Hi
frenchman, your William Theophilus Roger Flood came up earlier in this conversation as user
Ladyhawk found various details with him being born about 1830 (scroll back to page 3 this conversation for all the details). Neither he nor his son William Coller Flood fit (William born 1857 was a Pawn Broker on 1881 census, there are lots of records for him, died 1927 and is buried in a family plot in Tower Hamlets cemetery).
Since this conversation I managed to find my William Flood actually disappeared because he'd stolen £300 in gold from his employer and legged it with his boss's maid. I've found no trace of him after 1879 and I think he must have left the country as he seems never to have been caught. The Police Gazette "wanted" listing for him in Nov 1879 puts his birth date about 1852 (age given as 27). In addition I have an Ancestry DNA match with someone whose Flood family were based in Islington but I've just not been able to definitively tie down the right William Flood birth as there are a several but they all seem excluded by later records
Lydia was left destitute and in desperation left her two daughters (including my great great grandmother) on Primrose Hill in hope someone would find them and take them in, she was prosecuted and jailed for abandoning them thus later her ending up in the workhouse.
Obviously I've still to track down the origins of William "the cheesemongering thieving wife deserter" Flood as the black sheep of my family tree
so welcome any extra possible leads to follow !
William Flood in Police Gazette
https://drive.google.com/open?id=12ViPbhyHc9mPh2KLNI86YUbzrw0X_KuPLydia Flood/Southgate charged with abandoning her children
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tPbCaKMHd02G4W6X34fn0AFm8dOHVnSK