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Many thanks to all who have helped on this.

Hi Chris Ho,

Many thanks for those links. I had found the one relating to Emilie Champion's will but not the one for William Harold's will. Arthur Louis was William Harold's brother and ended up in Margate running a dairy shop.
cheers

Hi AustinQ,

Many thanks for this, it does indeed look very promising. My grandfather was a stereotyper for the Times newspaper, and that is an industry where you needed a family member there in order to get an apprenticeship. I had wondered how he got the apprenticeship and this would explain it.

The fact that Leonard reverted to the surname Champion for his marriage and subsequent life suggest that either he never adopted the name Tiley or Harriett was never married to Francis Tiley. The latter would suggest that William and Harriett did not divorce giving the reason for William to lie about being a widower.

According to his marriage certificate, Leonard was living in Pier Road, Northfleet, Kent when he married, but this is within the Strood registration district. This suggests the Tiley family was living there - I'll check the census records. It also explains why Leonard disappears from all the records for 20 years and then reappears.

Many thanks for this.

Leonard marries in Strood:

First name(s) LEONARD E
Last name CHAMPION
Marriage quarter 1
Marriage year 1913
Spouse: MABEL K SMITH
District STROOD
County Kent
Volume 2A Page 1085
---------------------------------------------

Harriet F Tiley dies in Strood:

Name: Harriett F Tiley
Estimated birth year: abt 1865
Registration Year: 1912
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Age at Death: 47
Registration district: Strood
Inferred County: Kent
Volume: 2a Page: 694

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/search?adv=y

(worth a look round on above Newspapers)


https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/family-history-research/

(above for BDM's)

Chris :)

The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Saturday 1 October 1898 p 9

LANDS and GOODS of EMILE CHAMPION, Wife of William Suchet Champion, of Ipswich, in the Colony of ... be granted to WILLIAM SUCHET CHAM-PION, of Ipswich, in the Colony of Queensland, Licensed Victualler


The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Saturday 10 March 1900 p 2 A

QUEENSLAND.
In the WILL of WILLIAM HAROLD SUCHET CHAMPION, late of. Toowtfng, near Brisbane, the WILL of the above named William Harold Suchet Champion, deceased, may be granted to KATIE CHAMPION


http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/CollectionsDownloads/Documents/WillsA-Goodwin.pdf

(Wills)


https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29806/supplement/10511/data.pdf

(Arthur Louis Suchet Champion)

It may be worth checking these for Harriet and Leonard Edgar (note Leonard marries in Kent also):

1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
25 Park Avenue Northfleet Kent, Northfleet, Kent, England

Francis Richard Tiley Head Married Male Stereotyper 45 1866 Middlesex Kentish Town
Harriet Frances Tiley Wife Married Female - 46 1865 Middlesex Camden Town
Leonard Edgar Tiley Son Single Male Stereotyper 22 1889 Meddlessex Tottenham
Horace Arthur Tiley Son Single Male Clerk 18 1893 Meddlessex Tottenham
Nora Mandeline Tiley Daughter Single Female School 11 1900 Mddlessex Tottenham

Harriet married 23 years, 4 children- all still living (Although I see no marriage listed for them)
----------------------------------------

Same family in 1901:

38 Durham Rd
Civil Parish: Tottenham
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity
County/Island: Middlesex
Registration district: Edmonton
Sub-registration district: Tottenham
ED, institution, or vessel: 37
Piece: 1251 Folio: 141 Page Number: 29
Household schedule number: 187
Name Age
Francis R Tiley 32
Harriett F Tiley 32 St Pancras
Leonard E Tiley 12 Wood Green London
Horace A Tiley 9
Archibald F Tiley 5
Nora M Tiley 10/12

Hi Greyghost,

Ok, yes. That would be a block. I guess I am hoping that other main possibilities can be investigated and eliminated before concluding that. I do not have the experience to check up on deaths at sea, etc.

If Harriet was left behind she could possibly have "taken up" with someone else and lived under their surname, in which case you are unlikely to find her.

That sounds like my tree! The child only lived a few months.
Katie remarried in 1903.
Emilie died not long after the marriage and William Harold inherited her bar.
Emilie and Katie were not related.

A tree on Ancestry has William Harold's death in Oz as 2 March 1900 Brisbane (citing Australia Death Indexes)
and has him marrying Emilie Gallagher 5 Apr 1897 and Katie Gallagher 6 Oct 1898 both in Queensland ! (citing Australia Marriage Indexes)
William Harold and Katie have a child 8 Jan 1900 - William Harold Suchet Champion (citing Birth Indexes)

Nothing to explain the missing years

I have a full family tree on ancestry.co.uk which is available to view. I probably should have mentioned that earlier for which I apologise, but this is the first time I have posted on here!

Yes, Leonard Edgar died in Liverpool. He lived in Northfleet, Kent until into his 90's and then moved to Liverpool to live with his youngest son, Kenneth Frank.

Hi Catherine, thanks for that.

Yes, he may well have stopped off in South Africa and I certainly take the point that he may have just said he was a widower. However, I can find no reliable trace of Harriette in the Census information of 1891 or later.

As I said earlier there is a possible trace of his son, Leonard Edgar, in the 1891 Census. There is a Lennie Champion, aged 2, listed as a boarder with John Golborne, a watchmaker. Harriette's father was a goldsmith and jeweller so there could be a link there to John Golborne. From the birth records I can find no other Leonard Champion who would be aged 2 in 1891 and is not accounted for within his birth family. Hence my suspicion that this may be Leonard Edgar.

With Leonard having been born out of wedlock, it is possible that their families disowned them.

I have been working on 2 theories, which I did not want to put in the original post as I did not want to direct people down a possibly erroneous path:
1) Harriette died in England/Scotland (her grandmother was Scottish) and William Harold put Leonard Edgar into 'care' with the Golborne family and emigrated. However, there is no suitable entry for Harriette Frances Champion in the Death registers of the period.
2) Harriette and William went to Australia together and she died on the journey. Why they would not have taken Leonard Edgar, I have no idea.
I have no evidence for either theory.

cheers

may also be relevant:-

Name: Leonard Edgar Champion
Birth Date: 14 Feb 1889
Date of Registration: Feb 1985
Age at Death: 96
Registration district: Liverpool
Inferred County: Lancashire
Volume: 36
Page: 1159

You say that William was a Merchant, so I'm wondering if this is him:-

W Champion
in the UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960
Record Image VIEW
Add alternate information
Report issue
Name: W Champion
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Birth Date: abt 1866
Departure Date: 28 Apr 1892
Port of Departure: London, England
Destination Port: Algoa Bay, South Africa
Ship Name: Lismore Castle
Search Ship Database: Search for the Lismore Castle in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping line: Castle Line
Official Number: 98199
Master: Le Snewz

Occupation is noted as Merchant.

He may have gone on to Australia from South Africa?

It is possible that he left his wife and son back in England and just said he was a widow when he remarried.

Yes, they were in London for the 1871 Census, then moved to Devon for the 1881 Census. William Henry Champion remained in Devon and died there in 1908, but William Harold returned to London sometime between 1881 and 1889.

..............so he and his family were actually living in Davon in 1881:-

Name: William H. Champion
Age: 15
Estimated birth year: abt 1866
Relationship to Head: Son
Father: William H.S. Champion
Mother: Jane B. Champion
Gender: Male
Where born: Kensington, Middlesex, England
Civil Parish: Barnstaple
County/Island: Devon
Country: England
Street address: 10 Taw Vale Parade
Occupation: Scholar
Registration district: Barnstable
ED, institution, or vessel: 17
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 2244
Folio: 138
Page Number: 51
Household Members:
Name Age
William H.S. Champion 45
Jane B. Champion 43
Agnes H.T. Champion 17
William H. Champion 15
Arthur L.S. Champion 10
Mary A. Morish 20

So this is William with his family in 1881

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
10, Taw Vale Parade, Barnstaple, Devon, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
William H S Champion Head Married Male 45 1836 Music Composer & Teacher Islington, Middlesex, England
Jane B Champion Wife Married Female 43 1838 Teacher Of Music Somerset, England
Agnes H T Champion Daughter Single Female 17 1864 Artist (Paint) Kensington, Middlesex, England
William H Champion Son Single Male 15 1866 Scholar Kensington, Middlesex, England
Arthur L S Champion Son Single Male 10 1871 Scholar Kensington, Devon, England
Mary A Morish Servant Single Female 20 1861 Servant Northam, Devon, England

Yes that is correct.

greyghost, this looks to be his birth:-

Name: William Harold Louchet Champion
Registration Year: 1865
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district: Kensington
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: London
Volume: 1a
Page: 118