India: Help please with Baker 1880's West Bengal

[hepburn]

Bravo and Hurrah.....I'll have a nosy...

[hepburn]

Where are they in the 1901?

[chris2705]

I have found the record of Cedric's birth in 1897 and ordered a copy of the certificate which should now throw some light on his father at last.

[hepburn]

The Baker's are on the move again..........
edric  Stansmore leaving Bombay ,arriving London 1931......Indian army.

[chris2705]

Thank you so much for turning up these finds. These Baker's are not making this easy! So we have Cedric travelling from Bombay to England in 1931, Frederick going from Bombay to England in 1925 maybe some or all of them decided to return to India?

I have been trying to find some record of the siblings in England after the 1911 census but cant find a single record for any of them 

[chris2705]

I found a bit more about Cedric. He enrolled in the Military Academy in Saugor (India) in 1916 and was attached to the 5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) in 1917. In 1919 they fought in the 3rd Afgan War and were in the 2nd Infantry Brigade, at first under Brig-Gen Thelwell and then under Brig-Gen Baker. Now that would have been a fairly rapid promotion by any standards so maybe there was a bit of nepotism going on and an uncle or other relative was there?

[hepburn]

Well done Chris,
                      I wonder why Helena and children gravitated to Bedford, is that significant? Were they near Katherine Freeman,?

[chris2705]

It looks as if the whole family returned to Bedford between 1894 and 1897 (but strange that there seems to be no 1901 census record). After this time, Cedric is born in Bedford in 1898 and by 1911 William has died. By 1916 we know that Cedric has gone to India to join the Indian Army (seems a long way to go and "do your duty" rather than pop down the road to the local recruiting office) My hunch is that there was an uncle or other family connection still in India. There are a number of Bakers that pop up in the regiments history. Also at some point Frederick has returned to India as well.

Mabel's address on the 1901 census (the Freeman's) is only about 1/4 mile from the address on the 1911 census so there must be some link I believe, but it is still a bit of a mystery as to why Mabel would be staying by herself. It could be that the others went off somewhere in the meantime and left her temporarily in the care of some friends?

[hepburn]

Looks like they went en masse back to India before 1901 leaving Mabel here..Oh well,back to the hunt.....