Hayes

[ColinBH]

I am trying to trace my grandfather - name of William Hayes, born 1892 in Comber. He joined the RN as a boy then eventually ended up as a Lieutenant in 1919. However, he also had the name of Wilfred Reginald Hayes (BMDs) There was a scandel in that he bigamously married in 1920, but denied that it was him, saying that he had a twin brother! We can find no trace of him _ either birth cert nor after his court case, in Taunton, Devon. He apparently surfaced again in about 1929/30 but disappears off the map again. We have a Birth cert for a William Robert Hoy born on the same date in Comber, but, appart from the initials and fathers name being the same, have no idea whether this is him or not!
Anyone out there who can help, or who has any ideas???

[obbie]

this is him id say on english 1911 census , i put in down as a filter .

Information removed- please see this topic- 1911 Census- copyright guidance:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,355485.0.html

ok !
Added : enter name and 1892 search then research using down as place of birth only one hit .
gives correct name age place of birth and where living probaly on ship or naval base .

[obbie]

on
http://www.ancestryireland.com/index.php?ai_home
you can search for williams birth free pay to buy cert (no wilfreds)

on
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=2;t=searchable;c=1408347
you can search
closest
charles wilfred hayes births 1892 volume 1 page 588 lurgan
william john hayes births 1893 v1 p225 belfast

on
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
cant find a wilfred or william right age on 1901 census (dad robert ?)

is it possible that he was an orphan at young age and joined navy as a child not just young ?
have you got his naval papers from kew ? might be worth getting .

[ColinBH]

We have his naval record as a seaman, which gives the ships he served on which seem to correspond to some of the ships we know of. Am unable to access his naval record at present as I need the permissionn of an aged aunt and uncle who both have no desire to dig up the scandel!
He apparently had a sister, who may or may not have appeared in Bristol, and who he apparently was to meet with his bigamous bride in Carrickfergus. He also stated that a large estate in Ireland was his mother's, but that she had to sell because of mounting debts!
These may all be stories, as his name changes, and other 'facts' which came out at his trial, seem to be interwoven with fantasy. His seaman's record state his d.o.b and place, and that he was an under gardener.

[aghadowey]

Have you found any newspaper reports about the trial? this is the sort of story that reporters would have delighted in writing about and while some of the comments may be exaggerated there might be some useful clues.

[ColinBH]

Good newspaper articles - but, and this is a big 'but' - the Lieutenant's story seems to be fiction, as no trace of him, nor his fictitious brother, have been found at the two schools mentioned. The supposed engineering co. where he said he had served a little of an apprenticeship does not appear to exist either.
Much, if not all, of our information actually derived from the newspaper articles, as immediate family - my uncle and aunt - do not have any information, and none was kept when my grandmother died. She had had, apparently, kept some of the papers.
A few stories seem to ring true, like the sinking of his ship by torpedo in the Med, and he did serve on HMS Aurora, among others. There is a Lt. William Hayes in the navy lists - supplied by another source - that appears to be him as his progression leads to him being our man, and he disappears off the list around 1920, when he would have been in prison for bigamy!

[DeeDeeM]

I have reason to belive that this might also be my husbands grandfather.  He is known to us as William Bruce Mayes but  know that he used the names Hoy and Hayes.and our records match. He dissappeared around 1932.We are in Belfast Northern Ireland and have been searching for some time.Can you contact me.Thanks

[Wexflyer]

I know that Hayes and Hay are simply variant spellings of the same name, and I believe Hoy is also.

Here is William's birth registration in 1892
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1892/02351/1879016.pdf

Here is his parent's marriage in 1887
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1887/10799/5938418.pdf

As William's mother was a markswoman and a servant, the daughter of a laborer, it seems very highly improbable that she was possessed of a "large estate"!

[Wexflyer]

Bigamy is such a loaded term. In these days of tolerance and diversity, surely we should say that his second marriage was simply improperly documented?