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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Herefordshire => Topic started by: cimbrio on Sunday 27 April 14 17:14 BST (UK)
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Hi all! I've been picking my brains with a new mystery which I haven't been able to solve. Can anyone help?
I'm trying to find the identity of a child fathered during WWI by my dad's uncle. All the information I have stems from his war record, which I have just discovered, where it states that the mother claimed child support for his illegitimate child, and was successful in getting a magistrate to order the father to forfeit 2/6 per week for the child's support till it reached the age of 14.
The baby's father was William Ernest Baugh, who was born in 1895 in Little Dilwyn, Herefordshire. He was single when he joined the army after the outbreak of war in 1915. His war record (available on Ancestry.co.uk, and of which I have a copy if anyone needs to see it) shows that on 26 February 1917 Miss Edith Jane Brown gave birth to his illegitimate child in Little Dilwyn, but neither the sex nor the name of the baby are revealed.
I am not aware that William E. Baugh ever married Edith Brown, and therefore the child was never legitimised and may never have been recognised by the father as his own son, which makes me suspect the child never bore the surname Baugh at all. I have not found a Baugh being born in Weobley reg. district, which covers the Little Dilwyn area, on BMD, but I did find an Edwin C. J. Brown, (Brown being the surname both of the father and the mother - but may well mean that it was the mother's maiden name, father's name unknown) who could have been the baby I'm looking for.
If I can help it, I want to avoid ordering Edwin Brown's birth certificate without having a slight inkling that he is William E. Baugh's son, but I haven't been able to find anything on Edwin Brown (either a marriage or a death) after his birth 1917.
I have found the baby's mother Edith J. Brown married Thomas Chambers in 1920 and I think she later married someone called Bailey, but I haven't been able to see original documents to corroborate this - so it's all a bit sketchy for the moment. William E. Baugh married and had a son during WWII, almost 30 years after his first child was born in Little Dilwyn.
Can anyone shed any light on the baby's identity and whether it is Edwin C. J. Brown?
Thank you!!!
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Hi
Have you looked for later evidence of an Edwin C J Chambers, in case he took his stepfather's surname?
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I have ancestors from Dilwyn and it is under Weobley for registration
freebmd
mar qtr 1917
brown
weobley
0nly shows one ....the one you have posted ....looks extremely likely to me ...
I would agree with avm228 ...
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Trouble is, that even if you buy the birth certificate, it could have no info on it at all re the father, so it still wouldn't "prove" that this is the child mentioned in the court order. :(
Maybe the best thing would be to see if there are any court records available that name the child?
Or try the local paper?
STG
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If the birth certificate shows the birthdate as 26 Feb and mother as Edith Jane Brown then I think the fair inference would be that this was the child which was the subject of the court order.
He is the only child with mmn Brown registered in Weobley in the first half of 1917 so looks strongly probable, unless there was some irregularity with registration.
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If the birth certificate shows the birthdate as 26 Feb and mother as Edith Jane Brown then I think the fair inference would be that this was the child which was the subject of the court order.
Doh! Silly me :-[
STG
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Thank you all for your replies.
I'm pleased to see we all agree that Edwin C. J. Brown is the most likely candidate to have been William E. Baugh's illegitimate son.
I think only the birth certificate would prove this, so I'll consider taking that lead.
I haven't found anything on an Edwin C.J. Chambers or any other name which might ring a bell. I was hoping there may have been a baptism scan/transcription somewhere online but I haven't found one. Might have to wait till the Hereford GRO opens its doors to the public again...
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If you do decide to purchase the cert,make sure you use the official GRO website,it will cost you just £9-25 and they post anywhere in the world for that price.
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/
Carol
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I don't think Edith Jane later married a Bailey.
Edith Jane Brown's birth reg'd Sept.1897
Edith Jane Chambers born 22/8/1897 d.Sept.1983 Hereford.
The death entry sure sounds like it is her.
Annette
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Agree with all thats been suggested so far.
Possible marriage-
Apr/may/jun 1931
Chipping Norton
Ref 3a 3083
Edwin C J Brown / Ethel E Morris
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Think you can rule that out, lizdb! He'd only have been 14!
Annette
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Whoops!
Didnt quite do the maths right. Sorry all.
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Thanks for all the replies.
I am inclined to believe Edwin was the child Edith Jane gave birth to, but he seems to have vanished after that...
I wonder if maybe I should explore the possibility that he was given up for adoption and/or was sent abroad to be brought up by foster parents. Thomas Chambers may not have liked the idea of them bringing up her love child from a war-time affair?
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Did you send for the birth cert to prove/disprove we are on the right track?
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I haven't yet, the link to my own family is too remote (the possible illegitimate son of a great-uncle-by-marriage...) but I've given the details to my dad's cousin in case he wants to research his possible half-brother further :) As you can imagine, there is quite a lot for him to digest and it may be some time before he orders the certificate.
Cimbrio
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As we [think we] know Edwin's birth date, I tried looking for a death of an Edwin who had that same birth date, but nothing came up.
There are a number of possible reasons I can think of straight away for this:
1. He may still be alive - in which case we really shouldn't be talking about him in a public forum.
2. He may have died since the registers were last updated.
3. He may have been adopted and gone by another name altogether.
4. He may have emigrated.
And maybe umpteen more possibilities that I can't think of just at the moment.
STG
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My great grandfather was given up for adoption by his mother Edith Brown. He was the illegitimate son of hers but I do not know who his real father is. The Wilton family adopted him.
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Hi Smurfette, that's very interesting. Was your grandfather born in 1917 in Dilwyn? Presumably he was if you think this is the same person - Edith Brown is a fairly common name. Did he use a different name as an adult?
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That's just it. There are no records whatsoever about the father. Not a name, not even a birth year. All I have is that she gave up the baby and that he was illegitimate. The Wilton family adopted him. There is not even a mention of what the fathers name might of been.
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Have you tried working out your great-grandfather's birth year from his date of death (if he is deceased), and if so, was it 1917? How do you know that Edith Brown was his mother? Were there any links to Little Dilwyn? Presumably his name was not Edwin C.J.?
Sorry about asking so many questions - Edith Brown is a fairly common name so I think it's worth cross checking the facts before concluding that your great-grandfather and William Ernest Baugh's child were one and the same.
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Hello all,
Just to let you know I have received Edwin's birth certificate, and I'm happy to report he IS the son of Edith Jane Brown.
I've written an article about him in my blog (see link on my profile, below the kitty picture) in case anyone's feeling inspired to dig a bit more with me.
Best wishes
Cimbrio