the 'ships engineer' and what happened to him?

I would appreciate any advice / suggestions for further research that might help me to break down this brick wall.

Thank you
goddles

[LizzieL]

Ellen may have been a widow when she married William Turner, so married him in her first husband's surname not her maiden name of Bush.

[LizzieL]

Have you checked the adoptive parents? They might be related to either the natural mother or father.

[goddles1]

Thanks Lizzie for your suggestions.  There does appear to be connection with the 'adopting' family but just how connected is a mystery.  Good suggestion about the possibility of mother being a widow but can't link to any William Turner marriage.
Thanks again
Goddles

[djct59]

In the early 20th century, a practice grew up, often in rural areas, of informal "adoption". In return for a sum of money, a family felt to have better prospects might agree to take in and bring up someone else's child. It was not strictly legal, but the courts did not interfere unless either party chose to sue the other. It does not necessarily follow that either parent was dead, although it is possible.

The most common situation involved a single mother in domestic service and with no nearby (or surviving) family requiring to have someone else bring up a child. That child was usually illegitimate, but the father might have died or even deserted and his whereabouts no longer known.

It's an area of both social practice and law that is, as far as i know, still rather under-researched. It was not until after WW1 that Parliament legislated to create legal adoption, but that was because the informal practice was already fairly commonplace.