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The George Wood with Agnes lived in Derby has an adopted son but it is William Henry rather than just William.

The George Wood with Mary Ann (Ward) has no mention of William but does live close to Matlock (born South Darley in 1871 and around there in 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 and 1939) and lost a son in 1906.

AustinQ - fascinating insight, many thanks.

I seem to have a few candidates for G Wood who registered William at school but not sure which one was living at Masson Lees Farm in 1914/15.

If the George Wood in Clifton Street in 1911 is correct, it looks as though he and Agnes had a falling out:

03 February 1913 - Derby Daily Telegraph - Derby, Derbyshire, England

I, GEORGE WOOD, residing at 68. Clifton-street. Derby, will NOT RESPONSIBLE for DEBTS contracted Wife. AGNES WOOD, after this notice.— (Signed)" GEORGE WOOD.

Kay: The parent was G Wood from Masson Lees Farm. Unfortunately, it is not that rare a name and I had already found some with others suggested to me. None are clear cut correct.

Re the school entry,


The actual school register usually states--parent or guardian of the pupil in the entry register.this maybe worth researching.

Dea - thanks for that. I will make a note "just in case".

TWhits -
re Derby versus Derbyshire in that 1911 census -

It's just my assumption that "Derby" meant Derbyshire in that instance - I might be wrong.

The Ancestry transcription says Derbyshire - though that's not necessarily correct.

There is also this William ?? I don't really think it is him but I will post it just in case......... It isn't too far from the area?

1911 Census For England & Wales
4 Union St Newcastle Staffordshire, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, England
William Wood's Household Members
Members that resided in the household at the time of the census.
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Thomas Barlow Head Married Male 68 1843 Labourer Bricklayer's Newcastle Staffre
Annie Barlow Wife Married Female 54 1857 - Stoke
William Wood Adopted Child - Male 8 1903 - -


Dea x

One of our relatives was born in London,,but was found 120miles away as a boarder but there is no family connection at all but their name wasn't changed...so was an easier find.

ArgyllGran - that is an interesting observation that his birthplace was vaguely Derbyshire rather than Derby specifically. The family seem to be in Derby in 1911 and so I assumed it really did mean Derby for the birthplace. Derby is a little distance from Matlock for schooling but I suppose the family could have moved.

Another thought is that he was only ever William / Willie / Bill, never any mention of a second name "Henry".

That looks like a good possibility, Kay.
It does seem they weren't too sure of his birthplace, because on the image, all the other family members have specific towns or villages as places of birth, whereas William just has the vague "Derby", meaning Derbyshire in general rather than actually Derby.

TWhits -
I agree that George and Mary Ann don't feel right as your William/Victor's adopted parents, because of the timing .

Thank you Kay???? for suggesting this. I had a feeling that I explored a William Henry Wood before but can't spot that research at the moment. The birth place is wrong but with being an "adopted son", could be a guess or modification.

I did have 1911 census for the George and Mary Ann Wood that I wondered might be the G Wood when William registered at school, but there is no mention of WIlliam. Possible they only "adopted him" between 1911 and 1914 but if that is when his name changed, surely he would have noticed at 7-10 years old?

It is a puzzle.

??

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Name:
William Henry Wood
Age in 1911:
7
Estimated birth year:
abt 1904
Relation to Head:
****Adoped Son****
Gender:
Male
Birth Place:
Derbyshire, England
Civil Parish:
Derby
Search Photos:
Search for 'Derby' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection
County/Island:
Derbyshire
Country:
England
Street address:
68 Clifton Street Derby
Registration district:
Derby
Registration District Number:
435
Sub-registration district:
Derby
ED, institution, or vessel:
22
Piece:
20893
Household Members:
Name
Age
George Wood
48
Agnes Wood
42
George Wood
12
James Wood
11
John Wood
5
William Henry Wood
7
John Cullinan
29
Alice Stuart
28


Just adding this to the mix from 1911.

Shirley~I,m getting the hang of it and ArgyllGran - Thank you both. I fear you are right in that it is a brick wall - at least until other records such as Ashover (which I took to be a school in nearby Ashover) or maybe closed 1911 records etc. become available. At least you have reassured me that I am not missing anything.

There's a village called Ashover, not far from Matlock.

As he can't be found on the 1911 census and not knowing what name he may have been known by then think it's unlikely you will find his movements before he married.

Those records wouldn't be online .

You seem to have found his school entry . Says removed to Ashover
Maybe that's an area or the name of another school

ArgyllGran - I had much of that but thanks for spotting George Henry Wood - shows how helpful it is to have further pairs of eyes as I hadn't noticed him. Odd, if they changed Victor into William that they didn't just reuse George Henry although I notice that George had a brother William too.

Dea: Ibbotson - good question and basically I don't know. I was told either by my mom or her brother that George Ibbotson and his wife had looked after him. I have the feeling that was in Sheffield so, possibly, they took over looking after William from whoever he was travelling around. I haven't had much look in finding them.

In your 1st post you mention the name 'Ibbotson' - where does this come in please?

" He was looked after by George and Mrs Ibbotson but I can find nothing about this."

Dea x

For our reference:

George Wood
in the 1911 England Census
Name: George Wood
Age in 1911: 40
Estimated birth year: abt 1871
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: South Darley, Derbyshire, England
Civil Parish: Darley
County/Island: Derbyshire
Country: England
Street address: 4 Holmes Terrace Twodales Nr. Matlock
Marital status: Married
Occupation: Lead Miner
Registration district: Bakewell
Registration District Number: 439
Sub-registration district: Matlock
ED, institution, or vessel: 6
Piece: 21204
Household Members:
Name Age
George Wood 40
Mary Ann Wood 39
Fredd Hickman 7

One child, deceased.

They're together with no children in 1901, but George is unmarried in 1891.
So, their marriage :

George Wood
in the Derbyshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932
Name: George Wood
Gender: Male
Marriage Age: 28
Birth Date: abt 1871
Marriage Date: 12 Sep 1899
Marriage Place: Dronfield, Derbyshire, England
Father: Benjamin Wood
Spouse: Mary Ann Ward


Their child's birth:

WOOD, GEORGE HENRY mms WARD
GRO Reference: 1901 J Quarter in BAKEWELL Volume 07B Page 867

And his death:

Deaths Dec 1906 (>99%)
WOOD George Henry 5 Bakewell 7b 471

So if Victor / William was a replacement, (and if this is the right George Wood) , it must have been just before Eleanor married Frank.

EDIT:
No, he's not with them in 1911, so it must have been 1911-1914.

So if we're on the right track, Victor/William must have been somewhere else in 1911, clearly.

Wow, such a lot of responders - many thanks.

He discovered his birth name when he needed his birth certificate to get married (1927, to Annie Rockett) - but I am not sure how he would get the certificate without knowing his name .... unless someone was looking after it for him.

Yes, his mum was Eleanor Ann Brightmore and she later married Frank Maker in 1907 - I wondered if Frank didn't want her illegitimate son and, at 3yrs old, he might have been given away. Even at 3yrs, it must have been confusing to have his name changed, unless he was given away a bit before that or he had forgotten the confusion?

Some years back (2009), I was in touch with a grandchild of Eleanor and Frank who told me:
"Family gossip says she once worked for a doctor and had a child (Victor) to the doctors son. She was then taken to Leeds to have the baby,who was given up for adoption. It was believed that the doctor made the arrangements.
Eleanor told Frank of her illegitimate son on their wedding night. This changed Franks attitude towards her. The love and affection ceased on the wedding night.
As she was dying she implored her son and daughter to find Victor and bring him to see her.
They could not do this as there had never been any contact with Victor, they had never met him and had no idea how to find him."
Which seems to suggest Victor was given away before Frank came on the scene and he would then have been less likely to recall being called anything else.

ArgyllGran: thanks for the link to Masson Lees Farm - I had found satellite and street views but hadn't spotted the house sale details (maybe I looked before it was sold?). As you say, that could be the large fireplace.

Flip: thanks for pointing out the other people with Victor in their tree - yes, I have been in touch with both and (I think) I probably provided them with the info.

I don't know if I am on the right track but I did find a George and Mary Ann Wood
who had lost a child by 1911 - could Victor have been a "replacement" perhaps.

I hope that I have responded to all the open questions, but please remind me if I have overlooked yours - it wasn't deliberate.