Help needed: Lawrence/Marks

[jim1]

Unable to find your Arthur George in any directories.This looks like a dead end.If I can think of anything else I'll let you know.With regard to Mercy,you said you had other family members,is it possible Mercy was christened under another name?
Regards Jim

[TracyL]

Hi Jim

Thank you so much for trying for me.  As you said to me earlier, I need to step back and re-evaluate all of this.  I have discovered that Mercy Marks mother's maiden name was Morgan (Mercy's eldest brother was staying with grandparent's on the 1871 census).  I am going to visit the Birmingham Central Library as soon as I can to see if I can get any additional information.  My father has just had a triple bypass (part of the reason for trying to find his roots), which makes time a bit of an issue, but I think that this may be the only route to a bit more information.  My father did comment the other day, when given the information I have so far, that he thinks that his father may have been illegitimate and that his mother knew this, which is why she destroyed all the papers she may have had after his death (and why it was never spoken about).  I really appreciate your interest and help in this and I will certainly post anything I do discover.  Watch out for further posts  regarding any extra information I pick up. Really do appreciate your help.
With many thanks
Tracy
p.s.  are you aware of any instances where Mercy was short for any other name?

[jim1]

I don't think it's a derivative of another name,I think it belongs to that group of 'hopeful' names eg.Patience,Faith,Prudence etc. but that doesn't mean it was the name she was christened with,it's possible it was a middle name that doesn't appear on the christening info. you have.It may have been prefferred by her or her parents.They say two heads are better than one but on this occasion it doesn't seem to be the case.
Regards Jim