Gran's a mystery!

[Mickytom]

I am suddenly having a totally unforeseen nightmare with my paternal grandmother, Annie Evans. Found her, together with her "parents" and siblings, on the 1891 and 1901 censuses for Bedwellty, aged 1 and 11; already have her marriage and death certificate and know to within a year when she was born and where she should have been born. Trouble is, the local registrar in Tredegar, south Wales has now very kindly checked 32 birth entries for Ann/Anne/Annie Evanses in Bedwellty, covering the late 1880s and early 1890s and none of them match the details of who I think her parents should be, i.e. Joseph and Anne Evans. Visits to Tredegar library and Gwent County Archives have failed to uncover her baptism in the parish records for Rhymney, Bedwellty or Tredegar, St George's, but then again I've not found details of baptisms for any of her siblings either, although I know they were all registered in Bedwellty. I also know that her "parents" were married in St David's Church, Rhymney.

What is curious is that she does not appear on a list of children inscribed by her "mother" on the flyleaf of a religious book in her possession; she would have been the last born, but her mother was still alive in 1901 when Annie was 11. It has been put to me that Annie may have been the subject of an informal adoption, and that her biological parents weren't who I thought they were. Also, in 1891 when she is aged 1, she has a 15 year-old sister with her in the house who is detailed as a "scholar", which has been pointed out to me as unusual for working class people for that time.

Anybody have any ideas?

Mike T   

[janan]

My first thought is that the 15 year old sister is the mother. Is she the next one up from Annie? If so it does seem a huge gap - know it happens but it would arouse my suspicion.
Jan

[Mickytom]

Thanks, Jan, I've already been considering that option. The 15 year-old sister is, in fact, the eldest of six children, two of whom died in infancy, with Annie being (possibly!) the youngest. If Annie did prove to be the offspring of who I originally thought her parents were, then her mother would have been around 40 when she was born; old for that era? If she proves to be the offspring of someone else, what would the implications be for the civil registration of the birth which, I understand, by that time was a legal requirement?

Mike T

 

[Mair]

If you can't find any of the children were they baptised at all?

Can you find a school that they went to?  This may indicate which denomination if any the family continued to follow.  I know this may sound odd but stranger things have happened.  Also, it has been known for baptisms not to immediately follow the birth of the child but happen on a religious day, or a relatives birthday things like that. 

Re BMD registration was required but it may again not be in the district you would be looking for!  If a child was adopted you would have to see if they were "taken in" or was the adoption done through the legal process - on which I am no expert!

You may have to move foward find a marriage certificate and then go back again.

Good Luck

[janan]

Hi Mike
This excellent site tells you all you need to know about registration

http://www.dixons.clara.co.uk/Certificates/indexbd.htm

If she was her sister's child you should be able to find her birth registration, if she was adopted she'd be registered under her birth parent/s name/s which could be anything

Jan