Hi Debra, Deb, and others who have helped,
The mystery is finally solved, and so easily in the end. My grandfather Ernest was Edward Hargrave, 3rd child of Francis & Mary, and he changed his name about 1910.
We discussed this possibility way back. I said in reply #10:
"The only one who could possibly have changed his name to Ernest was Edward John, born 1875, and whose last record I could find was before the 1913 wedding, in 1909, when he is listed on the electoral rolls as a farmer. It isn't impossible that Edward John changed his name to Ernest McQuillan, gave up farming for cooking and dropped his age 5 years, then ran away with my grandmother to NSW, but I can't see any way to test that."
You may recall, Deb, that in #22 you found an Edward John Hargrave who enlisted, and was wounded, in WW1, and suggested this might have been "my" Edward, and I agreed. And therefore he couldn't have been Ernest, who didn't go to war.
But I was careless, and when I re-checked this identification, I found several reasons why "soldier Edward" couldn't have been "my" Edward:
- they were similar ages, but soldier Edward was 1 year older;
- they both were born in western Victoria, but soldier Edward was born in Maryborough whereas my Edward was born in Stawell;
- soldier Edward was CofE and my Edward was RC.
I can't believe now that I didn't read the documentation carefully enough to pick those things up, but I'm glad I didn't, because that meant the discussion on this thread continued and that meant I found out about my Aunt and obtained some critical information.
So now the evidence:
1. Ernest said his parents were Francis Hargrave & Mary McQuillan, and this is the only couple by this name I have found. He changed several details (birth place and date, Francis' occupation) but they are just red herrings.
2. The recent DNA information I outlined before indicates quite strongly that Ernest was the child of Francis & Mary. Some other combinations of the Hargraves and McQuillans are possible, but socially unlikely.
3. There are birth records for 9 children of Francis & Mary, and the same children are recorded on their death documentation. Ernest is not among them, but Edward is. The births are regularly spaced, and it seems unlikely that another child was born and not recorded. Thus Ernest may have been one of these children.
4. The other 3 boys' lives can be traced and they are clearly not Ernest. But Edward can be traced only until 1909. He is on the 1903 and 1906 electoral roles at Bunyip southeast of Melbourne with his mother Mary (after Francis died in 1902) and on his own on the 1909 roll (Mary died in 1909). But I can find nothing after that. The first I have certainly for Ernest is his marriage in 1913. So the two sets of information fit together.
(He is possibly on the electoral roll in Melbourne in 1912 - name is Ernest Hargreaves, different spelling, but he is listed as a cook, which was his later occupation. But there are 2 other Ernest Hargreaves around at the time, so this isn't certain.)
5. My aunt, who I found via this forum, told me Ernest's birthday was 15 August. And when I purchased Edward's birth documentation this morning, that was his birthday.
So the DNA, the birthday and the paper records all point to Edward leaving the Bunyip farm after his mother died, changing his name to Ernest (but keeping the same initial), becoming a cook and lowering his age, by 4 years at his first wedding and by 7 years at his second wedding (but keeping the same birthday).
I think that evidence is enough.
Thanks everyone for help over more than 3 years. I couldn't have done it without this forum.
Now I have one last question. Should I show him on my family tree under his birth name or the name he used for the second half of his life?
