Leach/Parker/Parkin Family - A Mistress?

[Girl Guide]

Hhmmm interesting.  If Annie was baptised in 1920 and parents are down as Louisa and William that, in theory, would imply that the other Annie was dead.  However Louisa and William didn't marry until 1937 so presumably Annie was around somewhere.

I wonder if this is Louisa's death?

Deaths Dec 1964   
PARKIN    LOUISA    87    SHEFFIELD    2D   201

Entry from Sheffield Indexers
PARKIN, Louisa (Widow, age 87).
     Died at 10 Dagnam Drive; Buried on November 20, 1964 in Consecrated ground;
     Grave Number 19, Section V4 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.
     Parent or Next of Kin if Available: . Remarks: Removed from Sheffield Parish.
     Plot Owner: of . Page No

Could Louisa and William have married bigamously?  I have found an Annie Parkin in the 1939 Register with a birth date that would fit the birth I found for Annie Leach. We can't give lots of detail from the 1939 but I can say that her birth year is 1866 and she is living in Yorkshire.

 

[Girl Guide]

Possible death for Annie?

PARKIN, ANNIE       76 
GRO Reference: 1943  S Quarter in HALIFAX  Volume 09A  Page 435

[bfrance99]

Hhmmm interesting.  If Annie was baptised in 1920 and parents are down as Louisa and William that, in theory, would imply that the other Annie was dead.  However Louisa and William didn't marry until 1937 so presumably Annie was around somewhere.

I wonder if this is Louisa's death?

Deaths Dec 1964   
PARKIN    LOUISA    87    SHEFFIELD    2D   201

Entry from Sheffield Indexers
PARKIN, Louisa (Widow, age 87).
     Died at 10 Dagnam Drive; Buried on November 20, 1964 in Consecrated ground;
     Grave Number 19, Section V4 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.
     Parent or Next of Kin if Available: . Remarks: Removed from Sheffield Parish.
     Plot Owner: of . Page No

Could Louisa and William have married bigamously?  I have found an Annie Parkin in the 1939 Register with a birth date that would fit the birth I found for Annie Leach. We can't give lots of detail from the 1939 but I can say that her birth year is 1866 and she is living in Yorkshire.

I’m getting very confused with the whole Parker/Parkin situation.

It is certainly possible that Louisa and William married bigamously. Or perhaps William and Annie divorced but Annie chose to stick with her married name?

In relation to Louisa’s death, she is also buried alongside William and Annie May, there’s an entry on Sheffield Indexers:

PARKER, Louisa (Widow, age 71).
     Died at City General Hospital; Buried on April 26, 1949 in Unconsecrated ground;
     Grave Number 539, Section F of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
     Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: ~.
     Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 145

I have also found an Ernest Parker who was baptised at the address 51 Bloor Street:

PARKER, Ernest (of 51 Bloor St, born 1911-08-22).
     Baptised January 13, 1924, by ~ at St Saviour, Whitehouse Rd.
     Parents name(s) are Louisa & William (Boiler Firer).
     Note: ~
     Godparents: ~ :Page No 18 :Reg No ~

So perhaps William and Louisa had another child (out of wedlock)?

I am getting confused with the Parker/Parkin situation. There certainly does seem to be a mix up on the censuses in relation to their name, as in the 1911 census they are listed as the Parker family (that’s how I found them). But their birth and marriage indexes, and the previous 1901 census, list them as the Parkin family.

Is it likely that these errors caused by bad handwriting?

For reference, here is the marriage record of Annie May from 1930 (from Sheffield Indexers again):

PARKER, Annie May Leach (Spinster, age 23, ~, residing at 51 Bloor St Walkley).
    Married George Willis FRANCE, on June 9, 1930, by T M Archer Vicar (Banns) at
    St Mary, Walkley.  Father's name is William Parker (Fireman).
    Married in the presence of Arthur Ellis,Anna Henny.
    Notes: ~.
    Page No: 18 Reg No: 35

It seems like such a huge coincidence that Annie May is linked to the name Leach, and that her father is William. Surely all of these links can be coincidence?

[TerriG]

I've looked at the transcription of 1939 Register on The Genealogist, and it shows Annie Parkin, born 12/10/1866 living with George A Barker, Lily (Leach) Barker (Norcliffe, Hallam) and a closed entry.  They are at Bank-Lea, Stainland.  Obviously I've got birthdates for George & Lily, and occupations for all, but I'm not sure how much information I can put on here.

[Girl Guide]

Terri - Just so that you know for next time - For the 1939 Register you may only provide the name, year of birth and county where the person is living.

Any fuller details would need to be provided via the pm (private message) system.

It does get confusing as to what you can and can't provide regarding information from census records.

[Girl Guide]

bfrance - It would seem likely that for whatever reason the surname got changed from Parkin to Parker.  As you say, there are too many co-incidences for this to be two different families.

It could be that someone mis-read the handwriting.  I'm still trying to access the image for the 1911 but Find My Past keep giving me an OOPS page.

[bfrance99]

bfrance - It would seem likely that for whatever reason the surname got changed from Parkin to Parker.  As you say, there are too many co-incidences for this to be two different families.

It could be that someone mis-read the handwriting.  I'm still trying to access the image for the 1911 but Find My Past keep giving me an OOPS page.

Perhaps it is possible that William was illiterate and didn’t know how to spell his surname. ‘In’ and ‘er’ do look quite similar in cursive handwriting as well.

I don’t think that the surname was ever officially changed at a particular point in time, rather it keeps changing between Parker and Parkin - in 1901, it’s Parkin, in 1911, it’s Parker, in 1937 (when William marries Louisa) it’s Parkin and in 1938 (when William dies), it’s Parker again!

At this stage, without having any certificates, I feel that I can fairly confidently say William had children with both Annie Leach and Louisa Leach, and that he married them both. Of course, it is possible that William was being generous by putting his name as father on Annie May’s baptism and marriage records (so as not to disadvantage/embarrass her?) - but at the very least, he was a father figure to her.

Regardless, there are just too many coincidences to deny the links between them all. I am surprised that I can’t find any newspaper articles about this, as I suppose it is quite ‘scandalous’ (I’m sure the Daily Mail would be covering it in today’s times!).

I am hoping to get the birth certificate for Annie May, along with the marriage certificates for William/Annie’s marriage and William/Louisa’s marriage. Hopefully this will clarify the above theory. I have absolutely no idea how I will be able to figure out what happened to Annie though - perhaps the 1921 census (when released) will shed some light on this.

Many thanks for everyone’s help.

[bfrance99]

bfrance - It would seem likely that for whatever reason the surname got changed from Parkin to Parker.  As you say, there are too many co-incidences for this to be two different families.

It could be that someone mis-read the handwriting.  I'm still trying to access the image for the 1911 but Find My Past keep giving me an OOPS page.

Forgot to say that I’ve been having similar issues with findmypast. I have downloaded a copy however, I could send it to you over private message if you like? (Or is that against the rules?)

[Girl Guide]

No, no need to send a copy, I just wanted to see the original to see how the surname was written.  Sometimes transcribers misread the writing usually because it is poorly written and surnames end up with a different spelling to the correct one.