The whereabouts of Sidney George French Carter (1914-???)

[drhewitt]

I have reached a dead end concerning a person in my tree who is the son of my g-g-grandmother, Dora Scriven (1875-1928), but first some background.


Dora was born in 1875 and married Joseph Scriven in 1898 in London. They had six girls, one of whom died in infancy. Around 1910 Dora left her family while her husband was at work. It is thought maybe his addiction to alcohol was the cause of her disappearance. She gave a note to one of her children to give to their father and left with nothing but the clothes she was wearing and a packet of biscuits. None of her children ever saw her again.

One of her daughters, who is my g-grandmother, also called Dora, was told her mother had been admitted to an asylum but a check of the records proved this to be false.

I found Dora's whereabouts a few years ago online while searching the Free BMD registers. I discovered she had an illegitimate child with songwriter Frank William Carter in 1914. He was a bit of a player and was also married and possibly had other illegitimate children in addition to Sidney.

Frank and Dora's son, Sidney George Frank Carter, was born on 23 Sep 1914 at 26 Bowling Green Street, Kennington, Lambeth. The birth is registered under the father's name of Carter though it also appears as Scriven under the Free BMD index.

His mother was admitted to hospital in 1928 and died there. The creed register lists Dora's home address as 82 Cavendish Road, Sunbury and her nearest relative as her 13 year old son Sidney Carter. Other pertinent details indicate that she was married but separated and worked as a charwoman. I'm assuming Frank left her before she died.

Dora Carter appears in the 1926 and 1927 London Electoral records for the Parish of Sunbury living at 82 Cavendish Road. Also known as Sunbury-on-Thames, this is a town and London suburb in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne.

Sidney was 13 at the time of his mother's death. He had relatives on his father's side, but no one on his mother's side of the family even knew he existed or that his mother had an affair. What happened to him after this is unknown. He could have enlisted in WWII or moved abroad. If alive today he would be 100 years old.

I have examined various London electoral records without any success. Sidney is quite a popular name and it is not known if he would have included his middle names on any public records.

I did find a possible death certificate for him but was unable to find the marriage to G. D. Carter which would have confirmed his father's name. The year of birth is one year too early (1913) but the informant could have got it wrong, though unlikely as the informant was the spouse.

Death: 15 July 1957
Metropolitan Convalescent Home, Walton
Sidney Carter
Age 44 (1913)
19 Brookfield Road, South Hackney
Occupation: Typist
Cause: 1a Coronary Thrombosis
Informant: G.D. Carter, Widow of deceased, same address

Sidney would have turned 18 in 1932. When the 1939 Registers become available on Findmypast I might have more luck but until then I have hit a dead end.

Can anyone help?

[NDRFT]

Hi

What a disconcerting yet enthralling tale.

Have you considered perhaps making an inquiry with Dr Barnardo's www.barnardos.org.uk and see if they have any knowledge of Sidney as a child?

I think your search is going to be a struggle for even though he would be 100 the Data Protection rules will make your search difficult.

There are proprietary web sites / organisations who help in the case of missing or adopted children who can also help, you may have to register your interest. Have a look here:

http://www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk/

NDRFT

[KGarrad]

His birth registration on FreeBMD is:

December qtr 1914
Lambeth district     vol 1d, page 599

Carter, Sydney G F     Mother's maiden name: Madell

And also has this postem:
Illegitimate son of Francis Wm CARTER & Dora Maud SCRIVEN, nee MADELL. See Family Tree mag for MArch 2011 article on Dora

[drhewitt]

KGarrad,

I wrote that article!!! But it was more about Dora and Frank than their son as I have discovered no new information on Sidney.

[drhewitt]

NDRFT,

I did not think of doing this. Would he have been too old to go to Dr Barnardos?

The school leaving age was 14 at the time and he was still 13. Almost old enough to go out and work.

I think contacting Dr Barnardo's would be worth doing.

Thank you.

[drhewitt]

NDRFT,

I just applied to Dr's Barnados for their research search.

concerning your other suggestion, I found this...

Adoption

After  an  adoption  order  is  made,  an  adoption  certificate  is  issued.  The  original  birth  entry
remains, but if an original birth certificate is subsequently purchased, the word “adopted“ will
be noted on it. The index to the Adopted Children’s Register is available to the public to view
at the libraries and archives listed below.

The  indexes  provide  only  very  limited  information  including  a reference number  which  you can  then  use  to  request  a  copy of  the  certificate. There  are  however  rules  about  the
information that must be provided before a certificate can be issued.

Certificates of adoption can  only  be  issued  by  the  General Register Office. However
original  birth  certificates  for adopted  people  can  be  issued  either  by  the  GRO  or  the  local  Register  Office  provided the name and place of birth is known.


So am I to understand that if he was adopted, the word "adopted" would appear on his original birth certificate?


Edited to add, after looking at Sidney's birth certificate, the word "Adopted" is not added as a marginal note, so it is safe to say he was not adopted.

[drhewitt]

KGarrad,

The surname spelling is Sidney on the birth certificate.

I think researching this will be difficult since one could spell his name Sydney or Sidney.

[wilcoxon]

There is a probate on Anc for a Sidney George Carter 30 Priory Field ,Upper Beeding,  Sussex.
Died 9 July 1955.
Probate Lewes to Mary Carter - widow.
Effects £3103. 19s.

A check on BMD has Sydney G Carter death  aged 39 . Sept qtr 1955. Chalconbury  in the county of Sussex.
Again - not quite the right year of birth, but .....

[drhewitt]

Wilcoxon,

Thank you for that information. It puts his birth in 1916 or 1915 at the earliest.

It's hard to say without the "French" part of his name.

Looks like the spelling of his name was interchangeable on the BMD entry and probate entry.

I shall have to think about this.