Hi Steve,
The Norway connection is very strong -- there are several evidential factors from both the records you HAVE found in England and the records found by jamcat in Norway.
Name --- Carl/Charles
Birthplace -- Norway
Father's name -- Carl/Charles
Father's occupation -- Horse Doctor/Vet
Birth year -- mid 1830s
There are too many corresponding facts for it to be a coincidence.
I don't really understand why you favour a London connection.
William Robert Henning was born in Hull.
He married in Darlington.
He is on most census records in Hull/Sculcoates (He MAY be with his grandparents in 1871 shown as William H Levitt, aged 10 -- unless that's a different grandchild).
It is clear he must have gone to London for a short period after his marriage to have 2 children there, but he then moves back to Hull.
Usually people moved for work - and William Robert was a Billiard Marker (?) then worked with wood afterwards. I don't think his move to London for a few years affects the strong Norway connection of his father. It will be difficult to know now just why he and his wife moved down there for a short time, before coming back.
Hi
Perhaps I should have said it is another possibility, I should not have said in favour of.
There is a lot of evidence that points to him being born in Norway, moving to the UK for a few years and then onto the US. However without some corroborative evidence I am open to other avenues of research.
I share your assumption that is it William Robert shown on the 1871 living with grandparents. If I could find his mother Ann on the 1871 it would help, but she is well hidden away somewhere.
I think the London connection is worth exploring, William Robert seems to have been a jack of all trades, as he was at different times, a billiard marker, a box maker, a licensed victualler, a hairdressers assistant, a hairdresser, painters labourer, painter & decorator and ships painter. He was a beer seller when he married Harriet Hampshire in 1881. He gave up his license in July 1882. When his first son was born in Stratford in 1884 he was a hairdresser. So being multi talented lol I cannot see why he would have moved to London for 2 years or so for employment. I have a hunch there is a family connection.
One other fact to add to the mix, whether or not it is relevant I am not sure. His mother Ann died in 1880 at 3 Handleys Place, informant Hannah Levi (was Levitt) her sister of the same address. On the 1881 census William Robert is lodging with his Aunt Hannah at the same address. When Ann passed away she left just shy of £500 which under letters of admin passed to William Robert her only child when he came of age. He got his hands on the cash in July 1881, then gave up the beer licence and buggered off to Darlington to marry. There is a proven family connection in Darlington to his Aunt Hannah's Levi family, witnesses to the marriage licence were family. I dont know how far £500 would have gone in those days and whether it has any bearing but I do feel the move to London was family related and not just on a whim.
