Hi all, having an issue clarifying someone's identity.
I know for a fact my 2x great grandfather was named John Wallace Broomhead, I know his ancestry, dob, etc. He was killed in action 13 Oct 1914 in France during the First World War. He had been in the military since 1902, and his pension record gives the names and dates of birth of all of his children, which are entirely correct, written in black ink. Under theirs, written in red ink is *Samuel Cyril Whitehead born 3 Jan 1906. John marries a Rebecca Whitehead, my 2x great grandmother, on 13 April 1907 - so I assumed Samuel Cyril Whitehead was the illegitimate son of Rebecca Whitehead; whether he is John's bio son or not can't be known.
Is says that the pension was increased with regards to including Samuel from the 24 May 1910 - the transcription is tricky to read but seems to later read "s.a ceased 23 May 1915 and not 16 May 1915 as originally shown. Widow informed 28 - ? - 1916." Unsure why they would remove Samuel from the pension early, unless they couldn't prove he was his father? Unsure if it's relevant but thought I would include it.
What does confuse me, is that the only birth index that could be for Samuel Cyril Whitehead from Jan-Mar-Feb 1906, lists his mother's maiden name as Jones. On Rebecca's marriage cert it lists her father as Samuel Whitehead, and their son's birth index from 1907 - one year after Samuel's - lists his mother's maiden name as Whitehead. I could find no marriages between a Rebecca Jones and a Mr Whitehead indicating she married and had Samuel before marrying John Broomhead. She is listed as spinster on her 1907 marriage cert, and later in 1918 marries a Mr Thomas Riley, listing her maiden name as Whitehead. They have a son in 1918 named Thomas Riley Jr and his mother's maiden name is "Whitenead".
I think I may have to order the certificate for Samuel to see what it says. Why does she list her name as Jones? There's always a possibility it's the wrong cert, but it's the only one with the correct name, date and place of registration; as well as Samuel Cyril Whitehead not being a very common name combo. Any ideas?
Note that none of the family appear on the 1911 Census for some reason so I can't use that to gather anymore info. Neither can I find a baptism record for him to clarify parent's names. Samuel also later dies in Wales, and Jones is a common Welsh name. Not sure the significance of that if any, either.
Author
Topic: Name change? (Read 2115 times)