Huge Gaps in Children?

[Just Kia]

[Posting here because I don't know which county is right. West Brom is Staffs? Oldbury is Worcs? Both are West Mids?]

Ivy WIMBUSH b Q1 1915 West Brom mmn LONG (died mid 1990s)
Harriet WIMBUSH b Q2 1923 West Brom mmn LONG (died same Q)

I know the only way to be 100% sure is to buy the certs but funds simply do not allow that at present, so I'm simply asking for opinions and/or outside the box thinking...

I have Samuel WIMBUSH (c1875) m. Alice LONG (c1877) Q2 1899 Oldbury. They had 4 children by 1911: William 1900; Alice 1901; Samuel 1903; Thomas 1906.
There aren't any other WIMBUSH - LONG marriages and this couple is in the right place.

Alice (1901) married in 1922. She would be too young to be Ivy's mother and married by the time Harriet was born.

Is it reasonable/probable/likely that Ivy & Harriet are the daughters of Samuel & Alice? She'd have been around 29 When Thomas was born, 38 for Ivy and 46 for Harriet. That seems awfully big gaps between children.

[lizdb]

Did Samuel or Alice leave a Will?
That might mention children, and would be cheaper than two birth certs. But no guarantee it would answer your query.

[Katharine75]

I don't think it is impossible. Have you checked the period between Thomas' birth, and the birth of Ivy and Harriet for any deaths of children.
Is it possible the family lived elsewhere in the years between 1906 and 1915/23.
What about alternative spellings for Wimbush in the indexes?
Is it possible Samuel was living away from the family in that gap? Military, gaol, or the like. Just throwing ideas out there!
Katharine.

[Katharine75]

Great idea lizdb.
Also look for obituaries in the newspapers for Samuel and Alice, or their children. Fingers crossed they might mention the children/siblings.

[toni*]

its not impossible
maybe she wasnt as fertile as she used to be
 maybe the baby was a menopause baby
maybe he worked away

another thing to consider though is if another woman who was prviously a Long but married her then husband died or they divorced and she then married a Wimbush her mmn. would still have been Long
 

[Just Kia]

Hi Lizdb the Wimbush's in general seem to have been pretty bad at leaving wills. If only they had died a decade earlier - they might have been on the Anc probate calendar but Samuel died 1951 and Alice 1952.
I'll add a postal search to my wishlist (does anyone else ask for family history stuff when rellies ask what they want to for birthdays/Christmas?)

Hi Katharine the Wimbush name gets transcribed as many variations so it's possible that there's some got lost somewhere. Hadn't thought about Samuel being away for some reason - will have to look in to that. I don't think they lived anywhere else, but anything is worth considering.
Will recheck deaths, there's quite a few in the general area over a number of gens.

Hi Toni* that's a good point. There's actually quite a few second (or more) marriages in the family on the whole.

[lizdb]

Going back to Wills - I see you say Ivy dies more recently in the 1990s, presumably still a spinster?
By then more folk left Wills, and if she didnt have a family of her own, would be more likely to name neices and nephews, which can lead back to her siblings. So a Will for her would be worth pursuing.
However spending £5 or whatever it is on a Will that may or may not answer your question (may be interesting in its own right and add all sorts of other things, but may not answer your question) may not be a better idea than spending £9-25 on a birth cert that you know will definitely answer yuor question about parentage.

Of course another route is to look at PArish registers for Christeneings for these two children, if you know wherabouts they lived, and if they were C of E and had their children christened.  I see you are in Warwickshire, so that might be the easiest way - to take a trip to the record office that covers wherever they were living in 1911 and hope they hadnt moved far before 1915/23.

[Just Kia]

Ivy had married in 1935. I haven't looked into her children (if any) though.

I do love to read Wills, maybe I'm just nosey but those that the Wimbushs have left do often contain a fair bit of info.
To me the certs and wills are definitely worth the money, I've purchased a fair number in the past and will do so again the future - just have to make my through this season in life.

I've recieved some great ideas on this thread and will gradually follow them through. Many thanks to everyone.

[mshrmh]

JustKia - an interesting discussion, as I have similar patterns in my family. I have children born virtually annually in some branches and others that start off, have a long pause and then re-start.

Didn't this happen on one of the WDTYA programmes and they found out there was an STD responsible (syphilis perhaps) in that case? Not suggesting this is the case in your family or mine, but adding it to the mix!