I have a strange one that is baffling both my cousin and I. My 2nd Great Grand Uncle was Freeman Taylor, born in Belper Derbyshire in 1850. About 1865, the family moved to Netherton, near Dudley in Worcestershire where they worked as nailers. Freeman married a Netherton girl named Zillah Fletcher but by 1891, Freeman had moved back to Belper with his family, eventually working for Midland Railways as a smithy. They had 6 children in total, but only 2 survived to 1911... 3 of them were Alicia, Elizabeth and Eva.
Now the oddity. On the 1911 census, Freeman and Zillah are living at Mill House, Chevin?, Belper, along with an adopted daughter named Dorothea Degnan (or Dignan). She is listed as being aged 13 and born in Liverpool, Lancs.
The only other mention of a Dorothea Degnan (an Irish name) is on the 1901 census. There is a record of a Dorothea Degnan (b 1898) living at 74 South Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancs with her parents Thomas Degnan (b 1873 Chesterfield, Derby's) and Alice (b 1871 Derby). Dorothea is shown to have been born in Liverpool.
Our first thought was that Dorothea's mother (Alice Degnan) could have been Alicia Taylor, Freeman's daughter, and maybe she had died (1 of the 4 children who had died by 1911) and Freeman and Zillah had adopted their grandaughter so to say.... but the birth dates for Alicia/Alice don't match - b 1880 on the 1881 and 1891 census, but Alice Degnan is said to have been born 1871 on the 1901 census. At this time people didn't just adopt children ad-hoc unless there was a connection, especially as Freeman and Zillah had their own children and were aged 60 and 55 respectively in 1911. So... can anybody tie this Dorothea Degnan to the Taylor family please? Find a marriage for Thomas Degnan to prove the maiden name of Alice? or find what happened to the taylor children?
Thanks for any advice, help, hints you can give to very confused guys
