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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: TheOnlyRogueAngel on Monday 21 May 18 13:46 BST (UK)
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I've been looking for an ALENA Speed, in Lambeth London for years now with no success. She was known to have had a child Percy in 1899 in Lambeth, London. He was illegitimate and adopted by John and Sarah Jane Cousins from Dorset.
No birth, baptismal or marital records can be found for an ALENA Speed, so I have assumed it is a shortening of a longer name e.g. Magdalena, Helena etc. Still no luck in tracking her down as there are so many.
I'm asking for help in tracking her down through census records. I'm hoping someone here can please help find her.
Thanks you.
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Hi,
Could her name be Eleanor? There are a few around in the London area including Lambeth.
Lindsey
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Hi
There actually is an Alena Speed in Lambeth 1891.
Even if it was your Alena, how would you know?
What are the sources for Alena/Percy/Lambeth?How do you know that the Cousin family adopted Percy?I assume that it was an informal adoption?
Ray
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Hi,
Do you have Percy's bc which states his mother to be Alena or is the information on his mother from the baptism record?
The reason I ask is that I wonder if the mother's christian name is Alma and that the baptism record has been mistranscribed.
JJ
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Just looked at the image of Percy's baptism, it could very well be Alma rather than Alena ???
The address given is 41 Jeffery's Road. There are a number of baptisms on the same page with the same address.
JJ
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It would appear that 41 Jeffrey's Road, Lambeth was Clapham Maternity Hospital, opened in 1889.
JJ
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There's an Alma Speed born q2 1873, Kensington
Vol 1a page 4
JJ
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1891 -
John Ives 29
Anne Ives 25
Ethel Ives 1 6/12
John C Ives 4/12
Alma Speed sister 17 b. Kilburn, London Dom Serv.
RG12 Piece 7 Folio 112 Page 53, Paddington, London
JJ
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Baptism for the above Alma -
Alma Speed
Baptism 2 Apr 1873, St Augustine, Paddington
Father - John Speed, Horsekeeper
Mother - Sarah Maria Speed
Abode - Queen Anne's Yard
JJ
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1881 -
John Speed 43 Horse Keeper
Sarah A. Speed 17
John Speed 15
Jennie Speed 10
Alma Speed 8
Benjamin Speed 5
Frederick Speed 3
RG11 Piece 8 Folio 91 Page 7
JJ
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There is a marriage of an Alma Speed in 1908, Barton upon Irwell. On the marriage cert her age is recorded as 27 ??? Father's name is John Speed, Blacksmith.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSNT-PRN
On the 1911 Alma Higgins' place of birth is Kilburn, London.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XWBD-MFY
Perhaps she altered her age because of marrying a younger man ( it has been known :) )
JJ
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Do you have Percy's bc which states his mother to be Alena or is the information on his mother from the baptism record?
The reason I ask is that I wonder if the mother's christian name is Alma and that the baptism record has been mistranscribed.
Looking at the handwriting on the baptism entry I agree with JJen that the mother's christian name is most likely Alma.
Take a look at the way the same clergyman wrote the 'm' in 'salesman'.
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Ray, I got the information from the baptism record, and found Percy on the 1901 census living with Jesse and Sarah Jane Cousins, listed as their adopted son.
* Lindsey, Alena could very well be Eleanor. Thank you.
JJen - That's great. I couldn't find an 1891 entry for Alena, just Helena and Ellen and an Annie Magdalena. I didn't think of Alma. Thank you for the census record posts, I'll certainly be looking into them. :D
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JJen, I see, clearly Alma when you know how to look at these things. I've transcribed records before, so I know it's not easy to always get it right. Thank you so much for your help. :)
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If your only source of information is the baptism, then it might be worth obtaining the birth certificate to confirm the mother's name, which, I'm pretty sure, will be Alma, as suggested by JJ.
interestingly Percy's birthplace in the 1911 is given as Stepney Crossway according to Family
Search? http://www.rootschat.com/links/01m3k/
Googling this doesn't produce anything, but a suggested alternative is 'Stepney Causeway' which proves to have been a Barnardo's Home. http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/StepneyDB/ So maybe this is where he was placed after his birth, and is the place from which the Cousins family adopted him?
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I did wonder about that. I was looking for a 1901 census entry for Percy, but couldn't find one, and Googled the Stepney Crossway/Causeway, coming to the same conclusion. We can only surmise that his mother left him there after his baptism.
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I was looking for a 1901 census entry for Percy, but couldn't find one
Percy is in Hampreston, Dorset, as a ‘nurse child’ with what looks like Jesse and Sarah Jane Cousins in 1901.
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Okay. Thank you. :)
Where did you find that.? I looked through FamilySearch and Ancestry.co.uk... or maybe I just need glasses. :D
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You can find him on both Ancestry and Family Search as Percey Speed born 1900.