Lemoir - Letchford - Huge skeleton in the family closet!!!!

[Wendy68]

Hi there
A few years ago, I found out that my grandad whose name I thought was Barry Lemoir was really Percy Letchford.
He met my nan Edith Wetton on stage and passed his stage name off as his real name. Under the name of Lemoir, he married her in London in 1922. He was 10 years my nans senior and was 32 at the time.
They had 3 children Kenneth, Valerie (my mum) and Royston.
While performing on stage during their time together, they were using the stage names Barry & Kitty Kendall.
While my mum was seiously ill with rheumatic fever aged 11, her parents split up ( unsure if nan had found out the truth about him at that stage)
What eventually came to light was that my grandad was already married with 5 children when he married my nan so he was a bigamist.
I did hear mentioned that his father was supposed to have been a colonel in the Indian army. (Letchford) My grandad did seemed to be dark skinned but ive not found any evidence to back this up yet.
Because of the web of lies, its very difficult to get answers. What happened to his other family?

[KGarrad]

Possibly, this is his first marriage?

September qtr 1904
Epsom Registration District     vol 2a, page 83

Letchford, Percy Horace
+ and on the same page +
Champion, Florence Ada
Hammond, Amy

[Milliepede]

Under the name of Lemoir, he married her in London in 1922. He was 10 years my nans senior and was 32 at the time.

If the age was correct then born abt 1890 so too young to have married in 1904. 

There are records of a Percy with wife Amy going to Canada and serving as a soldier - different man?

[avm228]

Possibly, this is his first marriage?

September qtr 1904
Epsom Registration District     vol 2a, page 83

Letchford, Percy Horace
+ and on the same page +
Champion, Florence Ada
Hammond, Amy

This Percy must have married Amy Hammond as the other bride Florence Ada married the other groom Arthur John Horton.

[avm228]

Barry Percy Lemoir died in Bristol in December 1947 aged 55, so born about 1892.

Marriage to Edith Wetton in Southwark was 1924 rather than 1922.

[Milliepede]

Do you know where he was born?

There is a Percy with father Percy born Kent abt 1889.  Father Percy is a mariner/bargeman in 1901 Rochester Kent.

When were the 5 children born?  He doesn't have that much time to marry and have 5 before marrying again given his age.

[Milliepede]

What eventually came to light was that my grandad was already married with 5 children when he married my nan so he was a bigamist.

How did this come to light exactly - what evidence is there?

[avm228]

It seems to me that every Perc* Letchford born in England pre 1900 can be ruled out through their death registrations.

So tweaking things a bit and picking up on the India hunch - could he in fact be Percy Thomas LUETCHFORD born in Sialkot, Bengal on 14 June 1891 and baptised there on 17 July 1891?  Parents Edward (sergeant in Manchester Regiment) and Jane.

This Percy was in Surrey by 1901 as an adopted son of Benjamin and Charlotte Parfitt (he may have been related to them as nephew).

He married in Eastbourne in 1913 I think to Lucy E Ward.  They may have altered their surname to Letchford at around the time of the war (during which Percy served as a private in the Somerset Regiment, being discharged in 1919). There are 6 Letchford/Ward births on FreeBMD 1915-1930, one in Reading which may be unrelated, but the other five in Islington and Hendon, and a London electoral roll for a Percy and Lucy Letchford in Islington in 1924. If these are the right people the dates raise the possibility that the two families overlapped and he may have led a double life for a time, or Lucy may have had children with someone else after his departure.

[avm228]

So tweaking things a bit and picking up on the India hunch - could he in fact be Percy Thomas LUETCHFORD born in Sialkot, Bengal on 14 June 1891 and baptised there on 17 July 1891?  Parents Edward (sergeant in Manchester Regiment) and Jane.

I am encouraged to see that Barry Lemoir's birthdate was recorded in the 1939 Register as 14 June 1892 - so a year out, but a perfect match on day & month of birth with PT Luetchford.