This post concerns both Surrey and Kent.
I am trying to find the parents of Florence Maud(e) Darlington. Florence is my husband's GG. Here's what I know:
Married
William Henry Cook
Christ Church
Woking, Surrey
3 Jan 1903
Father unknown; Father's profession unknown
Witness Rosina Maria Lea Postill (in 1891, missionary to the fallen; in 1911, parlour maid at Trevelyan School)
Witness Elizabeth Bailey Cook (husband's step-mother)
1911 Census
Living with Fanny Brown (husband's aunt), husband & 3 children
Estimated birth year 1883
Birthplace Margate, Kent
Lived in Reigate, Surrey
Divorced William Henry Cook on 24 Jan 1921
Married Theophilus Theodore Alfred Dudley (known as Alfred Dudley) in third quarter of 1922 in Reigate, Surrey
She had 9 children - 6 with William Cook and 3 with Alfred Dudley. Two died in infancy.
1939 Census
Living with Alfred Dudley
Birth date 20 Dec 1885
I have not been able to find any record of a Florence Maud(e) Darlington born in Margate, Kent, between 1882 and 1886. In the 1901 Census, there is a Florence Darlington who was a patient in the Metropolitan Convalescent Institution in Bexhill, Sussex, but I don't know if this is the same person as the one I'm looking for.
If she was born in an unwed mother's home in Kent, would she be given her mother's surname?
I have investigated many Florence Darlingtons and Maud Darlingtons, but haven't found parents for my Florence Darlington. I am beginning to think she invented her surname.
Thanks in advance for your sleuthing.