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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Gilly Lewis on Saturday 22 June 13 12:12 BST (UK)
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I cannot find a marriage record for my Uncle Alexander Alfred Lewis and his spouse Paddy V, (maiden name unknown). If married it would have been approx early to mid 1930's. They lived in the Paddington area of London before WW2 and for sometime time afterwards. Can anyone help please?
Thank you in advance
Gilly Lewis
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I have on electoral rolls
1845 Paddington
153 Delaware Rd
Alec Lewis
Paddy V Lewis
Violet Lewis
1846 Paddy V lewis
1847 & 8
Ada Alice Beasley
Ernest A Beasley
Paddy V Lewis
did they have any children??
Birth reg if after Sept qtr 1912 would give mother's maiden name
Suz
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:) Hi Suz,
Thank you for getting back to me so promptly, but I we already have all of the electoral registers for Alexander Alfred Lewis. We cannot apply for a birth certificate for Paddy V because we do not have a surname. Yes, they had two children, Stewart and Carol. Paddy V went back to her own home town, Scarborough in the late 50's early sixties and owned a hotel or boarding house in Scarborough.
We've ploughed through the records of various genealogy sites and cannot find a marriage record. Alexander Alfred Lewis worked at the Admiralty in WW2 and we intend to go to Kew to investigate further. They may have records, that include a spouse?
Many thanks
Gilly
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It waas meant that a birth cert (or indeed birth index entry) for one of Alex and Paddy's children would give Paddy,s maiden name!( not Paddy's birth cert!)
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Suz, I apologize. We have searched through the birth records and there are no births for Carol or Stewart Lewis, (I should have mentioned this!) They could have been given their mother's maiden name, which we don't have. It's a difficult one, as we've down every plausable avenue and come up with absolutely nothing, other than the electoral registers. :-[
Thanks again.
Gilly
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Are Carol or Stewart still alive ( if so their namesshould be removed from here). But also if so, why not ask them what their mum's maiden name was, or at least if Paddy was her birth name or a nickname, etc. Or ask to see their own birth certs.
I see Alexander Alfred died in 2002. Did Paddy pre-decease him? I cant see a death in that name, but it may not have been her real name of course. If she was still alive, then was she the informant on his death cert? That might give her true Christian name. Or did he leave a Will? Again that might give clues about her.
But your best bet is finding births for the two 'children'.
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Liz I was just going to ask the same questions ;D ;D ;D
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I don't know if the children mentioned are still alive or not, the last time I saw them was in the mid 1940's. Alexander's will, he left everything to a niece. I do have his death certificate and Paddy V wasn't on it, only his niece. So you can understand the problem that we're having? We may never get any further, unless, in our research we find a relative, who has the missing answers.
I appreciate your help, but we have gone down most of obvious avenues.
Many thanks
Gilly
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Hi,
Gilly how old were the children approx in 1940's?
Sharon
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Hi Sharon,
Thanks for getting back to me. The son would have been born approx 1938/9 and the daughter approx 42/3. :-\
Thanks again
Gilly
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Who was Violet Lewis who was living with them on one of the census??
Suz
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Sharon,
The son was about a 11/12 and the daughter 3/4 years old.
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Hi Suz,
Violet Lewis was a family member, cousin to Alexander Alfred Lewis. It's Ok, we've also been down that root. Violet Lewis isn't Paddy V.
Gilly
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I didn't think Violet was Paddy V as they are both on electoral roll - thought she might be a daughter (over 21)
You mentioned Paddy V went back to Scarborough "her home town" - do you know she was born there|?
Have you any other snippets of info??
Suz
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Hi Suz,
I always thought Paddy V was from the North and my cousin mentioned that Scarborough was her home town. Personally, I do not think they were actually married. Paddy might be a nickname for Patricia? I don't really have much more information, nor have any of my living relatives. There was a mention of her possibly immigrating with her daughter, but I cannot swear to that. Apparently, she died about two/three years before Alexander, that would of been in the year 1999/2000 and in England.
I was also informed that she was once for a time mayoress of Scarborough. I did get the list of Mayors of more recent times and dating back to 1800's, they were only a few female mayor's and there wasn't a Paddy/Patricia V. So any information I do follow up meets a brickwall. The always lived in Maida Vale, Paddington until Paddy V left for Scarborough in the 50's or thereabouts.
I did follow up a what I thought was a lead, a Paddy V St Clair, I will dig out the information for you tomorrow.
Many thanks
Gill
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There seem to be all sorts of questions here.
Were the two children actually children of the marriage? The fact that Alexander, on his death, leaves all to a niece, implies either the children predeceased him, or that there was a major family rift, or that they never were his children and when Paddy left (I am assuming when you say she went up north, she went alone and separated from Alex) he lost all contact with them.
The other question that I cant help thinking of, is - does it really matter? If you are following the Lewis line, then going backwards from Alex you will be OK, as it will be the same as your own line. Going forwards - well, there are no registrations for children of the names you have given under Lewis, so it does look (coupled with the lack of provision for them in his will) as if possibly they were never Alex's children. If they were, then it is them that need concentrating on, from a genealogical point of view, rather than the elusive "paddy".
With no obvious marriage to be found, no childrens birth under Lewis, no mention of children in his will, no family contact or knowledge of any children ....... I would guess (and it is only a guess) that they were Paddy's children, and at the time you met them Alex was 'friends' with Paddy. This may be that they were together as a couple, but may not. I guess you were only young at the time you met them, so the exact nature of the relationship may not have been clear.
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Hi Liz, all that you have implied I agree, I'm of the same sentiment. And I have considered all of this possibilties in my research. I used to visit the family in Paddington 1948/49 and they were together as a family, although in all probability, not entirely happy. They split up in the early fiveties when Paddy left for Scarborough with the daughter. I'm not certain if she took her son, because he was working in a well known store in the West End of London approx in the70's/80's. i'm not in communication with the person who saw him there. We almost have the entire Lewis family on our tree. It's just Paddy who is the missing piece to complete the jig-saw. I think the family rift and the possibility that they were not bothered about keeping in contact with Alexander, or they immigrated as suggested by a member of the family. Anyway, Liz I appreciate your help and I will continue to pursue this mystery. Paddy of course may of still of been married to someone else and did not get a divorce, so she and Alexander lived together. But that doesn't account for the youngest child who would have only been three/four years old in 1948.
Gilly