Ann Walters Frome Workhouse

[John Walters]

I am trying to track down my gggrandmother Ann Walters.  I believe she gave birth to my ggrandfather William in 1836 while she was resident at the Frome, Somerset, Workhouse (which had only just been opened).  Ann was unmarried.
I am certain my ggrandfather William enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in Cork, Ireland in 1857.  It may be a stretch to connect the two but there is circumstantial evidence.
I found in the 1841 census an Ann Walters living with a family called Bailey in Bristol.  Ann aged 20 had with her two children William and Alfred born 1836 and 1839, so the dates fit.  In addition Mrs Bailey came from Ireland.
There is also another possible Irish connection.  The Earl of Cork appeared to own a substantial amount of land in Frome so clearly his agent/bailiff may have had some connections in Cork.
I am trying to establish (1) whether the Ann who gave birth to William in Frome in 1836 is indeed my gggrandmother, and (2) whether she did go to Cork with her two sons in 1841 or subsequently.
According to Ann's baptismal records, if this is the correct Ann, her father was Robert and her mother was Ann and she was baptised in Axbridge in 1822.
I am hoping that someone with access to the Frome Workhouse records may be able to find a reference to Ann and her family and orgins.
Similarly if anyone has access to Irish records and can find Ann in Cork it would be great!
Any help or suggestions would be most welcomed.
John

[Paco]

Welcome to Rootschat.
If the 1822 record for Ann is the correct person then she would only have been 14 years old when she gave birth to William.
I have found details on FreeREG for the birth of William 25-7-1836 baptised 24-9-1836 in the Frome Workhouse if this is the right person. Do you have the birth certificate for your GGrandfather stating William was his father?
regards.

[rosie99]

Hi John

Welcome to rootschat.

It looks as though the Baileys in 1841 have several lodgers, he was a brewer.  There is an Ann Bailey who would 'fit' this couple a widow but still living in Bristol in 1851 (born Ireland).

Where do you have your William on later census.  Who and where did he marry. 

Rosie

[John Walters]

Hi Paco and Rosie

Thank you both for your interest and help in trying to track down my elusive gggrandmother Ann and her children.  I will try and answer your questions as best I can.
Paco.  No, I don't have a copy of my grandfather William's birth certificate but I am satisfied that his mother was Lucy Puttock and she married my ggrandfather William in Guildford, Surrey, when he was a soldier in the Grenadier Guards.  I have had information from the Archivist of the Grenadier Guards, Lt. Col. Seymour, of William's service record and the fact that he died in service in May 1861 before his son William was born later that year.
So, from ggrandfather William's enlistment in the Grenadier Guards I am comfortable I have the family tree recorded accurately.  It is ggrandfather William's birth and his mother and their antecedents which are shrouded in mystery!
Rosie.  I found ggrandfather William in the 1861 census when he was in barracks with his regiment and as I mentioned above he married Lucy Puttock and I have seen his marriage certificate.  Incidentally, he stated on his marriage certificate that his father's name was Richard and that he was a cordwainer.
Now, either he glided over the fact that his mother Ann was not married when he was born and his natural father was a Richard, or I have entirely the wrong Ann Walters as his mother.  Hence, my search for information on this Ann Walters who certainly gave birth to a son William in 1836.  Is she or is she not my ggrandfather William's mother?
Subsequent to my posting my enquiry on Rootsweb I have corresponded with an archivist at the Somerset Archives regarding the Frome Workhouse records.  She was very helpful but unable to give me any specific information regarding Ann and her child.  However, the records are freely available to members of the public if they go personally to the archives.  As I live in Australia this is a little difficult!  (I can pay to have a professional archivist search for me but it is rather expensive).
Again, thank you both for your interest and help.
Cheers
John

[rosie99]

Am I right in my assumption that William son of William and Lucy was born & christened in Shere, Surrey.  The marriage between his parents was in Whitechapel, Middlesex (London) in 1859, this marriage states that William was a Soldier. 

In 1861 Lucy is staying in Shere with her mother Ann and also has a daughter Lucy Walters age 1 bn Shere.  Lucys baptism shows that her father is a Private Soldier and Williams (January 1862) that he was a soldier (decd).

Is this your William in 1861 at North Camp, Farnborough age 24, a private born Westcombe, Somerset.

[John Walters]

Hi Rosie

Yes you are correct.

I made a mistake in my previous email saying that William and Lucy were married in Guildford.  I was thinking about the births of their children and didn't check my facts.

Daughter Lucy disappears from the census records after 1861 but there is a Lucy Walters recorded as dying in the Dec qtr of 1864 in Epsom, Surrey which may be her.

Cheers

John

[rosie99]

Sorry I have just got sidetracked from looking for William 

This could be daughter Lucy in 1871 though I have yet to find her later
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRNV-RQQ

and I assume her mother also 1871
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFNX-TKS

[rosie99]

Did Williams Army records give any indication of his place of birth.  When / Where did he join up.

Where did he die.

[John Walters]

Hi Rosie
Below is the information I put together regarding William's widow, Lucy.

According to my grandfather's Birth Certificate his mother was a widow and lived in Shere
Judith Puttock says Lucy was the 6th of 7 children.
This seems to be what happened to Lucy after William died.
She married Zebedee Croker, also a soldier in the Grenadier Guards in1865 but next shows up as a cook for a family in Suffolk in the 1871 census.  She is under the name of Lucy Walters (not Croker) and describes herself as a widow.  Perhaps in order to get the job she had to exhibit no family ties or she had in fact broken up with Croker and reverted to Walters as her name and as a widow which was quite 'respectable'.
In 1881 she shows up as a patient in hospital in London but this time back to her new married name of Croker.  Maybe she had reconciled with Zebedee or for administrative reasons she had to use her legal married name.
Zebedee Croker is shown in the 1881 census as married.
Lucy died in 1883.
The reason for thinking this is the correct story is that her date of birth and place of birth (Shere Surrey) keep showing up on the census records so I am 95% sure it is the same person even though different names were used.

You may well be right that the young Lucy you found is indeed William's daughter. In which case I had better try and find her descendants as they will be relatives that I didn't know existed.

Cheers

John