Ruth Woods 1940s Grantham mother of abandoned baby?

[rosie99]

You will not find electoral registers during WW2.

[abbyhill3]

I have considered this too but I suppose if the child wasn’t her husband’s she may have used her maiden name.
I have even considered if Ruth woods was a made up name in itself but I’m not sure how easy it was to lie on birth certificates in those days.

[IgorStrav]

As Ruth was officially Mrs Teigh, why would her son be registered as Woods?

The couple do have a daughter around 1946 in Sleaford.

That's a good point, Chempat, as we are obviously only theorising here. 

But I can also imagine that she might have known her husband would not accept the child, as it wasn't his, and therefore acknowledged in the registration that he was 'illegitimate'.

Snap Abby

[BumbleB]

William Denis Kendall is part of my family - his father and my grandfather were brothers.  Whilst Denis did have 4 wives in his lifetime, there is no evidence of him fathering any children with his wives.  He was, of course, living in Grantham in 1939, and my father did work for him at one time either during or after the war.

I know he was a rogue, having been investigated by MI5.

[KGarrad]

I have considered this too but I suppose if the child wasn’t her husband’s she may have used her maiden name.
I have even considered if Ruth woods was a made up name in itself but I’m not sure how easy it was to lie on birth certificates in those days.

No proof of ID was asked for.
BMD's are informant led - the registrar simply writes down the information he/she is given.

[abbyhill3]

William Denis Kendall is part of my family - his father and my grandfather were brothers.  Whilst Denis did have 4 wives in his lifetime, there is no evidence of him fathering any children with his wives.  He was, of course, living in Grantham in 1939, and my father did work for him at one time either during or after the war.

I know he was a rogue, having been investigated by MI5.

Hello, thank you for getting in touch.
That’s amazing that he is part of your family. I didn’t know he had 4 wives! I have only been able to find records of his marriage with Virginia Tracy.
The fact he never had children with any of his wives is concerning as it could suggest he was unable to, but I suppose it doesn’t confirm he couldn’t.
Amazing that your father worked for him too! I don’t suppose there were any useful stories or memories of his time there? Was it BMARCs he worked at?
I have the MI5 files and they were very interesting. He definitely was a rogue!

[abbyhill3]

I have considered this too but I suppose if the child wasn’t her husband’s she may have used her maiden name.
I have even considered if Ruth woods was a made up name in itself but I’m not sure how easy it was to lie on birth certificates in those days.

No proof of ID was asked for.
BMD's are informant led - the registrar simply writes down the information he/she is given.

How annoying! That means it may not even be her real name and the address could have just been picked at random

[BumbleB]

Virginia was his third wife, and had been his secretary in Grantham.  Most of my information came from a couple of Grantham gentlemen some years ago. 

[medpat]

During WW2 people moved from where they normally lived to do a job to help the war effort. Many people had boarders at the time so don't limit the searches for her.

Just a thought if she was in Grantham at the time of conception then possibly someone from RAF Grantham later RAF Spitalgate could be responsible, it's easy walking distance to the centre of Grantham.

Hopefully DNA will help you.