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is this her in 1881 just for ref. ?

Name: Harriet F. Darling
Age: 16
Estimated birth year: abt 1865
Relationship to Head: Daughter
Father: Archibald J. Darling
Gender: Female
Where born: St Pancras, Middlesex, England
Civil Parish: Pancras
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address: 46 Warren St
Occupation: Scholar
Registration district: Pancras
Sub registration district: Tottenham Court
ED, institution, or vessel: 9
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 187
Folio: 53
Page Number: 38
Household Members:
Name Age
Archibald J. Darling 59
Clementine Darling 25
Harriet F. Darling 16
Edith L. Darling 14
Helen S. Darling 11
Elizabeth Adams 43


and her baptism:-

Name: Harriet Frances Darling
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 9 Jul 1865
Baptism Place: Marylebone, Middlesex, England
Father: Archibald Darling
Mother: Mary Rebecca
FHL Film Number: 87956

Hi Catherine,
Thanks for getting on to this so quickly. Yes, this is my great grandmother, Harriette. Her mother was Mary Rebecca Leaver.

If it is of any help, she and Harold were living at 50 Maxted Road, Camberwell, London when Leonard Edgar was born, but a different address is given on their marriage certificate one month later - 79 Bartholomew Road.

Have you any idea of William Champions age at any given point and his occupation and Fathers name and occupation - maybe from the marriage certificate?

Hi Greyghost,

Wiliam Harold's father was William Henry Suchet Champion, a music teacher and composer of popular music. The Suchet was affectation which he added and his children also used. William Harold was born Q1 1865 in Kensington, London. His mother was Jane Burnett Williams. On his marriage certificate he is described as an estate agent (as was Harriette), but in Australia he was a tobacco merchant and tea merchant. In 1897 he married Emilie Gallagher (nee Emily Watts) who ran a bar in Ipswich, Queensland.

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

Yes that is correct.

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

..............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

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.

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
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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.

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

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.