Hello Twits, A suggestion - When you respond on the forum it is best to use the REPLY button (bottom of page) rather than quote and repost lengthy replies and links that have been read previously.
I don’t understand why you would disregard the 1958 death certificate for Florence Elizabeth LANGLANDS.
- It has the correct and full Christian names and maiden name, correct place of birth, correct marital status - divorced.
- It is quite common for ages at death to be a few years off.
- I have never come across a divorced woman who continued to use her husband’s name – doesn’t that defy the purpose of a divorce? So she would not be known as SIMMONDS on her death.
- Have you checked her residential address against the address of other family members?
- What is
most important to notice in this case is the informant on the death certificate was not a family member, but the UNDERTAKER – so someone who did not know Florence at all. As he filled out the paper work, he was possibly working from bits of information supplied by a hospital / doctor. You can see his uncertainty regarding her year of birth – he has scored out what might have been 1883? (wrong), and inserted 1875 to make it fit with her age at death (also wrong). There are other places on the certificate where it is clear that corrections and additions have been made. I wonder if when writing her surname - LANGLANDS, he (or the doctor supplying the information) suddenly realised that this was her maiden name, and he stopped in confusion and just left LANG…..
There are a number of records available (National Archives of Sth Africa) regarding the separation of Florence Elizabeth from her husband. These may shed some more light for you.
On Florence’s marriage she has lowered her age, so she is not older than her spouse. I have come across numerous examples of this. Our ancestors were much vainer and more concerned about age discrepancies than we are these days. (My own family tree is full of people telling fibs on their marriage records.)
I agree with Debra and yourself that the children’s birth order is recorded on their parents’ probate records, so Florence Elizabeth should be after Annie and before Louis. I suspect the day and month (15 January) on her death cert might be correct, but the year should be 1881. This would fit with the typical spacing of the other children in the family – about 13 to18 months apart.
I spent well over an hour yesterday searching for Florence’s birth registration using various different spellings, and wild card searching. I found nothing. It does not mean that it is not there to be found, but I suspect that her birth was not registered – simply forgotten about.
I am assuming you have accessed the Irish records available online regarding the parents of James LANGLANDS and Ellen KELLY.
