Genealogy Chat

Thankyou Elizabeth and Bren in Oldham. Your stories were great and put another twist on things. Yes the last 2 childrn born after she was married in 1940 have the correct mothers maiden name of Pickin.
I wonder if I searched Electrol Rolls for the address on the birth certs it would tell me who she was living with. I have just had a brainwave with that one!!!
Even though Arthur Pelling registerd births 1935 and 1936 who is to say he was living with her. I can't beleive the history of my gran and my imagination is running away with me now. She was so quiet and reserved and strict.

It would be a good idea if I could find Arthur's first wifes death cert ,but i can't. She was Alice Frances Pelling nee Walker b 1878 Hoxton. They had 2 daughters Alice and Edith. Trail gone cold there also.

This is a thorn i me side .All other problems in my family tree I have been able to sort out,but this one proves to be the most difficult of them all.

Thanks your help is appreciated

I work as a volunteer helper on a family history help desk and I have come across many similar cases as yours and sorting them out can be a nightmare at times
In one isntance the woman had lived with various men and had registered the first lot of children in the fathers name and then when she was lliving with another man had given the first mans name as her maiden name when the childrens births were registered and so on until she became to old to have children.
When she finally got married (not to any of the men she had lived with) it was only then that she gave her proper surname and that she was a spinster of this parish .she had had 14 chilldren with various men in the preceeding years
I;m not suggesting that your gran did this but it could be the case that they weren't free to marry until the other Mrs Pelling had died and maybe he didn't live with her although he was father to the children

If I can be of any help to matters out for you just ask

Donna, if it makes you feel any better, I have had a similar problem with my great grandmother! She was born Williamson, married a Whittaker, then went to live with a Bland. She had 7 children, one with James Whittaker, and 6 with Edward Bland.I have all the birth certs and while the father's names are all correct, the maiden names given vary. On two she is Williamson, on two she is Williams, on two she is Whittaker, and on the most confusing one she is "late Whitaker, formerly Jenner" I can explain Williams as it is very close to Williamson, and Whittaker was her married name. However I have no explanation for Jenner. I did speculate as you did that it was a mistake made by her partner Edward Bland who registered the birth as I don't know the circumstances under which she left her husband and went to live with him. However I have also wondered whether it could have been a mistake by the registrar as Jenner was a very common name in the area where they lived, and he could have just registered a Jenner birth. I worried about it for a long time as I thought I had missed something, but as I am now absolutely certain of my facts, and have proof for everything, I have just had to accept that I will probably never know the reason for the discrepancy. Good luck!

I notice the 2 children born after she married have the correct mother's maiden name.

Rose

Yes first 5 were born out of wedlock including my dad. He was born dec 1933. MMN Palmer. yet she was really called Pickin and a spinster. His father was Pelling. To put a spanner in the works she had 6 children previous to these out of wedlock. All same father George Becker except the last one named June Pickin no father named on cert. Couldn't have been Becker's he was dead. Recently met her and she looks like dad's dad-WEIRD!!!!

Albert Henry Pelling married Amelia Jane Day in 1875 -registered in Bethnal Green.
On the 1881 census they are at 24 Penny Bk Chambers Shoreditch with children Edith 5, Arthur 3, and Florence 1.
Also with them are Amelia's brothers Edwin & George Day

Pamela

Donna - if Arthur registered two of the births and gave mother's maiden name as Day - I can believe that if asked for "mother's maiden name" he might well have given his own mother's maiden name ... Was she Day?

As you say, he could have been a bit tipsy, or maybe a bit stupid, but depending how the question was phrased it would be believable!

Jill

I can find this birth entry for Arthur Henry Pelling, but it doesn't tie in with the birth details you have. I'm sure yesterday when I checked on Ancestry there was another Arthur Henry Pelling also for 1878 but I can't find it now! I wonder whether we have two families here with very similar names, but that wouldn't explain why the same mother's name is on all the childrens' birth certs, would it? You say that she married Arthur in 1940. So were the first 5 children mentioned above born out of wedlock?

Name: Arthur Henry Pelling
Year of Registration: 1878
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
District: London City
County: Greater London, London, Middlesex
Volume: 1c
Page: 2 (click to see others on page)

Thanks for trying to help

Donna

Well, that pretty much puts the mockers on my hypothesis.

Yes ,her mother was Emily Rhoda GAGE and married Albert Edward Pickin in 1900. He died in 1915 and a fews years later she took up with his brother William Henry Pickin. They never married but spent the rest of their lives together until he died 1951 and she in 1958.
The only clue I have is that gran would talk about Pedler Palmer the boxer,so maybe first 2 birth certs could explain where that name came from,but why I don't know. There wasn't much time between George Becker's death in 1929 and taking up with my grandfather Arthur Pelling in 1932. To cram all those names in and marry them wouldn't be impossible ,but unbeleivable.

The next 2 children's birth certs I have noticed that their father Arthur Pelling registers them . He may have had too much to drink and when the registrar asked mothers maiden name he answers with his own mothers which was DAY.I CAN'T BELEIVE HE COULD BE THAT STUPID TWICE .

The next child Robert Pelling b 1939 had Cotton as mother's maiden name,but I can't think of an explanation why.

Thanks

Although the most common reason for changing a female's name was marriage, another fairly common reason was taking a stepfather's surname. Do you know her mother's marital history?

He was born 5/12/1878 at 12 sweedlands court Bishopsgate,London. Florence Emmeline born 6/7/1901. I have their birth certs and marriage. Arthur was previously married to Alice Frances Walker in 1899,but I can't seeem to find her death entry. They had 2 daughters Alice Florrence Pelling 1900 and Edith 1902. I found his war docs from 1915 and he was at Provous Dwellings City RD London.

Do you have a date and place of birth for Arthur Henry Pelling?

This is one of my old queries, but I thought I would raise it again in the hopes that someone out there as a similar problem with mothers maiden names. Does anyone have any ideas what is going on. I have since learnt that prior to having these 7 children with Arthur Pelling she had another 6 from 1921-1930.The first 5 have the father George Becker whom never married my gran. He may have already been married. He was 23 yrs older than her and died 1929 August. I find gran in workhouse June 1930 after giving birth to a daughter June Pickin father unknown. She surfaces in dec 1932 with Arthur Pelling and gives birth to a son. Arthur Noel Pelling is born ,but instead of Pickin as her maiden name she puts Palmer.

Any ideas???

Thanks

Thanks Gwyneth for the info. I have searched through marriage index from 1916 --1940 for the marriage of Florence Emmeline Pickin.I found nothing.No marriages to either Mr Day. Palmer or Cotton.The only one being to my grandfather Arthur Henry Pelling 1940 Finsbury.What was my gran up to putting 4 different names on her childrens birth certs.It is something we will probably never find the real answer to.She died in 1967 and took all her secrets with her. Thanks to everyone who tried to help me sort my problem out. Donna

Donna Thank you for the PM information...... however... It is easier for anyone to offer help if you keep all the information on one thread. Just click on ... Add reply... and type your message so that others reading the boards can maybe see some way of helping. Late DAY shouldn't mean that Mr Day died, it normally means the same as... lately. ie. You might see late SMITH, formerly JONES after the mother's name. This should mean that the mother's maiden name was JONES but her recent surname was SMITH. This is usually in the case of a second marriage. The maiden name shown against the birth registration of any children from EITHER marriage should not change. In the above case it would be JONES, whether the woman was unmarried, married to Mr Smith, Mr Brown.... or any other man. As regards the 'spinster' at marriage. This should mean that the woman was previously unmarried but I have seen both bachelor and spinster used to describe people who have previously married... but are now free to marry, usually after the death of the 1st spouse. Gwyn

I found these but you say on the other birth cert that her name was Palmer. Does not make sense, as it is always the mothers maiden name on a birth cert. Arthur H married Pickin 1940 3rd qtr 1940.Finsbury vol 1b page 1623. Edward Pelling mothers maiden name Pickin birth registered Amersham, vol 3a page 2327.1st qtr 1941. Roy mothers maiden name Pickin birth registered Ashton, vol 8d page 974. 2nd qtr 1942. With kind regards Donna

Is Florence named on each child's certificate? It seems strange that only the child born after marriage has PICKIN as mother's maiden name. Gwyn

Could this be her birth? Births Sep 1901 Pickin Florence Emmeline Stepney 1c 359 Gwyn