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We have to stop crossing in the post. ;) I'll take a minute to look at your last, and maybe somebody else will join in!

We all have these mystery ancestors ...

No apologies needed for anything! Your info is wonderfully complete, formatting is just a helpful thing for checking back and forth to the opening post for info, when the whole tale is new to the reader.

Tell us what you know of Dorothy -- she is not your direct ancestor though I gather. Do you know her, or have you traced her, e.g. to see whom she named as father on her marriage cert?

Do we assume that Eliza married again, or in any event had another child, who is your father?

No they definitely went on to have 3 more children.Frederick died at Ypres in 1917 and Amy in the flu pandemic in 1918 and the 4 children (including Dorothy) were adopted.

Aha, you spaced. ;)

Could the Parker marriage really have been one of convenience, to give Eliza and her daughter the respectability of the husband's/father's surname?

Or a shotgun marriage, with the spouses not having any desire to cohabit afterward?

1911 has one Eliza born 1886-1888 in Long Ashton:

TOOMBS ELIZA ANN 1888 23 Bristol Gloucestershire

The rest of that household:

TOOMBS FREDERICK CHARLES 1886 25 Bristol Gloucestershire
TOOMBS LILLA ELIZA ANN 1910 4 MONTHS Bristol Gloucestershire

That one seems to be this one in 1901:

Name: Eliza Ann Fisher
Age: 13
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1888
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: Joel T
Mother's Name: Lilla
Where born: Long Ashton, Somerset, England

Mother's name is a giveaway, but I'm sure we'd find the Toombs-Fisher marriage ... Yup, 1909, Long Ashton district.


Just following all the trails. ;) Eliza Harris isn't Eliza Toombs in 1911.


Here's your Eliza's marriage, for ref.

Marriages Mar 1911
HARRIS Eliza A A Marylebone 1a 965
Parker Frederick J Marylebone 1a 965

To start tracing her forward ... this is the household in 1891 in Long Ashton, Somerset:


Nathan Young 31
Elizabeth Young 29
Frederick Charles Young 7
Arthur Henry Young 3
Mabel Young 1
Eliza Harris 4 - born Long Ashton
Frederick George Young 26


And in 1901 in Long Ashton:

Nathan Young 42
Elizabeth Young 40
Charles Young 17
Arthur Young 13
Mabel Young 11
Gertrude Young 3
Eliza Harris 14

First, can you elaborate a bit on some info?

Also, if you space things out (hit "Enter" twice to create white space) it will be easier to follow.

"Amelia Elizabeth Harris married to Tom Harris daughter Eliza born 20th May 1886"

-- it sounds like you have a birth certificate. Can you identify the registration for us?

Aha -- Long Ashton is in this reg dist:

Births Jun 1886
HARRIS Eliza Bedminster 5c 727

Please can anyone help me find my paternal grandmother who married Frederick John Parker on 30th March 1911 at the registery office in Marylebone,London both aged 24.

A few days later when the 1911 census was taken he is at same address as on marriage certificate but named Frederick Robert aged 22 and single and Amy seems to have disappeared!

Amy's name on marr.cert. is Eliza Amelia Amy Harris,father Thomas Harris (deceased).
Amy had fallen pregnant in service and her 1 yr old daughter Dorothy (Parker) can be found in Bolton Road on the 1911 census being nursed.

Searching for all the variations the only likely census result seems to be an Amy Parker in Sumatra Rd (all addresses reasonably close ) working as a servant but age is wrong and also says married 3 years instead of 3 days!! Birth place Bristol.

This took me to Long Ashton- Somerset where I find Amelia Elizabeth Harris married to Tom Harris daughter Eliza born 20th May 1886.Amelia dies shortly after the birth and this Eliza is brought up by her mother's brother and wife Nathan and Elizabeth Young.

Please can anyone help me prove or disprove all this or tell me where to start looking again.Or maybe someone with Young or Harris from Long Ashton families can offer some input.Amy has been the most elusive person ever.Do I need professional help.Thank you to anyone who has the time to try and digest all that.I will be very grateful for even the tiniest bit of help.Wendy