I am following the line back from Dora Elizabeth Offield born 19 Nov 1896 Barnstaple. Her parents were Robert Offield born 1855 London and Ann born 1861 Calcutta. I believe Robert and Ann married in 1880 in Barnstaple. On the 1881 census Robert and Ann are living in Bristol with first child Frederick. The next two children were born in Exeter, but the rest were born in Barnstaple, where both Robert and Annie died (1914 and 1942 respectively).
A search on Ancestry for a marriage for Robert to an Anne gave me mmn HARFORD Vol 5b page 735 Devon. I’ve found a birth on GRO for Dora Elizabeth which confirmed that her mother, Anne,’s maiden name was Harford.
1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 census records gives Anne’s birth year as 1859-1861. In the UK there were 5 Ann/Annie Harfords listed on GRO:-
1. Annie, 1860 M Qtr, HOLBORN, (London), Vol 01B page 503, mmn Mayer.
2. Annie Amelia, 1862, D Qtr, CLIFTON (Bristol), Vol 06A page 81, mmn Hayward
3. Annie Emma Louise, 1861, M Qtr, BRISTOL, Vol 06A page 11, mmn Edwards
4. Ann, 1860, J Qtr, LIVERPOOL, Vol 08B page 78, mmn Sweeney
5. Ann, 1858, D Qtr, WIRRAL, Vol 08A page 363, mmn Burke
The fact that Ann is listed on census records as being born in Calcutta, India has stopped me from searching her there, as I don’t have the subscription. I do wonder whether she would have been able to have her birth registered in the UK when the family returned here. Given the information I have found is there anything I can use to tell me more about Ann, e.g. her maiden name, who her parents were, when she returned to the UK. Thanks for reading this and I welcome all comments
