Ada Smith - birth date now known ..... but what next?

[dtcoulson]

Hello people,

I am ready to restart the Ada Smith search.
This has been discussed on at least two previous listings in Rootschat.

This is what is now known:

Birth date = Oct 18 1891  (Ramsgate Kent, parents known)

According to a letter from a relative (dead now),
'Aunty Ada' had a daughter named Ena 'still living' in Margate in 1994.

That's it.



I will be pleased if any of you can corroborate or destroy the theory that I have formed about Ada, based on data picked up from the 1939 register (and then FreeBMD)

In 1939 register:
Ada Hollis born Oct 18 1891, living in Oldbury with Herbert Hollis (born 1891) and 3 others.
By trial and error I have identified two of them as Edna Hollis & Jean Hollis.

Tracing back, I can find Ada Smith marrying Bertie Hollis in 1925.
Edna Hollis born 1930 & Jean Hollis born .. er .. 1927 I think. Both mms Smith.

The problem is that these births as well as the marriage of the proposed parents are all in different parts of the country. And I am relying on 'Edna' being mistaken as Ena later in life.

Bertie Hollis was born, married and died under that name, so listing him as 'Herbert' in 1939 is also a bit suspect. He was born and died in Chesterfield Derbyshire. So linking him to a daughter that lived in Margate is a bit tricky. Bertie died in 1965.

This is the best theory I can come up with. It works but it doesn't 'feel' right.

Can anyone fact-check the theory?

Thanks
David C

[Comberton]

Taking birthdates of children on 1939 Register entry and finding birth entries, all are MMN Cooper so not yours.
Years of birth not the ones you mentioned

[dtcoulson]

Ok thanks.

That was very fast and very efficient 
At least I know for sure.

Cheers
-DC

[Christine53]

There are 3 Hollis ( mmn Smith ) births in Chesterfield :

Doreen Jun 1927
Wilfred B Jun 1940
Derick Jun 1929.

We can't give details of the 1939 register but if you search for Bertie Hollis in Chesterfield you can find this family. The birth year for Ada Hollis doesn't match what you have and I don't think she is your Ada .

[jonw65]

I have been given only one clue as to what she did with her life:
She was said to be a singer at the Chelsea Barracks.
This would have to be sometime between 1910 and 1940.

A very outside possibility, with no Ena, and losing two years along the way?
Putting her 18 October d-o-b into the 1939 Register free index, +/- 2 years
In Wandsworth
Ada Hemson, born 1893
with
Victor P Hemson, born 1897
Georgina E Hemson (later Langley), born 1924

There is no Victor P Hemson
Birth in Sep qtr 1897, Chelsea
Philip Victor Hemson

Marriage in June 1923, Fulham
Philip V Hemson
Ada Smith

Birth, March 1924 Hammersmith
Georgina E Hemson - mother Smith

Ada died in Dec 1975, Wandsworth
Ada Hemson
d-o-b 18 Oct 1893
(died 11 November 1975, Probate)

Georgina married Arthur D F Langley, Sep 1943, Wandsworth
And died in Kent
Dec 2002, Thanet + Dover
Georgina Ethel Langley
d-o-b 8 Jan 1924

[jonw65]

'Aunty Ada' had a daughter named Ena 'still living' in Margate in 1994.

Last known address of Georgina Ethel Langley may be in Highfield Gardens, Margate (2002)
Her husband's death -
Dec 2000 Thanet + Dover
Arthur David F Langley
d-o-b 18 Feb 1925

Could "Ena" be short for Georgina?

[Annette7]

Brilliant jonw65 - sounds very good logic to me.  Electoral rolls show Ada and husband living at 38 Upper Manor St, Chelsea in 1926 to 1930.   They then move on to the address where Ada died - 6 Shelbrook Street, Wandsworth from 1931.   Husbands name varies between Philip Victor or Victor Philip.

Since Ada Smith would have been some 6 years older than her husband one can understand why she knocked a couple of years off her age.

And 'Ena' being a pet name of Georgina makes sense plus she was living in Margate per 2002 electoral roll.   I note she appears to be their only child.

Only the marriage certificate of Ada Smith and Philip V Hemson can confirm if this is indeed the case but feel sure you have 'cracked it'.

Annette

[dtcoulson]

.... and that's where I step back in.

Interesting theory Jonw65.

I am not so convinced as you and Annette are that the compromises made (changing birth year and changing Georgina's name) are justified, but if you all think it's worth the bet I will order the marriage cert.

    (and raise a toast to your talent if you are right,
    because I have been looking for this ancestor's
    life story a very long time, as some of you will know).

Note that it takes a month for a GRO cert to reach my home in NZ.

In the meantime I will be happy to read further discussion on this theory.

Are there other resources we can tackle that would add to the picture?

-DC

[jonw65]

Hi
I'm not really sure that there is anything much else that would help. You could go through their electoral register entries if you can. Just in case there might ever have been a relative of Ada's living at the same address, whichever one it was.

I think it's an idea that started out as quite a long shot, but when you think about it begins to look more promising. Annette has made some good points, Ada had a younger husband and may have fibbed a little about her age, and there is no sign they had more than the one daughter (and you know only of Ena for your Ada)

I googled the two names, Georgina + Ena, and up came quite a number of examples of people around the world called Georgina, who apparently were, or even are, known as Ena! Not something I would ever have thought of myself, but good news for us.

If you do get that particular marriage certificate, I wish you the very best of luck and will keep fingers crossed, but you can certainly continue to look at other possibilities. So many Ada Smiths!
John