Genealogy Chat

I’m still a bit of a novice at this and I’m after some help or advice. I’ve traced my family name back to Charles Thomas Lee born 1876 in Leicester. I have received his Marriage and Birth certificate but I’m having problems tracing his farther. On his Birth Certificate his father’s name is Thomas Lee and his Mother is Alice Lee formally Sackree. I have found Alice Sackree (Born 1858) but have no record of her marriage to Thomas Lee. Instead she married John Thomas Robertson in 1878. I have found an entry of the 3 of them living together in the 1881 census using the surname of Robinson. On the Birth certificate of Charles his Farther is a Shoe Clipper. On the marriage certificate of Charles his farther is down as a Mason. So I searched the 1871 Census for any Thomas Lee’s in Leicester and found a Shoe Finisher and a Stone Mason both born in 1856. The Stone Mason married in 1878 and I think the Shoe finisher dies in 1876. Even with all this information I still have no idea who Thomas Lee was. He might be one of the two I have found. He might have just been passing by and not from Leicester. So I’m after any help, advice or even an opinion on finding out who was Thomas Lee.

Marriage Name: Thomas Lee Year of Registration: 1876 Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun DISTRICT: Leicester (1837-1974) County: Leicestershire Volume: 7a Page: 369 Only problem is, there's no corresponding Alice

Sounds like Thomas Lee died, either before or after his son's death in 1876 and the mother remarried to this other guy. Just because you can't find the marriage doesn't mean it's not there. I spent half an hour looking for a marriage this afternoon under the man's name to no avail... luckily there was only a small time frame that it could have taken place in, so in the end I searched under the woman's first name (quite rare for that time I think) and nothing else. Came straight up in one of about 7 possibles. Important to keep in mind that not all the BMDs are fully transcribed yet. Have you tried going through the quarter images?

If she had married Thomas, would she have been Alice Lee when she married the second time? Or would she be using her maiden name? The index record she is down as Alice Sackree.

I think it varies, if you can get the marriage cert that should tell you if she was a widow or a spinster. If she's a widow it's likely it could tell you her former married name. Some of the listings (later than this I think though) list it under both surnames EG Sackeree Of Lee.

Found a marriage for a Thomas Sacknee, could be Alice's brother? Marriages Jun 1873 (>99%) JONES Lydia Leicester 7a 441 Sacknee Thomas Leicester 7a 441 SACKREE Thomas Leicester 7a 441 SWIFT John Leicester 7a 441 Toon Mary Ann Leicester 7a 441

I tried to find matching volume and page records to the record for Thomas Lee that you found and got an Elizabeth Cooper and a Kate Lees. I also searched the 1881 Census for Thomas Lee living in Leicester and found one who was married to an Elizabeth. From this I guessed that this Thomas Lee possible married Elizabeth Cooper? Yes Thomas is her brother and William Sackree her farther.

Your deduction sounds about right although there appears to be quite a few Thomas Lee's in Leicester lol. Maybe she wasn't married and just plucked a name out of the air of someone she knew. I'm still looking for you. It could be that you might want to get that marriage cert and if that doesn't help, the death cert for the Thomas Lee who died in 1876, the informant may give a clue.

Darren Just to let i have Lee's in my tree too and they're not the easiest people to track down. On my nan B/C it looked like her parents were married, but they didn't marry till 14 years after she was born, so maybe Thomas and Alice never married

I would say the same as Julie, it's looking increasingly like they weren't married, maybe he died before the baby was born?? I would think about getting the death cert for Thomas Lee, see if that helps any. I haven't found anything with all the different variations that I've searched. He might have died or she might have made it up, or it could be true that Thomas was his dad. Either way it's looking like he was illegitimate. Good Luck, Liz

Liz That sounds like a good plan to me. As Charles uses the name Thomas Lee on his marriage certificate and not John Robertson who he would have lived with since he was 2 I’m guessing that Thomas was not just a fling. Charles is in the 1881 and 1891 census as Charles Robertson. It’s surprising that he doesn’t continue to use the Robertson name? Julie Yes Lee is a bit of a common name. If they didn’t marry it does make it difficult to be sure which Thomas Lee the father was. I could do with some census records in 1875?