Walter Eaton Birth Index ca. 1884 Nottingham

[NeilE]

I am trying to find the birth index for Walter Eaton he was born ca. 1884 New Lenton, Nottingham.
Father: Jacob Eaton
Mother: Hannah Eaton (nee. Thornley)

I know they moved from Ashby-De-La-Zouch, Leicester after the 1881 census and are present Nottingham in the 1891 census (with a family surname of Smith - but that's another puzzle to solve).

I have found an entry for 1882, but upon viewing his birth certificate this is not him

Any tips or information on how I can find his birth certificate would be much appricated

[CaroleW]

Hi and welcome

Walter is shown as 5yrs old in 1891 so birthyear 1885/6

As there is nothing under Eaton - have you considered he was registered as Smith?

Unfortunately there are several possible birth entries in the Nottingham Registration District for a Walter Smith

[NeilE]

I had considered looking for him with a surname of Smith, but looking at the parish records for Nottingham (via their CD) there are no entries for Walter Eaton or Walter Smith with parents Jacob and/or Hannah.

As I am relatively new to Genealogy I was not sure what to do next.

[MaureeninNY]

What about:
Births Sept Qtr  1885 SMITH Walter Eaton / Nottingham 7b   241?

Maureen

[NeilE]

Thank you for doing the search, I missed that one. I am going to order that certificate and hopefully this will be the one.

But this still explain why they would have changed there surname from Eaton to Smith for a period of 10 yrs when they move to Nottingham.

Does anyone have any tips or hints of where I can find information about why they changed there surname?

[JaneyCanuck]

Do you have Jacob Eaton's birth certificate?

March quarter 1842, Bedford reg dist

In 1851 he is 9 yrs old, son in the household of Jacob Eaton, 56.

I might wonder whether he was actually the grandson of that Jacob, and possibly the child of an unmarried daughter. His father's surname might have been Smith, and he might have gone by that name but used Eaton as his "official" name for registering events and in censuses. We've certainly seen other instances of that.

In 1841 (the family is "Caton" at Anc'y and has been fixed by a user), Jacob and Mary Eaton do have a daughter Fanny (mistranscribed Hanny) who is aged 15+, and they likely had older children as well. Mary likely died in 1844 (two Mary Eaton deaths in Bedford that year), and was probably 40+ in 1841 (transcribed as 46 at Anc'y), so Jacob the younger could certainly be her child, though. But a Fanny Eaton died in Bedford in 1846, so I might still wonder whether he was reared by his grandfather.

How about his marriage certificate -- did he name a father? Not that that would be conclusive; maternal grandfather was a common choice for a child of unmarried parents in that situation, especially if the child was reared in the mother's family.

In 1901, he and his wife and children are all "S Eaton". That does suggest that they used the surname Smith. And being born to unmarried parents is about the most common reason for name-switching like that.

[seamusskye]

hi,
my great grandmother is mary elizabeth eaton daughter of jacob eaton and hannah thornley and sister to walter eaton born notts 1882,they changed their name to smith as jacobs mothers maiden name is smith,i think they were trying to hide as they later changed it back!!!
regards,
b.martin

[JaneyCanuck]

Just for info, from the new GRO index:

Jacob Eaton's birth was registered with mother's surname SMITH, so he evidently was the son of the Eaton-Smith couple.

The birth of Walter Eaton SMITH noted earlier in the thread was registered with mother THORNLEY, so that is indeed the correct birth for Walter Eaton.