Cora Susannah - who are you?

[Pheno]

This 1881 census for Brighton is my starting point (RG11/1091/33/14) summary below and the one and only census time I can find Cora (mistranscribed as Lora on one site).
1881 1 Poplar Passage, Brighton
Edward Hornsby M Hd 33 Sussex - Brighton
Corah (Lorah) "  M Wf  31  Sutton
Albert      "            Son  6  London
George  "               Son  5  London
Margaret  "           Dau  4  Sussex - Brighton
Florance   "           Dau  2  Sussex - Brighton
Magdalen  "          Dau  3mo  Sussex - Brighton

This is the only time I have tabs on either Albert or George - not even birth registrations.

Not sure what happened to Florance but Margaret & Magdalen are in a Catholic Orphanage in Brighton in 1891 (RG12/803/76/13) although Margaret is Hornsby and Magdalen is Hanbury. This surname is subject to many variations and can be Hornsbury, Hornberry, Hornby and Hornsby to name a few (oh and Hanbury as above).

I find Margaret once again in 1911 in Surrey and Magdalen all through the censuses and the 1939 register until her death in 1957 in Chelsea, London.

Assuming the reason for the orphanage was parental death I then discovered the death of a Cora Susannah Hornsbury in Q4 1887 Brighton, age at death given as 39 thus an estimated birth year of 1848.

An online tree has Cora Susanna's maiden name as Donnelly but I can't find anything that would substantiate this - I can't find any Hornsbury/Donnelly marriages.

The only Cora Susanna marriage I can find is Q3 1874 in Marylebone of a Cora Susannah Evstaphieve to a Robert Jeans Rose but as I can't find this couple in 1881 it's conceivable I suppose that she left him and teamed up with Edward Hornsbury.  Needless to say I can't find a birth for a Cora Susanna Evstaphieve anywhere.

I haven't found Edward in any census after 1881 either, so possibly he has died but haven't spotted a suitable registration or maybe he is with sons Albert & George & maybe Florance? hiding somewhere under a mistranscription.

Is any super sleuth able to find anything about any of the above other than Magdalen please?

Thanks, Pheno

[dawnsh]

Hi Pheno

Cora Susannah is a really unusual combination of first names. I did an all events search on freebmd and there were only 6 entries!

Along with the death of Cora in 1887 is the marriage in London in 1874 you found but an online tree suggests she was American, got married here and returned back to the USA

Another online tree suggests a marriage in 1885 which could be this

Dec 1885
Donnelly, Susanna, Brighton    2b   431   
Hornsbury, Edward Albert,  Brighton    2b   431

I can't find the marriage anywhere online but others might. If not, you may need to rule it out by buying the cert from the GRO.

[avm228]

I think you can safely rule out Cora nee Evstaphieve as she and Robert Jeans Rose were having a family in Palermo, Sicily in the late 1870s/early 1880s (Robert, born in Palermo in 1848, was by that time the British Consul there).

They had the following children in Palermo:

Robert, 02 June 1877
Edmund, 10 June 1881
Ethel Beatrice 18 August 1882

She is likely to be the Cora Eustaphiene Rose who died in Kensington in 1890 aged 44.  Robert J Rose born Palermo appears in London in the 1891 census as a widower, with sons Robert and Edmund.

[Pheno]

Thank you Dawn and AVM for your input.

I realise I have made the fundamental mistake, whilst not accepting an online tree as gospel and trying to substantiate it, of assuming that the Cora/Lora of the 1881 census was actually the Cora Susannah of the online tree.  In 1881 she is only listed as Cora and I assume the Susanna in the online tree arises so that it ties in with the 1885 marriage of Susanna Donnelly to Edward Albert Hornsbury.

It appears that there is no actual proof that the Cora of 1881 is actually Susanna of 1885 - why be listed as Cora in 1881 if married under the name Susanna 4 years later in 1885.  As you say I might have to resort to purchasing that marriage certificate if it cannot be found online.

I really need to trace Susanna Donnelly back to find her previous to the marriage of 1885.

Regards, Pheno

[clairec666]

Any further information on Cora's birthplace in 1881? Is it Sutton Surrey? If so, that's in Epsom registration district, and there were no children with the first name Cora born there between 1848 and 1850.

[Lostris]

I had a look on FreeBMD, in the Brighton Dist. for the 3 lasses (Florance, Margaret, Magdalen) Birth Index entries, but drew a blank even with the use of a wilcard search.

So no chance of getting Cora's Maiden name via a Birth Cert ....

[avm228]

Magdalen's probate index entry (1957) gives her name as "Hornsbury, Mary Elizabeth otherwise Magdalene".

Administration of her estate was granted to Margaret Mary Theresa Buss - presumably her sister who as Margaret Hornsbury married Henry S(amuel) Buss in Reigate, Jun qtr 1920.

Still can't find birth registrations, though!

[Christine53]

The online tree which has been mentioned gives other children of Edward Hornsbury and Cora/Susannah. There is a Richard Hornsbury b 1885 in Brighton with the image of his birth certificate attached :

Richard Hornsbury 14 Jan 1885 65 John Street ,Edward Hornsbury housepainter  journeyman, and Susannah Hornsbury , formerly Donnelly.

Richard Hornsbury died J-S 1885 , aged 0 , Brighton 2b 139

( I'm not sure I should have been able to access this image. When I returned to look again it wasn't there and I found I was looking at a different version of the same tree. The version with the image attached is a private tree ! It must be an Ancestry glitch. I found it again by going to my history so I wasn't imagining it. )

[avm228]

There is an Albert Edward Hornsbury born 1876, Roman Catholic, who served as an Army airman in WW1.  His civilian occupation was tailor's presser.

As the "person to be informed of casualties" he named Tom Hornsbury of 43 Brooksby St, Barnsbury (London).

Not yet sure whether this is the 6 yr old Albert found in 1881.