Willis family (Hackney and nearby)

[GLJW]

Hello, I've so far managed to track most of my father's family lines back to about 1750, but the only one that still eludes me is the main one, Willis. I have my grandfather, Leslie Willis (brother of George, Violet and Sidney), born 1908, as the son of Matilda (nee Wilkes) and George or William Willis. The uncertainty regarding his father's name arises from the fact that Leslie's birth certificate lists him as William, a carpenter, but on Leslie's marriage certificate (1935) his deceased father is George (also 'carpenter'). Another odd point was that on the 1911 census, listing Matilda and her children, a husband is not recorded; Matilda is however listed as currently married and for eleven years to that point. A search of marriage records yielded a Matilda Susannah Wilkes having had married in 1899, so this is perhaps the same individual.

Hopefully someone out there has come across these names at some point and may be able to help me out, because I can't see any real avenue to pursue at the moment 
Thanks in advance!

[Barbara F]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat.

The 1899 marriage does not seem to be the right one as the 2 possible male spouses are  Henry Arthur  Devonald  and  Henry Godfrey.

Can you tell us from the 1911 census findings the ages and places of birth of Matilda and her children please?  We can then have a look for Matilda in the 1901 census and take it from there.

I assume the birth certificate only gave one former surname for Matilda?  Did Matilda register the birth?

Barbara

[suzard]

What is the age and p.o.b. given for matilda in 1911??


strangely there is in 1901
george william Wilkes head m 31  Handsworth Staffs (occ is ? engineer -can't read 1st word)
Susannah Matilda wife 31 handsworth Staffs
beatrice may daughter 1 Smethwick Staffs

Living in Staffs
RG13 2822 58 6

maybe this is just coincidence???

Suz

[GLJW]

Barbara F- Thank you for the reply  

The 1911 census has Matilda aged 41 (Hoxton), Violet aged 10 (Hoxton), George aged 6 (Hoxton), Sidney aged 5 (Stoke Newington), and Leslie aged 2 (Stoke Newington).

I should probably also mention, Leslie's birth certificate has the surname 'Willis' as 'Willes' (and this is how it appears on sites like FreeBMD and others)- I can't think why, because all the details match up (date of birth, location, siblings); I suppose it was the registrar's error?

The birth certificate lists Matilda as 'Matilda Willes formerly Wilkes'. I ordered the certificate from the General Register Office (I think my uncle has the original) so I assume that means the birth was registered? I have traced Matilda's Wilkes family back a further 2 generations, but I am mainly trying to get the Willis line sorted out first of all (it's always been the most vague one). With regard to the 1901 census, I have found Matilda in 1871 and 1881, but nothing after that.

Thank you for your help so far.

Suzard- it may be coincidence, but there are a few things that strike me as accurate with that information... I'm not sure though. I definitely won't discount it though, I'll look into it. Thank you for that 

[Barbara F]

I think this may be the couple you found suzard.

Marriages Dec 1894   
Billington  William Henry    W. Bromwich  6b 1250   
Horton  Martha     W. Bromwich  6b 1250   
Snooks  Susannah Matilda     W. Bromwich  6b 1250   
Wilkes  George William     W. Bromwich  6b 1250

Barbara

[suzard]

Hi Barbara,

I agree - I found that marriage - bigg coincidence with names though

The only  Matilda Wilkes marriage with Willis/Willes on same page I can find abt correct time is
Sept qtr 1898
Pontypridd
on same page
matilda Wilkes
bertram Willes/Willet
11a 585

??

Suz

[Barbara F]

Well this is interesting.

I have looked at a Matilda Wilkes b Shoreditch, daughter of George, a watchmaker from 1871 to 1891.

Then in 1901 I see a Matilda Godfrey with husband Henry Godfrey and a baby named Violet Daisy aged 5 months!

So, is this the Matilda we want?  Henry is a lot older than her - 55 to her 32.

Will check some more.

Barbara

[Barbara F]

This looks like the birth registration for the Violet I found in 1901

Dec 1900  Godfrey  Violet Daisy     Shoreditch  1c 47

There are also these births for a Violet Willis

Mar 1902 
Willis  Violet Alice    Hackney  1b 504   
Willis  Violet Emily     Poplar  1c 570   
Willis  Violet Florence     Woolwich  1d 1227

They are a bit young to match the Violet Willias in the 1911 census but not that far out.

Do you have the birth certificates of any of the children other than Leslie?

Barbara

[GLJW]

May I just say a massive thank you for all the work you've done on my behalf so far, ladies- upon reading the last responses, I recalled that my father remembered his aunt Violet (middle name Daisy as you've found) did use the name Godfrey (at least at work; she found him his first job with Royal Mail, where he observed this), which confused him somewhat. I think you've cracked something important here, thanks again!

The Matilda Wilkes, daughter of George the watchmaker is the one I have here, but quite how the Godfreys come into it all I am not certain. Perhaps I should ask my father if he can remember anything else.