My first post for a while - it's good to be back! I have put this on the England board as it could go under multiple counties.
There's an awkward part of my family tree that I am currently working on and someone else's perspective might be useful.
Here's what I know:
My 3x great grandmother was called Mary Steer or Collins. She was born around 1877 in Wandsworth (according to the 1911 Census) or Clapham (according to the 1921 Census).
Although I cannot find a marriage, it appears that she first married Joseph Yalding/Yielding around 1904/1905 in Chatham, Kent.
During 1905, Joseph Yalding is in and out of Medway Union Workhouse in Kent and dies there on the 21st May 1905, he dies in the workhouse of tuberculosis which caused a collapsed lung and inhaustion. The death certificate gives his previous address as 6 Whittaker Close, Chatham.
On the 22nd May 1905, Mary is admitted to as the widow of Joseph Yalding.
On the 4th July 1905, Mary has her and Joseph's daughter called Jenty (registered as Janet) Yalding at the workhouse. The birth certificate does say that Mary's prior address is 32 Best Street, Chatham.
On the 18th July 1905, Mary and Jenty leave the workhouse.
Not long afterwards, she seems to have met my 3x great grandfather, Thomas Smith. Again, I cannot find a marriage for them.
On the 1st February 1908, Thomas and Mary have my 2x great grandfather, William John Smith in Ramsgate. The mother's maiden name on his birth certificate is Collins.
On the 16th October 1910, Thomas and Mary have a son called Henry in Ramsgate. The mother's maiden name is Yielding (this is probably an error due to Mary's previous surname).
Thomas and Mary are with the 3 children in Ramsgate on the 1911 Census. It seems that Jenty took on the Smith surname (although in adulthood did use Yielding for the birth of her children).
Thomas and Mary have another 3 children together. One I cannot find a birth record for, one has the mother's maiden name of Collins on the birth certificate and another has the mother's maiden name of Yielding.
By 1921, they are living in Portsmouth in Voller Street (where William's wife's family lived - although they are completely missing from the 1921 census). William's wife's family were Romany gypsies.
On the 1939 Register, Thomas and Mary are separated and Mary is hop picking with her other daughter.
From this, Mary seems to have been a Steer or a Collins from the mother's maiden names of her children. Yielding must have come from a misunderstanding.
From DNA matches, my gran does match descendants of Charles Steer (1819-1888) and Eliza Phillips (1821-1903) who lived in Clapham, Surrey fairly highly for what the match would be; as well as descendants of the siblings of Charles and Eliza. I'd put Mary as the grandaughter of Charles and Eliza.
However, my gran does have a higher DNA match with someone these threads seem to be about (or their close relative):
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=737979https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755534My gran matches the daughter of May Dorothy Collins at 139cM (ancestry predicts 2nd to 3rd cousin) and I am in contact with her via ancestry. On the 1911 census, May is listed as May Steer or Collins.
This leaves two people Mary (born C.1877) and May Dorothy (born 1900) sharing DNA and the combination of surnames of Steer and Collins as well as being descendants of Charles Steer. I suppose May Dorothy's mother, Lisa Collins (also born C.1877), could potentially be sisters.
This whole Steer/Collins branch seems a bit of a mess!
Anyway, let's ponder some questions to try and answer:
1) Can anyone find a marriage of Mary Steer/Collins to Joseph Yalding or Thomas Smith?
2) Can anyone find a birth/baptism for Mary?
3) Is it feasible to think that Mary and Lisa are siblings?
4) Where does this Steer/Collins combination emerge from? It should be noted that Charles's mother was a Collins.
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