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Glad you have a result and thanks for letting us know.

Mel

thanks for letting us know... its always good to here what happened with these enquiries...... :-D

Quite a long time since I started this thread but to update anyone still checking...
I have traced Henry Free !! He originated in Lincolnshire, and was born in 1848. His parents were Isaac Free (B about 1807 ) and Catherine Durant ( B 1816 ). They lived in Moulton, Lincolnshire and Henry was an ag/lab.
He left the farm and became a railway navvy. He worked on the Settle-Carlisle line and in 1873 married a local Westmoreland girl called Mary Proud. They had a son in 1874 called Thomas Proud Free. Some time shortly afterwards, Mary seems to have left Henry and lived with another railway navvy, Henry Walker, by whom she had another child.
Mary died in 1886 in West Bromwich. Henry moved on and settled with Annie Booth Watson, still working on the railways. They never married. He died in Barnsley in 1899. Annie was destitute and sent the two girls to a childrens' home in Monmouth before taking them back when she married again.
The difficulty with this search was with dates. Henry either had no idea of his date of birth ( he was illiterate ) or lied when he met Annie. The breakthrough was finally made with checks in probate registers where records tied up Henry, Mary and their son. This was confirmed with their marriage certificate.
Many thanks to the community for helping me in the search

E :-)

Excellent detective work It looks like a job for this next week. At the moment though I'm not sure if the picture is becoming clearer or murkier. Probably just ...different.
Now for a hour watching moving pictures on a screen and then hot milk and a pillow.
I never worry about my looks. I simply find a bar with a happy hour and when I leave, I think I look just fine.
Thanks to everyone again for a wonderful mixture of confusion and clarity. My heads starting to spin

Ernie

Many thanks MarieCeleste - the paws do make typing difficult! :-)

Ernest - there is nothing crazy about being lost in family history. Almost everyone on this site is.

I must admit there is a similarity of John Henry Pye and Henry Free's names that I keep coming back to. Based in the probable birth date on the death in 1896 there is a difference in ages, however I do remember checking a family some years ago who changed their name between two census years

Probably a non starter as John appears to be still alive in 1901

Edit - the orphanage appears to be the Sudbrook Ophanage. This site may be of use
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzwlsfhs/sudbrook.html

The first school in Sudbrook Monmouthshire was built for the children whose parents moved here to work on the new Severn Railway Tunnel - maybe Henry Free worked on it

Looking at 1901 wales census a lot of the children who are in the home are from England only about 3 from Wales

Looking at 1901 wales census a lot of the children who are in the home are from England only about 3 from Wales

Thanks for the advice. I am completely lost as to the ins and outs of my family but I know my son would probably call it 'crazy'. But somewhere out there is my Great Grandfather, Henry Free and perhaos one day I'll find him.
In order to go any further it seems that I will have to ...
1. obtain death cert of Henry Free
2. make further enquiries with other family members re Chepstow and the orphanage although nothing has ever been mentioned previously to my knowledge
3. make further enquiries re the orphanage itself

Any other lines of enquiry you may suggest will be gratefully received

Many thanks to all of you

Ernie

Those two girls in the orphanage are bugging me - I feel sure they may hold the key!

I can't find a birth for a Sarah Elizabeth Pye anywhere. This is the closest I can find:

England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915

Name: Elizabeth Free
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1891
Registration district: Barnsley
Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding
Volume: 9c
Page: 230

Agree with K (who's a great researcher for being a cat!) that it would be well worth getting copy of death certificate. Would be very interesting to see who informant was .....

Maybe it is worth purchasing his death cert to check he is the correct person and see if any additional information can be gleaned from it.

I have gone back carefully through all the documents that I have but the death cert isn't amongst them.
However there are a couple of small points that I have noticed.

On Kezia 's second marriage in 1938 ( I obviously come from a family that likes wedding cake ), her father is shown as HARRY FREE ( deceased ) rather than Henry and his occupation as Unknown.

On the occasion of her first marriage in 1914, her father's details are completely omitted.

On Kezia's birth certificate in 1894, her father is shown as Henry Free and his occupation as Railway Labourer

Ernie

Do you have the Henry Free death cert? if so does it give anymore detail about him job etc

putting on thread just so it has been checked
1891 have found this but he is with his wife still in 1901

Name: Robert Henry Free
Age: 26
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1865
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Elizabeth M F Free
Gender: Male
Where born: Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, England
Civil parish: Oulton With Woodlesford
Ecclesiastical parish: Woodlesford All Saints
Town: Woodlesford
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England
Railway platelayer

I think the George H Free in 1891 was a storekeeper

WHITE, John W Head Single M 46 1845 Boarding House Proprietor
London
Middlesex VIEW
OTWAY, Annie Servant Widow F 50 1841 Housekeeper
?head
Scotland VIEW
CANN, Eliza Servant Single F 31 1860 General Servant
Exbourne
Devonshire VIEW
LENERT, Frank Servant Single M 70 1821 Waiter
Berlin
Germany VIEW
FREE, George H Visitor Single M 34 1857 Storekeeper
London
Middlesex VIEW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:
RG12 Piece:
763 Folio:
29 Page:
51

Registration District:
Hastings Sub District:
St Mary in the Castle Enumeration District:
12 Ecclesiastical Parish:
Holy Trinity

Civil Parish:
Hastings Municipal Borough:
Hastings Address:
2, Holmsdale Gardens, Hastings County:
Sussex

A timekeeper would certainly suggest a railway connection.
It certainly seems odd that there is no trace of Henry FREE anywhere in early census returns. A man can use any name he likes so our Henry possibly didn't like George as a christian name. If he did in fact originate in London, I wonder where the Welsh connection stems from.
It would be unusual for two girls bearing the names of two half-sisters , correct ages and with an unusual surname to be found together in an orphanage in the census and only a relatively short time after their father's death. Or am I being too fanciful ?

Ernie

Have posted John Pye 1901 census above so still alive in 1901
Got to go off line now ,well look back at thread later

The John Henry Pye who married Annie was born in Braithwell which is a very small village close to where their daughter Mary Annie was born in 1891. This John Pye seems to be the right man.
This would mean that there was possibly a divorce between him and Annie or he died before the 1901 census.. If not, then the marriage in 1901 between Annie and Johnson was bigamous.
Curiouser and curiouser...

Ernie

1891 i am wondering about this one a ?timekeeper--if i have got that right could he have worked on the railways?
Name: George H Free
Age: 34
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857
Relation: Visitor
Gender: Male
Where born: London, Middlesex, England
Civil parish: Holy Trinity
Ecclesiastical parish: Holy Trinity

birth for above
Name: George Henry Free
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1855
Registration district: Lambeth
Inferred County: Greater London, London, Surrey
Volume: 1d
Page: 290
Town: Hastings
County/Island: Sussex
Country: England

I am wondering if Henry was his second name.

I have looked again this morning without finding any Henry Free who was a Railway worker.

So still struggling with Henry Free...
It looks as though there's a few possible avenues but I don't think it's going to be straightforward.
Many thanks

Ernie