Genealogy Chat

My grandmothers original birth certificate states...
Annie newell born 1898
Mother.Selina Davis nee newell
Father. Edward Davis
Informant of birth M Newell Aunt same address
Annies marriage certificate states father.. Edward Newell deceased
Annies name at the time of her marriage was Newell
We are totally confused !!
any help please

Where was your grandmother born?

Hi there, she was born in Walsall

Hi,

Do you have her birth cert? The only near one indexed is this.

Evelyn Annie Newell/1897 /Oct-Nov-Dec/Walsall

Have you found her and family on the 1911 census?

Do you have a marriage date for her parents, or maybe they didn't marry?

Also, there's this one, but the name is DAVIS.


Annie Elizabeth Davis/1898 /Oct-Nov-Dec/Walsall

Possible birth for Selina ?


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Births Sep 1875 (>99%)
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Newell Selina Walsall 6b 655

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Both an Edward Davis, right age, born Walsall, and a Selina Newell, right age, born Walsall, are on the census returns. So we know those were probably their names. However on the 1901 census Selina is named as Edawrds wife - Selina Davis, Annie too is named Davis.

I think this is a classic case of parents not marrying, they lived as man and wife. Maybe there was a reason they didn't marry, one of them could have been married to someone else. This would exlain why Annie's surname was Newell.

You say Selina's sister informed the registrar of Annie's birth, could she have been confused, or embarassed to admit they weren't married? Trying to make situations appear 'decent' was very common back then, afterall unmarried mother's weren't accepted in the way they are now.

What clues does Annie's marriage certificate give, who were the witnesses, does is whether her father was deceased?

Annie may not have known her parents weren't married, especially if her dad died when she was young, in that case she would have assumed her, and her father had the same surname.

Hi, thankyou for helping me with this, I agree that maybe they werent married, however I do know that Annie was a Newell right up until she married my grandad, also I am still confused as to why Edward should be called Edward Newell on my grandmothers wedding certificate. (deceased) We dont have a marriage certificate for Selina and Edward, is there a quick way of searching as we have tried searching each year with no luck.

Hi Glendora,

Read my post above your last reply. I've tried to suggest reasons why Annie was a Newell etc.

I too have searched for a marriage for Selina and Edward, but there doesn't appear to be one.

To sum up, my guess would be the couple never married, which is why Annie had the same surname as her mother. Probably when Annie first attended school her parents registered her with her legal surname Newell. So Annie will have grown up knowing her name was Newell, and if her father died when she was quite young Annie wouldn't necessarily have known his name was Davis. Therefore when she got married and was asked for her fathers name, in all innocence she may have said NEWELL - as that'swhat she believed it to be.

Yes I think our messages crossed! Thanks for helping us with this one, I think that it is probably what has happened .I still cant understand why she wasnt called Davis though , can I get access to the 1911 census , I have subscribed to GR , and bought some credits for ancestry, do they have a free census search any where. Thanks for your help !

Sorry Libby , Ive done it again and replied at the same time,yes that makes sense thankyou

Hi Glendora,

The 1911 census is only available as 'pay to view' at the moment, and is available on one site only. I think the cheapest block of credits one can buy is around £7. This is a link to the site.

http://www.1911census.co.uk/

If Annie's parents weren't married, which seems likely, unless Edward admitted paternity to the registrar ie went in person to register her birth - by law she would be given the same surname as her mother.

Last post deleted by me as I got the wrong end of the stick..lol!

Chris

To throw a spanner in the works a full certificate does not give the childs surname just the childs forenames, the mothers, fathers full names and the name of the informant.

Just a thought, could the mother have been widowed and married Mr Davis when pregnant with Mr Newell's child?