Unknown Hancock in 1911 census

[pgh51]

While searching the 1911 census about my father, Jack Hancock, born in Burslem in 1906 to George William Hancock & Mary Elizabeth Hancock(nee Dodd), I was quite surprised to see that another child had been born into the family but had died prior to the 1911 census. Seeing as my g/parents had married in 1906, their other child must have been born & died between 1907 & 1911.  My late father had never mentioned a sibling so maybe he never knew about about the fact.  I have tried to identify who my ancestor was by using the freeBMD & Staffordshire BMD birth & death lists for that period. Of the 73 Hancocks born & died within the Burslem, Wolstanton, Stoke areas I have reduced the possibilities to around 43 individuals.  Now my dilmma, short of requesting certificates of each person until I receive the correct one, what advice or help is there to reduce the cost & guess work of this task?  I live overseas so a visit to the appropriate information source is not likely.  Any assistance to complete this task would be gratefully appriciated. 

[Milliepede]

That is tricky.  Unless they obligingly have a middle name Dodd after the mother or some other obvious family name it's needle in a haystack.

Was it just the two children by 1911 - your father and the one who has died?  If they had others then their ages could be a clue - if there is a gap where another child could have been born.

Did they have any other children after 1911?  If so he or she may have been named after the previous child.

[Willow 4873]

One way to lower the odds is to cross check the names of deaths on FreeBMD with the births on Stafford BMD (at least a lot of them have the mothers maiden name on)

Then it might be a case of sending off for certificates when you have whittled the list down or asking someone to look and see if there are any baptism records

Willow x

[wrjones]

One way to lower the odds is to cross check the names of deaths on FreeBMD with the births on Stafford BMD (at least a lot of them have the mothers maiden name on)

Then it might be a case of sending off for certificates when you have whittled the list down or asking someone to look and see if there are any baptism records

Willow x

Its going to be an extremely difficult task for the OP.Given where they were living etc such deaths would have been recorded in the Wolstanton District of Staffordshire.There are 70 deaths where a Hancock child dies born after 1906 and before the date of the 1911 Census.

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[wrjones]

Yes there are plenty of Hancocks in the area,I have many in my own Tree!Whilst in the interests of accuracy for one Tree record,it wouldn't be something I would waste too much time on!

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[carol8353]

People didn't always understand the requirements of the 1911 census.

Often they filled in how many years married against the man's name,it was only required for the wife.

Alternately they sometimes put down a child who had in fact been miscarried or stillborn.
And of course there was no official registration of stillborns until 1927.

So good luck if you do try to search by linking with Staffs BMD and the mothers maiden name,but be aware that you may never find the missing child,and of course younger siblings may never have know of it's existence.

Carol

[groom]

Is there a family grave, if so that might mention the child?

In a couple of cases where I have been unable to identify a child mentioned on the 1911 as having died, I have recorded them on my tree as unknown,  then their surname and a guess at their DOB. At least that way I feel they haven't been completely forgotten.

[Ruskie]

If ordering certificates from the GRO can you apply with just a surname (no first name) and perhaps mother's and/or father's names? If you give a date they will search for a year either side of it. That amounts to three years checking. Money is refunded if details specified do not match the certificate.

I haven't ordered a certificate for a while and can't remember if a first name is required.

[Willow 4873]

In a couple of cases where I have been unable to identify a child mentioned on the 1911 as having died, I have recorded them on my tree as unknown,  then their surname and a guess at their DOB. At least that way I feel they haven't been completely forgotten.

I do the same thing then you can always update the information later when more information comes to light

Willow x