Electoral registers

[mezentia]

I was working on the family of Walter Ernest Foster (31 Oct 1885 - 1957) and Amy Elizabeth Bolt (8 Sep 1889 - 1977) and their two children Edwin Foster (22 Apr 1920 - ) and Anstey Foster (1922 - ). The family lived in Liverpool at 106 Gidlow Road according to the 1939 register. Good old Ancestry provided me with a hint for Anstey that I followed:

Name:                    Anstey Foster
Residence Year:    1925
Street address:    Salisbury Road, Wavertree 16
Residence Place:    Lancashire, England

I've attached a snapshot of the 1925 Electoral Register entry. Living at the same address are Herbert and Nellie Crossley. Herbert's wife is Nellie Williams/Foster, where Nellie is, I suspect, the illegitimate daughter of Annie Collins born before Annie married Walter Foster in 1891 in Liverpool, and seemingly informally adopted by Walter as she assumes the surname Foster and gives her maiden name as Foster in her marriage to Herbert. Annie is also the mother of Walter Ernest Foster.

I am totally unable to find any other record of an Anstey Foster - it's an unusual name - so my question is, could the Edwin and Anstey Foster listed on the 1925 electoral register be, actually, the children of Walter Ernest Foster and Amy Bolt, incorrectly listed? I've checked all my Edwin Fosters and there's nor marriage to an Anstey anywhere, again that I can find.

[rosie99]

If that electoral is as you say for the year 1925 then it won't (or should not) have children who are not old enough to vote listed on it.

[CaroleW]

If this is the 1925 electoral register they were both too young to appear on it but there is only one birth for an Anstey Foster and that was 1922 mmn Bolt

Given the rest of the info you provided I can't see it being anybody else - she was their grandmother so it's logical they were with her. 

[CaroleW]

Now - there is a 1920 electoral register entry for an Anstey Foster at Salisbury Rd.  same occupants as 1925

[mezentia]

The 1920 electoral register rather blows my theory out of the water  However, looking at the voting eligibility codes, Anstey's is "HO", meaing husband's occupation. It seems to me therefore, that Anstey must be Walter Foster's wife. Which raises the questions, is Anstey a nickname for Annie, or does Walter re-marry?

Looking a bit deeper, we know that Annie Collins' first child is Nellie and that the birth is registered as Nellie Williams in the September quarter of 1893 in Liverpool, mmn Collins. In 1881, Walter Foster and his Father Andrew are lodging with an Annie Williams, and daughters Nellie and Lilian Williams. Lilian's birth has been registered, however, as Lilian Foster, mmn Collins in the June quarter 1880!

It seems as though Annie might have been married previously as I've also found a marriage between Thomas Williams and Anstey Collins in Bethnal Green in 1867. This seems to solve our problem with one little exception: on the marriage to Thomas Williams, Anstey is 22, making her birthdate sometime in 1845. On the 1881 census she is 25, making her birth year about 1855, and all the subsequnt censuses seem to confirm this.

Now looking for a birth for Anstey Collins and Walter and Annie's parish register marriage entry.

[CaroleW]

1901 - all children b Liverpool

Walter Foster    47 b Northallerton Yorks
Annie     46 b London Middlesex
Nellie     22
Lilian     21
Emily    18
Edwin    17
Walter 15
William Walpole    26 boarder b Liverpool
RG13 Piece 3494 Folio 124 Page 18

Herbert's wife is Nellie Williams/Foster, where Nellie is, I suspect, the illegitimate daughter of Annie Collins born before Annie married Walter Foster in 1891 in Liverpool,

Walter Foster married Annie Williams in 1891

[CaroleW]

1891 - all b Liverpool except Walter & Annie and shown as sons or daughters of Walter

Walter Foster 36 b Ripon
Annie   35 b London wife
Nellie  12
Lilian  10
Emily  8
Edwin  7
Walter  5
Thomas O Hare (?? O'Hare) 5mths visitor (no mmn on birth reg)
George Brown    26 visitor
RG12 Piece 2947 Folio 102 Page 11

[CaroleW]

1881

Annie Williams    35 b Whitechapel shown as wife (image shows age 35)
Nellie Williams    2
Lilian Williams    1
Andrew Foster    57 b Northallerton  - boarder
Walter Foster    27 b Northallerton - boarder
RG11 Piece 3699 Folio 58 Page 14

[CaroleW]

Births Sept qtr 1878   
Williams    Nellie   Liverpool    8b   193  mmn Collins

Walter Ernest Foster b 1885 also has mmn Collins

The 1891 marriage was a civil marriage per www.lancashirebmd.org.uk

Strange that Anstey Foster appears on 2 electoral registers 5yrs apart but there is no death for an Anstey Foster.  I can accept Annie being mis-spelt once - but twice ??

Given the birth of an Anstey in 1922 makes me wonder if it was an actual name