I have not been able to resolve to my satisfaction a mystery in my family concerning the Richard Cork(e) mentioned above, and wonder if anyone here can give me some suggestions.
My Great Grandparents were married in June 1887 in St John's Wood. My Great Grandmother's maiden name is shown on the certificate as Victoria Adelaide Barham, and her father as Stephen Barham, labourer.
My Great Grandfather, John James Pay, Victoria's husband, was a Metropolitan Policeman, and evidently a great note-taker, and he left a notebook which clearly states his wife's birthdate as 25th March, 1865, in Kent.
I was completely unable to find her birth reference until someone tracked down the birth, in the correct quarter, of a Victoria Adelaide CORK, in the correct place, and I have subsequently proved via her birth certificate that Victoria's mother was, at the time, not married to Stephen Barham, but to a Richard Cork.
Victoria Adelaide's birth certificate from March 1865 at Ightham says she is the daughter of Eliza Cork (formerly Miller) and Richard Cork, seaman on HMS Victoria.
I then found Eliza Miller and Richard Cork's marriage certificate:
October 1864 (she was pregnant), at the Wesleyan Chapel, Sevenoaks.
Eliza Miller aged 20 (incorrect, she was 18), and Richard Corke aged 23.
Richard Corke is shown as a Seaman, father Richard Corke Labourer.
Both parties resident in Seal, Kent.
I have Richard Cork in the 1861 Census, I am fairly sure:
Richard Cork, aged 19, born Goodham, Kent
Ordinary Seaman, 2nd class,
Britannia
Vessels
Portsmouth.
I have Eliza Miller and her parents, who came from Seal, through the censuses, and I also have her birth certificate, showing she was born in Seal on 21st November 1846.
But I have not been able to find any further details of Richard Cork, or his father. I am most interested to find Richard Cork junior in 1851 - it may be that his correct place of birth is Gooden Green, Kent, which is very close to Seal.
It may also be that his father is the Richard Corke born in 1812 in Stone, Kent - this Richard was living in Seal in 1861 and perhaps had a son visit him and make the acquaintance of a young Eliza Miller? I cannot see this Richard in 1851 either.
To prove the relationship, and to take this line further, I need to find the 1851 entry for both of them, and, ideally, Richard junior's birth reference.
I have looked extensively, with no results.
I know that I also need to visit Kew to find out what happened to Richard junior after his marriage and the birth of his daughter - by the 1870's Eliza was living with Stephen Barham, and had had a child in early 1870 who was registered as Stephen's daughter.
However, although Eliza and Stephen had many children, I can find no trace of a marriage for them, and also it would appear that Victoria Adelaide and her husband were not aware that she was not Stephen Barham's daughter.....which might imply there was some scandal to be covered up.
Can anyone give me any clues to Richard Cork(e) in the 1851 Census, or a birth reference for him in a place which might be rendered Goodham, Kent?
many thanks for any suggestions!
