First post for a while

[adrian7886]

Hello. Not posted for a while so still consider myself a beginner.

I hadn't done any research for a while until recently. Time and a young family put a stop to that.

Anyway just wanted some opinions or some guidance please based on the following.

I was having trouble with missing names on birth certificates and the chronological orders of names.

Firstly my paternal grandmother.(Annie Louisa). Using known facts and the electoral role for Petersfield I found out she was born a Brown, married a Smith and then I believe took the name Bonner from the man she lived with (Edward Bonner) from 1920 after her husbands death in 1918. I can find no record of them ever being married.

On my fathers birth certificate and also two of his siblings there is no father recorded but they are all given the middle name Bonner. So I'm sure its a pretty good bet Edward was my paternal grandfather. My fathers surname was Smith which he took from his mother.

Strange though that I cant find out anything about Edward and with no family left to ask I guess it will be hard work.

Thanks for reading
Adrian

[liverpool annie]

Hi Adrian ! welcome home !!

Just a thought ....... you might try looking to see if Edward was in the Army .... maybe he came home from WW1 but Annie's husband didn't !

Do you happen to remember any family stories at all ??

Annie 

[liverpool annie]

As an aside ... I did check the medal cards ... there's 17 Edward Bonners !! 

Annie 

[kooky]

Have you got any dates and places for births of your father and siblings?
Someone may be able to help you if they have a little more information.
Have you looked in the 1901 census for Edward Bonner?
Have you death certs for Annie Louisa and Edward?
Kooky

[adrian7886]

Thanks for your replies

To start there is a connection with the army. One of my uncles was given a middle name of Verdun which I believe was a battle in WW1. Also my father had three medals from WW1 but these have long since been lost. I do know they weren't Edwards. He had a real dislike for his father which I never understood and he always pointed out the medals were left to him by his mother. I also know Annie's first husband Alfred Maurice Smith died of natural causes in the second qtr of1918 in Petersfield. He was quite a bit older than Annie and would have been to old to fight. My father died in 1977 so a lot of this is recalled from memories when I was a child

I have all the dates and places of birth for my father and siblings. All born between 1919 and 1923 all at 15 Osborne Road Petersfield all registered by Annie.

I have looked in the Census for Edward Bonner but I have no idea where he was from. Did he move to Petersfield or was he born there? I have so little to go on. I may concentrate on Annie as I have quite a lot of info on her but the "mystery" of Edward keeps drawing me back.

I do have Annie's death certificate which was registered by my father in 1959. She is recorded as Annie Louisa Smith but her occupation is Widow of Edward Smith !!!!!! Who on earth is he

As for Edward Bonner's death certificate I can find nothing

One hope I did have was there was a house in Heath Road Petersfield called Bonner House which had a connection to one of my uncles but the info I have is sketchy at best.

Adrian

[LizzieW]

One of my aunts who had a family name as her middle name, ran away with a married man and they both took her middle name as their surname. 

Perhaps your grandmother and Edward Bonner just decided to call themselves Smith, especially as she was already Mrs Smith and your father always knew him as Edward Smith.

I don't think that helps you much, as I can't find my uncle's death certificate in either his adopted name, or his original surname, which my mother suddenly told me a few weeks before she died.

Liz

[sillgen]

Have you tried looking at the electoral roll for that address to see what names are there?
Sorry I see you mention that!  Wills? 
Andrea

[Mr. MIGKY]

Or you could try
   
        192.com

that will give names and address of any around the area.

Migky