Finding a birth without an obvious register entry (Brick wall) Leedham Family

[Greg Scott]

Hi all,

I would be interested in hearing any thoughts about the best way to find a birth without an obvious register entry.

Leaving aside the possibility of a discrepancy in transcribing the registers, is it at all possible that the birth of my GGG-Grandmother's last child was not registered at all?

Whilst tracing the history of my GG-Grandmother Emily Leedham (b. 1884 Walsall), I found that her mother Maria Smith (b. 1862 Walsall) died at Burntwood Asylum in 1903.  Emily's father Jeremiah Leedham (b. 1855 Birmingham) had already died at this stage, leaving the remaining siblings without parents.

I made contact with the Staffordshire Records Office, who were kindly able to provide the Asylum records for Maria Smith.  They revealed that Maria had three children with another man (alas un-named in the report) after Jeremiah had died.  Her last child (also un-named in the report) had arrived only a couple of weeks before she was admitted to the asylum, and Emily died very soon afterwards.  I have managed to locate the birth certificates for the first two children with her second partner (Thomas Leedham b. 1898 and Alice Leedham b. 1900), neither of which indicate the father's name.  There are no suitable entries in Walsall or Stafford for a third child born in April 1903.

The birth certificate of Alice shows the residence as 33 Dudley Street, Walsall.  This house is shown as un-occupied in the 1901 census, taken approx. 6 months after Alice was born.

There is no entry for Maria Leedham (nee Smith), Thomas or Alice in the 1901 census at all, that I can find.

There is another Leedham family in Walsall/Stafford at this point, but is fully listed in the 1911 census - so I've accounted for all of the birth entries in 1903 that I can think of.

Thomas Leedham and Alice Leedham are not listed in the 1911 census.

I think I've taken it as far as I can without any helpful suggestions!

[genealogist1000]

Hey,

 This is based on the fact whether I've got the information correct or not.

Could you please confirm that Maria's death is the Maria Leedham in 1903 in Lichfield, Staffordshire Jul-Aug-Sep quarter? She's 39, so she's only a couple of years out. I couldn't find a death for her in Walsall/Stafford, the areas you mention.

If this is right, maybe this entry is the correct one for the unnamed child?
George Leedham born Lichfield, Staffordshire in 1903, Apr-May-Jun quarter.

If this is right, then I'm rather glad I could help. I found another post on another website saying that Burntwood Asylum was in Lichfield?

~~

[groom]

Not sure about that one, as he could be the son of Thomas and Annie Leedham.

It is possible that if she died two weeks after the birth of her child that the registration was just overlooked and everyone assumed someone else had done it. Or perhaps he was taken in by another family and registered under their name.

[Greg Scott]

Hi there,

Yes, that's the correct death registration for Maria.  The asylum records mention she was admitted by her brother, for which the records indicate that he was intemperate!  So no additional clues there alas.

I think, however, that the George Leedham entry you mention is that of the other Leedham family, living in Yoxall.

Cheers,

Greg

[dawnsh]

Was there anyone left to look after the children while she was in the asylum?

If not I would be looking for work house admission registers.

The new born baby should be listed with its siblings on admission.

[arthurk]

I was wondering if I might be able to find the children Alice and Thomas in the 1901 census, under a different surname (because informally adopted, or with their father???), and found a few possibilities. I searched for Alice born in Walsall aged under 1 year, and these had a Thomas as well; some had extra children too:

RG13/2702 fo9 p9 - as BEDFORD (in a lodging house) - also Teddy aged 8

RG13/2702 fo94 p1 - as SHERMAN

RG13/2704 fo68 p6 - as TIPPER - also Samuel C aged 6 and Florence L aged 5

I haven't investigated birth registrations or the couples' marriages and mothers' maiden names (in case they were aunts etc), but could any of these fit? And if so, might the 1903 child have been given the same surname?

Arthur

[Greg Scott]

Was there anyone left to look after the children while she was in the asylum?

If not I would be looking for work house admission registers.

The new born baby should be listed with its siblings on admission.

Whilst it seems evidently possible that there were people around to look after her children, e.g. their father or Maria's siblings or cousins, I can't find any evidence of what happened to them.  The lack of obvious 1901 and 1911 census entries proving a real problem.  The fortune of Maria's siblings seems somewhat mixed.  The intemperate brother (Christopher Smith) who admitted her to Burntwood appears to have ended up in Durham Workhouse in 1911.

The Burntwood records state that the child born in 1903 was born at Walsall Workhouse, after Maria was moved there in the immediate run up to the birth and, despite a healthy sucessful birth, she was kept there after contracting an infection of the uterus.

[Greg Scott]

I was wondering if I might be able to find the children Alice and Thomas in the 1901 census, under a different surname (because informally adopted, or with their father???), and found a few possibilities. I searched for Alice born in Walsall aged under 1 year, and these had a Thomas as well; some had extra children too:

RG13/2702 fo9 p9 - as BEDFORD (in a lodging house) - also Teddy aged 8

RG13/2702 fo94 p1 - as SHERMAN

RG13/2704 fo68 p6 - as TIPPER - also Samuel C aged 6 and Florence L aged 5

I haven't investigated birth registrations or the couples' marriages and mothers' maiden names (in case they were aunts etc), but could any of these fit? And if so, might the 1903 child have been given the same surname?

Arthur

Thanks very much for the above Arthur.

Although none of the surnames relate to the family names I've located, either via direct descendants or cousins, etc.  I was particularly intrigued by the BEDFORD entry, because Maria Smith and Jeremiah Leedham's last son (Edward Leedham, b. 15/07/1892) doesn't have a 1901 census entry either.

So perhaps it's entirely possible that the Teddy, Tom and Alice entries may be right.  Having looked further, I am unable to locate any entry in other years for Tom Bedford (Snr) or the others either.  The nearest I can find for a Tom (Snr) and possible brother Rich, is for Thomas and Richard EDWARDS living in the same street (Tantarra Street) as the Leedhams in 1891.  Could the possibilites may be Edwards wrongly transcribed as Bedford, or Bedford as a bogus surname?

I'd be interested in hearing any other thoughts.

[avm228]

The BEDFORD group in 1901 does indeed look promising.

The person you've identified as Rich is female (see the column in which her name appears) and "married", and I think the name actually says "Riah". 

So is this Maria, in disguise, with her new man Tom Bedford, pretending to be his wife?