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Bingo ....I think. Emily Elizabeth Richards was a witness at her sister's marriage to John Bird (sailor) in 1914 in Greenwich. So I had a look for her sister Lilian Maud Bird - this is the 1937 ER for Greenwich:
Lilian Maud Bird
Year:1937
County or Borough:Greenwich
Ward or Division/Constituency:Greenwich
Street address:60 Lkwisiiam Road (actually Lewisham Road on image)
Living at the same address was her husband John ("a" next to his name with I think indicates an absent voter?)
Also at same address was Edwin William Langdon, but don't know who he is, and Emily Elizabeth Neilson - could this be her???
Added, Emily was not with Lilian in 1928/9, but appears with them from 1930 onwards.
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Just in case it is the right person, she was living at 99 Lewisham Road in 1928 - Edwin Langdon was also living there. However, in 1922 she is at the same address, along with Edward Archibald Neilson ("a"), John Bird (A) and Lilian Maud Bird. There is a marriage for Emily E Richards in 1915 to Edward A Neilson in Greenwich.
The tree I found claimed that it was Eveline Rosenburg who was with George on the 1911 census - her birth place recorded as Cambourne, Cornwall, which checks out with her birth and earlier census - and Emily was definitly on the 1911 census with her mother and brother/sister. It stated she had been married 11 years, but no children.
Just wonder if they actually split long before he went to Devon?
ADDED: I can't see a death for either of the husbands, but there is a death for Lilian M Bird in 1957, age 80, and Emily E Neilson in 1959 age 87 - both are registered at Luton, Bedfordshire. Could be them?
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Hi Flip
Thank you for your information, we were also starting to see there is something strange going on here. The 1911 census for George senior clearly states Emily Richards was there (born in Camborne, not Poplar) with the children, while the other Emily is at her mother's house.
That said, after looking over the Ancestry public trees, there are errors in them. For example, the Probate records for Emily "R" in 1930 named her spouse as someone else, not George. George Henry (jr) was not born George Henry Richards, nor did he die in this country (to the best of my knowledge). In the official records we have seen, the Emily who married in Poplar was older than the Plymouth Emily, born in the same place and year as Evelina.
From other records, family lore and very personal comments made on a family tree produced BC (before computers), it may be possible the split was quite soon after the wedding, but hidden from the rest of his family some of whom were quite active and stern Salvationists (and that's another story!).
According to the self-appointed family archivist (and moral judge), George had already been "banished" as a black sheep from the family home (not true, according to direct family line testaments), so he probably feared the family more than the enumerator!
We'll follow up your details, to either confirm or eliminate the other Emilies, and obtain more official records to compare to the public family trees on Ancestry. There are still living relatives who would rather not know the outcome, based on earlier reactions when broaching this subject, so I would like to quietly draw a veil across this affair...at least until the next census becomes available :-). Thank you for all your time and hard work.
To finish, Jane has just asked me what kind of family has she married into. Just the usual, I said,...mad, bad (and good!), unmarried and possibly bigamous. But at least always honest - we come clean in the end!
P.S. If you like, I could keep you informed of any outcome.
Best wishes
Allan (and Jane)
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Hi Allan,
Yes I would be interested in the outcome, it's rather a complicated family - surely Emily would not be leaving a 1 month old baby behind when she visited her mother! That birth certificate could prove interesting!
Not sure which of the children you are descended from, but I think you may need to re-consider the maternal line :-D
It could be worth trying to order the will for Evelina, as her probate is of no help with it granted to solicitors. I believe it costs £6, but takes a while.
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Sorry, forgot to mention - There is an Edward Archibald Neilson going to New York in 1917, his is a master mariner born 1861 in Liverpool. His contact in uk is wife "Mrs Neilson" (not very helpful) of 44 Station Road, Gr Marton, Bucks.
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Hi Flip
Thanks for this. More to take to Kew and look for.
We have seen a copy of Evelina's Will. She left everything to her remaining sons in Plymouth (not step-sons, probably insignificant unless you have a suspicious mind). It mentioned the house in Plymouth but not much more, even for those times.
George was my great grandfather, via John, who went off to sea in the Merchant Navy, before settling in Hampshire. I don't think I'll be worrying enough to consider DNA testing:-).
Allan
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Don't blame you, I wouldn't want to be going to the length of DNA testing :-)
This is a link to the tree I was looking at - seems to have a Rosenberg connection looking at the owners name - although she isn't an active member:
http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/15554090/person/377451051
Good luck with your research, and yes I would be interested to hear what you find :-)
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