Hi,
I hope someone can help me with a puzzle that's driving me up the wall relating to my wife's 2nd great-uncle.
For the relative in question, I had him married to one woman and with five children, yet on other trees they also have him married to another - the marriage date being the same year - with other children. My first assumption was that his first wife died and then he married again, however this was not the case. Here are the facts I have:
Name: Harry Vye Freemantle b. December 1874 in Billingshurst, Sussex.
1) Harry married Ethel May Kimble in 1902 - this is corroborated by a marriage document and Ethel is listed as wife and mother of his children on Harry's military service record.
2) Ethel is listed on the 1911 census as Harry's wife for over 8 years at this point, by which time 4 children have been born to the family.
3) The General Register Office (GRO) information for all 4 children born between 1907-1911 lists the mother's maiden name as Castle. All subsequent children are also listed with the mother's maiden name as Castle (11 children in total).
4) A photo on Ancestry shows the children with their mother - Annie Elizabeth Castle.
5) Harry's probate record in 1936 lists his widow Annie Elizabeth Freemantle as his benefactor.
6) Annie Elizabeth Freemantle died in November 1949 - the probate record confirms the same home address that is on Harry's probate record from 1936.
7) On other family trees, Ethel and Annie are listed as both being born in 1885 and both marrying Harry in 1902.
I can find no birth record for Annie Elizabeth Castle, but a death record for Annie Elizabeth Freemantle tied to the probate in 1949.
9) I have found a birth record for Ethel May Kimble in Shipston in Warwickshire in 1884 (which would agree with the age of 18 on the marriage record of 1902, and the 1891 census lists her father as David, who is named on the marriage certificate in 1902), but I can find no death record for Ethel May Freemantle. However, the 1911 census lists Ethel's place of birth as Lambeth.
I've read enough census and BMD docs to know that dates and places often don't tally and are reported differently, so this may account for some discrepancies, but I am perplexed.
My theory is that Ethel May Kimble and Annie Elizabeth are the same person, and Ethel changed her name, or used an alternative name, at different points of her life for whatever reason.
Has anyone seen anything comparable to this set of events, or can find anything which might shed some light either way on this? All and any advice will be gratefully received!
Many thanks,
Jon.
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