Francis Foster Birth Record?

[peakoverload]

I am having a real problem tracing my mothers side of my family tree and one of the areas is in regards to my Great Grandfather Francis Foster.

My 2x Great Grandfather was William Foster who I know a lot about as he was a very wealthy and influential man and held lots of offices in the town of Leigh-On-Sea, Essex including being the first chairman of the Parish council. William was married twice and Francis was his only child with his second wife, Mary Susannah Rush (who was previously married to Henry Gould Beadel with whom she had 8 children).

There has always been a bit of mystery over Francis in the family in that all the Fosters had been baptised, married and buried mostly in St.Clements Church yet Francis appears to not have been and nobody knows where he was buried/cremated. Also Francis didn't seem to have any of his fathers business skills and 'only' aspired to be a decorator and lost the family fortune after his fathers death. It was therefore rumored that perhaps Francis wasn't William's son after all, although no evidence as yet confirms this. Indeed Francis appears on every census from age 10 in 1881 with his parents which possibly suggests that he is Williams son.

However I can find no birth record anywhere for him even though I have been able to find birth and marriage records for his father and mother. I have tried searching FreeBMD, Ancestry, TheGenealogist and Familysearch without success.

William Foster and Mary Sussanah Rush were married 13/12/1870 in Rayleigh

Francis Foster (usually called Frank) was born 1871 but the location varies. On all the census records where he is living with his parents, his place of birth is given as Barking, Essex. Yet on later census records when he was head of the family it's given as Leigh-On-Sea, Essex.

The only birth of a Francis Foster in 1871 where the father was a William Foster was one in Edmonton but I've ordered this Birth Certificate and it's not correct as the mother is someone completely different and the occupation of the William Foster on that is that of a Baker which wasn't anything like that of my 2x Great Grandfather.

Any ideas as to how I might find his birth record as I would like to order his birth certificate or why he might be missing from any records?

Incidentally I've tried searching for his birth under Frank and also under the surname of Rush and Beadel in case he was an illegitimate son of Mary Susannah Rush but both draw blanks.

[CaroleW]

Hi

He is not with William and Mary on the 1871 census by which time Mary was 47 and William was 52 but is shown as 10yrs old in 1881

Either he was born after the census - or is the illegitimate son of either one of Williams daughters or one of Mary's.  Probably one of William's given the Foster surname

Failure to register a birth only became a fineable offence in 1874/75 so many births went unregistered prior to then so you would be dependant on finding a baptismal record to get to the bottom of his parentage

[wozzle]

in 1871 the parents are in leigh rochford reg dist with no francis
in 1881 they are in the same place
which would suggest he was born after the census in 1871 and the birth should be regd in rochford reg dist
is he the one who dies in 1948 in rochford reg dist aged 77(so born c1871)
i have had a look in rochford reg dist but cannot see a birth that would fit
could he have been adopted ?

[peakoverload]

Thanks both for your replies. Yes Francis is the one who died in 1948 in Rochford.

So, if I work on the assumption that Francis was legitimate but his birth wasn't registered, would that mean that there isn't a birth certificate for him?

If he was illegitimate then, as you say, it's a case of hoping to find a baptismal record to prove parentage. Familysearch don't seem to have one so I guess that means relying on parish records which I believe means a trip to the Essex Records Office. The trouble is, how on Earth do you work out what parish the baptism might have been recorded in?!?!?

If he was adopted is there any way of proving that, are there any adoption records for back then? Who/where would the adoptions be recorded with?

Thanks again for your help

[CaroleW]

Hi

would that mean that there isn't a birth certificate for him?

Unfortunately - yes

If he was adopted is there any way of proving that, are there any adoption records for back then? Who/where would the adoptions be recorded with?

Adoptions in those days were informal affairs between the respective parties so there are no records.  Legal adoptions were not introduced until (I think) 1927

[CaroleW]

The trouble is, how on Earth do you work out what parish the baptism might have been recorded in?!?!?

In 1871 -  William & Mary were living in the Civil Parish of Leigh - Ecclesiastical parish St Clement so you may want to start any search there