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We are interested in finding information about our maternal grandfather Robert Scott. We know quite a lot about him after he married our grandmother but nothing prior to that.

Robert Scott, born 1884 or 1885
Died May 1953 aged 69

Married Rosetta Annie Beatrice Cotton in January 1907 while living at 2a Wharf Street, Southampton. His father is shown as William Scott (Deceased) on the marriage certificate.

Robert Scott was shown as a labourer when married - then as a merchant seaman on his early children’s birth certificates. From 1913 he is shown as a Stevedore

We cannot find him on the census returns for 1891 or 1901 and was presumably at sea in 1911.

Children as follows:

Rosetta Annie Beatrice Scott 1907-1943
Matilda Florence Scott 1911-1911
Robert J Scott 1913-1951
Alice Scott 1915-1937
William Richard Scott 1917-1970
Jessie May Scott 1920-1986
Lucy Cissie Scott 1922-1988
Elizabeth Scott 1925-1986

We know the family was living at the following addresses:

39 Endle Street, Southampton 1907
40 Cumberland Street 1911
13 Ryde Terrace 1913 - 1940
21 Albert Road 1947 – 1960

This is what we have for him so far and if anyone can add to it we’d be very grateful.

Do I presume that the witnesses on the 1907 marriage were not named Scott

Do you have any idea where he was born? Did he have any sort of accent?
Did your parent who was his child ever mention any Scott uncles or aunts?
Could there be any clues in the children's names? The first daughter was named after her mother. Was the second daughter Matilda named after her mother?

1911 - I presume you have followed this one back

Name: Robert Scott
Age in 1911: 25
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1886
Gender: Male
Birth Place: London, Pimlico, Middlesex, England
Civil Parish: Alverstoke
County/Island: Hampshire
Country: England
Street Address: Iphigenia,Minelayer,Home, Stokes Bay
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Able Seaman Executive
Registration District: Alverstoke
Registration District Number: 91
Sub-registration District: Alverstoke
ED, institution, or vessel: 36
Household Schedule Number: 18
Piece: 5647


Probably rule this one out as two possibles on 1901 and neither has father called William

The witness names on the Marriage Cert are Ethel Fry and what looks like C Rutherford

No idea where Robert Scott was born and I'm too young to remember any accent he might have had

Rosetta (jnr) was her mum's name. No idea about Matilda. Robert, obviously after his father, not sure about Alice and the rest of the girls - possibly from gran's side of the family (Cotton)

From a tree on Ancestry

Robert Harold Scott
Birth 24 SEP 1884 in Southampton, Hampshire, England
Death 20 MAY 1952 in (or 1953) Southampton, Hampshire, England


Timeline
Birth
1884
24 Sep
Southampton, Hampshire, England
Marriage to Rosetta Annie Beatrice Cotton
1907
21 Jan
Age: 22
Parish Church, Northam,Southampton, Hampshire, England
Death
1952
20 May
Age: 67
(or 1953) Southampton, Hampshire, England

EDIT: It has to be noted that he married as just Robert Scott and death is registered as just Robert so the above information may not be correct. It looks as though the birth they are saying is him was followed by a death so I would discount the above completely.

Births Dec 1884 (>99%)
Scott Robert Harold Southampton 2c 15
Deaths Jun 1886 (>99%)
Scott Robert Harold 1 Southampton 2c 16

Ancestry trees are notoriously unreliable

Deaths Jun 1953 (>99%)
SCOTT Robert 69 Southampton 6b 516

Stephen

'Deceased' fathers on marriage certs were sometimes invented

I think the Ancestry tree mistakenly refers to another Robert Scott who died a few months earlier.

We have no evidence on any documentation that mentions a middle name of Harold

The Stokes Bay reference is interesting as somebody once mentioned he came from "Portsmouth Way" but we know he was a merchant seaman in 1911 - not in the Royal Navy

One other mention was that he was "on the coal boats"

Looks like the Robert in that tree had a father Thomas:
Name:Robert H Scott
Age:7
Estimated Birth Year:abt 1884
Relation:Son
Father's Name:Thomas R Scott

Mother's Name:Emily M Scott
Where born:Christchurch, Hampshire, England

Thomas R Scott 41
Emily M Scott 40
Robert H Scott 7
George W Scott 5
Henrietta M Scott 3
Louisa Miller 14

I think he died Potty if you note my edit above.

The tree on Ancestry is a work of fiction

Births Dec 1884 (>99%)
Scott Robert Harold Southampton 2c 15
Deaths Jun 1886 (>99%)
Scott Robert Harold 1 Southampton 2c 16

????

on fmp no credits left

Matilda Scott, "England and Wales Census, 1911"
Name: Matilda Scott
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1911
Gender: Female
Age: 0
Birthplace: Southampton, Hampshire
Schedule Type: Household
Registration District: Southampton
Sub-District: Southampton Eastern
Parish: St Mary
County: Hampshire

The husband/father is not on 1911 census............as per original message

Yes, Matilda died after only a few months

Mother Rose, Little Rose and Matilda all appear in the 1911 census living at 40 Cumberland Street. No mention of Robert as he was probably at sea on that date

Odd, as the Robert H I posted was in the 1891 and is still alive in 1901, living with his widowed mother Emily, so can't be the one who died in 1886 but I can't find a birth for him.

To sum up so far, I think we can reasonably discount Robert Harold Scott as he just doesn't seem to fit. Though all we really have is his father's name as William and the possibility of his mother or other relative being named Matilda.

He was a merchant seaman "on the coal boats" who possibly came from the Portsmouth area.

The coal boats is an interesting link as many came to the nearby Wharves in the St Mary's area, bringing supplies from the north east. But we have no evidence that Robert Scott was from that area. He could have indeed been a Southampton man who joined the boats locally

Can anyone suggest another route we might be able to find more about him?

It seems the merchant seaman's register was not kept up prior to him becoming a stevedore around 1913. Would there be registers of dock workers at that time?

From other relatives, it now seems fairly certain he came from the Portsmouth area as he had a brother still living there, possibly in the 1960s.

We now have more evidence of Robert Scott’s identity. He was born in Brighton in 1884 to Josephine Scott (her maiden name) and had a brother John Scott some three years younger. The family is shown on the 1891 census living at 14 Fleet Street, Brighton.

By that time, Josephine had married Jesse K. Hillyer (in 1890) and had another child Jesse Hillyer junior born in 1891. By 1901 the family had moved to Southampton and was living at 27 Dock Street, where Robert had taken the name Hillyer (or Hillier) after his stepfather.

Robert reverted to his original surname of Scott in his 1907 marriage to Rosetta Annie Beatrice Cotton but on the birth certificate of their third child, Robert John in 1913, both parents have the surname Hillier-Scott.

The Scotts and Hillyers were all at 13 Ryde Terrace when Jesse junior was killed in WW1 in 1917. Robert finally lived at 21 Albert Road where he died on 25th May 1953.

We still have yet to find his actual date of birth – and the name of his father. If anyone can help in light of this new evidence we’d love to hear from you.