Genealogy Chat

This is my first post, so please bear with me. I am sitting here with eyeballs on stalks from sitting in front of this lap top all night searching. I will explain. My Nan's marriage cert (1912) states her name as Eliza Anstead (b1888), as does the 1901 census with sisters Julia (b1879), Rebecca (b1896), Emma (b1900) and father George Anstead (b1853) who is a widow. George's wife is stated on her death cert (Apr-1898) as formerly Louisa Bradford, although the only likely marriages for George are to a Louisa Cooper in 1874 and again to Eliza Connor in Dec 1898, although as I said, George is marked as a widow by 1901, although someone had to be Emma's mother! I can't find anyone in the 1891 census at all, and it is as if Julia Anstead didn't exist outside the 1901 census. I have access to a few subscribed sites, and I am going to the FRC next week. Can anyone either suggest a route forward or advise if I will be able to clear this up at the records office. Sorry if this is long winded........... Rgds, Jeanne

You don't mention the area they lived, or places of birth. 1901 for reference George Anstead abt 1853 Whitechapel, London, England Head St George in the East London Julia Anstead abt 1879 St George in the East, London, England Daughter St George in the East London Eliza Anstead abt 1888 St George in the East, London, England Daughter St George in the East London Rebecca Anstead abt 1896 St George in the East, London, England Daughter St George in the East Emma Anstead abt 1900 St George in the East, London, England Daughter St George in the East London Sam

1881 mistranscribed George Hunsted abt 1853 Whitechapel, Middlesex, England Head St George in the East London Lucia Hunsted abt 1859 Whitechapel, Middlesex, England Wife St George in the East London Julia Hunsted abt 1880 St Georges East, Middlesex, England Daughter St George in the East London

Hi Jeanne Firstly, were you aware that there was another family headed by a George Anstead with wife Louisa who were living in the Marylebone area of London? He can be traced on most of the census records, born 1853 Bucks and a shoemaker. I think that the marriage entries you found for Marylebone were probably this man and not your George. There was also another George Anstead born and living in Twickenham but I don't think this can be your George either since he was born c1845. I did a search on births for Julia Anstead but nothing comes up. Having read the above post with the alternative spelling of the surname, I am wondering if perhaps prior to the later children being born perhaps the surname was spelt differently on the registers/censuses. Perhaps even George himself was baptised with a similar sounding surname (there are quite a few variations e.g. Hansted, Ansted, Hunsted, Hanstead etc). It's something to think about. It could be that the name ended up being written as Anstead due to a particular Registrar in the area they lived at St George in the East... Sorry I've not been much help but at least you can make a note of the above points when you're collating all your evidence. Regards

Jeanne if I were you I would send for Rebecca's birth certificate just to double check her mothers name. Births Jun 1895 Anstead Rebecca Louisa St. Geo. East 1c 382 Georgina.

Thanks to you all - I am sure the Anstead's - Hunsteds & Hunsteads are all the same. Have been through the whole BMD for a marriage for George Anstead (and spelling variations) & Louisa Bradford - but nothing. I have Rebecca's birth cert and George & Louisa are her parents - just waiting to find out who my nan's parents are (Eliza Elizabeth Ayres). Thanks again, Jeanne

So just to clarify, it says on Rebecca's birth certificate that her mother is Louisa Anstead, formerly Bradford, and also on Louisa's death certificate that she is Louisa Anstead, formerly Bradford? (By the way, I don't think I have ever seen a married woman's maiden name given on a death certificate from that era.) Kate.

As for the FRC, I doubt if you will find anything there that you can't find by searching through the BMD indexes and censuses online. Julia could be a middle name or a nickname, so her birth may be registered with a different first name, or perhaps she was Louisa's daughter before George and Louisa got married (if indeed they did!) Kate.

Hi Kate Louisa died in April 1898 at the Raine Street Workhouse Infirmary. The resident medical officer put her maiden name with her occupation and address. George married again (?) because Emma is born in 1900, but by the 1901 census he is shown as a widow - so Emma may not have been his child but I suppose could have belonged to the elder daughter Julia. I am trying every kind of permutation of names, but I think you may have a point in saying that George and Louisa were never in fact married. I have only been doing the family search thing for about 9 months and although I am learning how best to extract information and from where, I am still very much a beginner !!! Rgds, Jeanne

It's also a bit strange how there doesn't seem to be a birth entry that fits your George Anstead either. There is one for the other George born Bucks - but nothing for your George, unless I've missed something. Anyhow, there's nothing I can see for any of the areas around East London (or any London for that) for his birth year or thereabouts). There was one George Ansty b1860 Lambeth. I was just trying to get to the bottom of the surname issue here, to confirm his surname was Anstead at birth. Ah well...

just bumping this back up so that others can see what was covered on this first posting of Jean's re the Anstead family...see her other post on here today under name of Jean Gritton. Might be useful to those who are helping her.