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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lancashire => Topic started by: elinor14 on Monday 27 August 18 13:03 BST (UK)
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Hello!
Bit of a newbie here but I've exhausted all avenues in searching for what happened to my great-aunt.
We know that she was born to John Thomas Wickstead (1880-1924) and Mary Sheridan (1886-1924) in 1921:
Births Mar 1921
Wickstead Joan Sheridan Toxteth P. 8b 255
However as her parents both died within a week of eachother in 1924 when she was only 3, we don't know what happened to her after that. There is talk of her being put in the care of her aunt Rachel Hughes (b.1889 nee Wickstead) and her husband, but the 1939 register has a black 'this record is closed' line across a third member in the household (as far as we know Rachel and William Hughes had no children of their own so we think this might be her). I've searched for marriage and death records but none of them match the stories I've heard from now deceased family members. Is there any way I could see if her name might have been changed to that of her guardian? I've found a family tree with her in it on a website but they have it listed that she died in 1941 despite there being no record of this, and when contacted the owner had heard from family members that she had died in childbirth at the age of 20, in which the child survived. However again I cannot find any record of this.
I'm sorry if this is just a spam of information or I've posted in the wrong place, but please if anyone has any tips let me know. It would be much appreciated as I seem to have hit a brick wall with this one!
Elinor
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There are 4 babies born MMN Wickstead 1941, one a female registered North Liverpool.
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Can't find a death with same surname as Liverpool baby.
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Hi!
Thank you for your reply, yes I'd seen that but for them to have different surnames that would mean she would have had to have been married to the father wouldn't it? Or would they have the fathers surname if born out of wedlock? Because I can't find any marriage records for a Joan Wickstead in the right time frame?
Thanks :)
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Boy registered South Liverpool MMN Wickstead again no death of female with that surname 1941
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If she died in 1941 as Joan Wickstead, her 1939 register entry shouldn't be redacted as it was still being updated until 1991.
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She may have married elsewhere, both children from the Liverpool area have Irish surnames. She may have also taken the name of her guardians.
Have you checked that there wasn't a birth to the couple you found on the 1939 register.
Family tales aren't always 100% true, could it be she went abroad during or after the war. She may have joined one of the services or become a land girl etc. Lots of young woman ended up marrying foreign servicemen, possibly married after emigration.
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Sometimes it's possible to get an inkling of a redacted name if there are any "tails" of letters ( such as g, j, p, q or y) spilling over on to the line below.
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By all accounts she was a sickly girl so not likely to have gone abroad. The couple in the 1939 register (her aunt and uncle) don't appear to have had any children either
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Sometimes it's possible to get an inkling of a redacted name if there are any "tails" of letters ( such as g, j, p, q or y) spilling over on to the line below.
Hi! I've tried but it well and truly covers all of it
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She may not have been on the 1939 register at all. As a girl aged 18 at the start of the war she may have joined one of the services before 29th September and her name would not then be recorded.
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a possibility?
1939
Name: Joan Hughes
[Joan Morris] - (married name)
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 6 Feb 1921
Residence Year: 1939
Address: 18
Residence Place: Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales
Occupation: House maid
Schedule Number: 101
Sub Schedule Number: 3
Enumeration District: ZKJD
Registration district: 621 3
Household Members:
Name
Baden Powell
Elsie Powell
Joan Hughes
I cant see a birth for a Joan Hughes in Mar qtr 1921 that looks likely as they were all in London
edit:- possibly not as on her marriage to Robert Morris she gives her father's surname as Powell
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Did she have siblings?. I can see several Wickstead children with mmn Sheridan a little older than Joan. If her siblings, who looked after them?
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How do we know she was born in 1921? If she was registered in Q1 1921, she might have been born in December 1920.
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Thank you all so much for the help,
Joan had 6 siblings:
Bertha Sheridan (1907-1973)
Thomas Sheridan (1909-1994)
Samuel Wickstead (1911-1912)
John Wickstead (1914-1914)
Edward Wickstead (1915-1934)
Ernest Wickstead (1918-1990)
However as Samuel and John died as infants, and Edward and Ernest were placed in an orphanage, whilst Thomas was in the navy and Bertha had her own family to look after, she wasn't placed in their care. We have spoken to Bertha's family about it and they didn't know what had happened to Joan, but my uncle Thomas recalled that she came to visit in the late 30s when he was a child.
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Suggest you get her birth certificate for exact date of birth to help in identification.
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Hi,
Another possibility?
A Joan Wickstead married Michael D Jones in Birmingham in June Qtr 1961 (see Free BMD). Subsequently a death of a Joan Jones (date of birth 3 Feb 1921) in Jan 1987 in Dudley, West Midlands.
Worth investigating?
Alan
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Hello everyone! Thank you for your help, upon searching for a Joan Hughes I've found a death in 1945 which matches her age and registers her address as 126 Smithdown Road, which is Sefton General Hospital. So sadly it seems that she died at the age of 24, and must have changed her surname to that of her guardian, Rachel Hughes (her aunt). I'm going to keep searching but unfortunately I have a feeling that this is her.
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When and where did William and Rachel Hughes die? If they had no children of their own, but had brought up Joan, then IF either of them left a Will then there would be a strong chance she would be mentioned in it, maybe even be the executor.
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Hi, thanks for the suggestion, Rachel Hughes (nee Wickstead) died in 1964, so nearly 20 years after the death I found for Joan, and William in 1954.
*edit* They both had their last address in Liverpool