Albert Edward Cooper

[Milliebert]

Hi, this is my first post so forgive me if I don't completely follow the forum etiquette ~ there is a lot to take in!

I have hit a brick wall with my Great Grandfather, Albert Edward Cooper, b. 1899.  I haven't ordered his birth certificate yet, and I'm not sure it will be of much use anyway as his marriage certificate has a line through father's name and occupation, and also I can't find a reference for it.

In 1901, aged 2, and 1911, aged 12, he is registered in Froxfield as the grandson of Stephen and Elizabeth Stroud, and two sons of theirs also live with them.  He also has a sister (actually, she may not be his sister, it just says she is their granddaughter, so I assumed sister of Albert).  I cannot find any information on any other children they may have had, who could be the parent of Albert.  I also cannot find the sister, Bessie Cooper (b. 1893), but maybe she was born Elizabeth?  Also I can't find Albert's birth, only someone in Highclere, Wiltshire, and I just have a feeling that's not him.  I tried searching Bessie in Highclere and nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  He married Bertha Chapman née Barnes in 1919 in Hungerford.

Thank you!

[kennett]

Don't "assume" anything.

I suggest you order his birth certificate and see what it says.   His birth certificate may also be  vague about his father but it will identify his mother, for sure.

[Craclyn]

I would order Bessie's birth certificate too if I was facing this puzzle.

[Milliebert]

Thanks for replying 

I'm sorry, I think I may have been a bit jumbled in my rambling.  I can't actually find an entry on the birth registers for either Albert or Bessie, so I can't order their certificates.

[Milliebert]

Also, my Uncle remembers his Granddad Albert very well, has told me lots about him.  But he couldn't ever remember being told anything about his great grandparents, who would have been Alberts parents, and doesn't remember him having any family.  Froxfield is such a tiny place, too, that it's quite odd not to know that kind of info.

[Craclyn]

Take a look at freebmd. They have an Albert Edward Cooper registered 1899 Hungerford which is just a couple of miles from Froxfield. They also have Elizabeth 1893 Hungerford.

[cath151]

hi,
Bear with me, its only a theory!
Well Stephen and Elizabeth had 8 children, two whom died.
The girls were Martha 1870, Alice 1875, Rose 1880
Can t find a marriage for a Martha, and Rose is too young to have children in 1893.
There is an entry for a maerriage on freebmd as follows
Alice Stroud  Hungerford 2c (56) 02
Sep Q 1892
No spouse is given as presumably reference is hard to read.
Looking at actual images Sep Q 1892 for a Cooper , Hungerford comes up with
William Cooper  ,Hungerford, 2c 502.
 So possibly Alice and William could be the parents but you would need the birth certificates to be sure.

Best wishes
Cathy

[Milliebert]

Craclyn, thank you!  That's where I've been going wrong.  Froxfield is Wiltshire but Hungerford is Berkshire, so they weren't coming up in my Wiltshire searches.  I'll order birth certs for both of them.

Cathy - How did you find all that out?  Thank you!  But it still begs the question; why does Albert have no father on his marriage certificate?  I suppose he could have found out William wasn't his biological father at some point.  And, where were his parents for the census of 1901 and 1911?

Off to do some more looking, thank you both x

[Captain2]

Yes.. I backtracked the grandparents Stephen & Elizabeth Stroud through the census and found the girls Martha, Rose & Alice.  In 1901 Martha is living with her parents with her daughter Vera (8m) and she is Martha Westall, wife of a serviceman - so that ruled her out and again, like you said Rose is too young, so I thought that would probably leave Alice..

Well done Cathy