The Elusive George Henry Hawkins

[rosie99]

I did try searching for a George Henry ....... bn Farnham reg district Sep & Dec qtr 1896 but the only one that came up was a George Henry Stubbs - parents George & Elizabeth (nee Westlake).  Do you think I can find them later to totally eliminate them 

Yes, they are in Portsmouth in the last census.

(... just watching from the wings)

Thank you bookbox - I am so glad you are watching in the wings  and I can now eliminate the family     I did only look in 1901 though

[Jomot]

Looking from another angle, there is this death registration of George Henry Hawkins aged 35 that may be the father:

Oct-Nov-Dec 1906 Winchester Vol 2c Page 75

Might be worth getting the certificate to see who the informant was.

 

[rosie99]

Looking from another angle, there is this death registration of George Henry Hawkins aged 35 that may be the father:

Oct-Nov-Dec 1906 Winchester Vol 2c Page 75

Might be worth getting the certificate to see who the informant was.

On 22 November at Park Lane, Twyford nr Winchester George Henry Hawkins age 35

1901 census RG13/1085 f10 p11  Park Lane
Elizabeth S Hawkins 60
George H son 29 Single Railway platelayer bn Twyford
James F son 23
Albert E Hawkins 10 grandson (no mmn on Hawkins birth reg)
Alice Trimby visitor

[Jomot]

That seems to rule that death out then, as George Henry's mother Ann Blowes was still in Otterbourne in 1901 with son Frederick Hawkins, 21, and a grandson named Arthur Hawkins aged 7.   RG13/1087/79/14

In 1881 George Henry is with his parents Alfred & Ann Hawkins in Otterbourne.  Alfred died the following year, and an Ann Hawkins married Moses Blowes in 1886.

Back to the drawing board....

[rosie99]

Just supposing he did not really know his fathers name.  My gt grandfather made up a name for his father when he married 

Births Sep 1896 
George Henry Hawkins mmn Stubbington
Fulham    1a   342

In 1901 the family are in Ash (Aldershot)
RG13/608 f7 p6
Stephen   Hawkins   34   bn Boxford, Berkshire
Flora O   Hawkins   36   bn Upton, Hampshire
Daisy M A   Hawkins   7  bn Putney, Surrey
Stephen C 6 bn Putney, Surrey
George Hy 4 bn Fulham, Middlesex   
William T   1 bn Fulham, Middlesex
Robert B P 3 mths bn Ash, Surrey

Another child
HAWKINS, OLIVE  MAUD ROSE    mmn STUBBINGTON     
1903  March Quarter in FARNHAM  Volume 02A  Page 104
 ..................

Flora Olive Hawkins -Death March qtr 1906 age 40 Farnham RD
.................
Father Stephen Hawkins born Boxford had been in the Royal Engineers - he is on Chelsea pensioner records
...............
1911 the family is split up those I have found are in institutions 

[rosie99]

Just to add baptism for that George Henry was at Fulham 4 November 1896

Baptism of Robert Baden Powell Hawkins - father occ Soldier 

Added Army records confirm discharge in 1902

[needleinhaystack]

Thank you Rosie, Jomot and Stan. You have all been so busy! For all I know I guess with him being an orphan anything could have bend made up! I believe he'd told my mum that his mum was Irish and had very red hair so I thought that he must have had a memory of her. I'd thought than for him to have bedf sent to an industrial school instead of an orphanage may have been because he was an older child when his mum died. With ancestry, one should always go with facts and not presume too much. I've tried looking at Irish births, Scottish births births abroad and even looked for World War One records and come up with nothing. The very common name doesn't help! I've now sent off for his birth certificate, though to be honest I'm expecting them to say that they can't find anything, especially as I've put place of birth down as "down south". I can't find any school admission records for Church Farm Industrial School either. I've looked in workhouses too. My skills aren't wonderful though.

[Bookbox]

Please do consider the Fulham record that rosie99 has found above (replies #22 & 23), even though it’s not the father you’re expecting. Father’s names on marriage certificates can’t always be relied on. It’s possible that George Henry Hawkins was unsure about his father and invented a name to match his own.

With the birth registered in the right quarter, a father in the Royal Engineers, a sibling born in Farnham/Aldershot, and the family dispersed by 1911, the 1896 birth in Fulham looks worth a try. The baptism was on 4 November, and the birth certificate might just show the birthdate of 12 September 1896 that you’re looking for, to match the 1939 Register.

You could also work from the other end, starting with Church Farm. Children were not necessarily admitted to industrial schools via the poor-law system, but sometimes via the courts, especially for persistent truancy.

There are no separate records for Church Farm. A possible access route is via the centralised registers of Children sent to Industrial and Reformatory schools, held at London Metropolitan Archives. These records are not online and have to be accessed in person, on film, at LMA (series LCC/EO/SS/06). They’re indexed and relatively easy to use. If you’re lucky, they can point to a previous school or other institution that might have further records, an address to help with an earlier census, and/or a parent’s name.

For background information/pictures for Church Farm, if you haven’t seen already ...
http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/EastBarnetIS/

[needleinhaystack]

Hello Bookbox, thank you for your reply. I am going to look more closely at everyone's suggestions. As soon as I have his birth certificate or find anything out for definite I'll post on here. We have recently looked at my husbands family and found that his mother had absolutely loads of aunts and uncles but she only ever talked about 2of them. I shall go in to searching with an open mind. Thanks everyone