Genealogy Chat

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I've lost track of my gggrandmother's sister. I have her on the 1861 census with the family in Harwich as 4 year old Amelia Sarah Stuart. I've located her birth and baptism and she was born 9th Feb 1857 in Harwich. I have her on the 1871 census working as a Servant in London, mistranscribed as Emelia S Stuart and her age as 41 (the image clearly says 14!). I can't find her beyond that. So far I have: Checked for a death 1871-1881 but nothing on Ancestry or Freebmd. Checked for a marriage between 1871-1881 - ditto! I did a search on the 1881 census just under Amelia and Amelia S using year of birth and birthplace and came up with 2 possibles. An Amelia married to William Southgate and one married to John Sparks. I have checked every marriage for both men in both London and Essex between 1871 and 1881 and can't find one of them marrying an Amelia at all, never mind MY Amelia. Any ideas what to do next? Thanks Lou

Lou - did you include the familyrelatives site in the list of places you checked for her marriage (it's a lot easier than 1837)

If you have only checked Freebmd/Ancestry (which are the same thing) for her marriage, you would need to go through the GRO indexes. I don't want to depress you but I couldn't find a marriage I wanted in the indexes and am now wondering if couple in question were living in sin? I suppose it is possible that Amelia decided to use her second name Sarah? Good luck. nell

Hi Jools and Nell! No I haven't checked family rellies, no credits left and Mark's in work till 3am with the credit card (MUST take ownership of that!). I had wondered about the Sarah as there seems to be a fair few of those in the right time frame or whether she ever did marry (wouldn't be the first one in this family to live over the brush as my Nan used to say!) Guess I should go back and check the Sarah's too! Lou

Hi lou Would you like me to look through the GRO index for you. My library holds the records. Im going there on Mon/Tue Julie

Hi Julie That would be great if it isn't too much trouble. Given that she was only 14 in 1871, I would imagine she would have got married (if she did!) between 1875-1881 but given that girls could marry at 12, who knows! Lou

Lou Ill let you know how i get on Julie

This couldn't be her, could it: Household: Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability Phillip C. PEEBLES Head M Male 38 Scotland Paper Maker Employs 74 ... 36 Males Violet A. PEEBLES Daur U Female 14 Highbury, Middlesex, England Scholar Kate A. PEEBLES Daur U Female 10 Maidavale, Middlesex, England Scholar Dora F. M. PEEBLES Daur U Female 13 Highbury, Middlesex, England Scholar Howard M. PEEBLES Son Male 9 Maida Vale, Middlesex, England Scholar Stewart PEEBLES Son Male 6 Maida Vale, Middlesex, England Scholar Gilbert P. PEEBLES Son Male 6 Maida Vale, Middlesex, England Scholar Trauleine L. MAY Serv U Female 36 Germany Governess Lucy HUDSON Serv U Female 37 Suffolk, England Cook Sarah SMART Serv U Female 33 Pimbea, Middlesex, England Parlourmaid Ellen MIZEN Serv U Female 32 Bradford On Conway, Wiltshire, England Housemaid Ellen PRETTY Serv U Female 33 St Johns Wood, Middlesex, England Kitchenmaid Emily STEWARD Serv U Female 24 Colchester, Essex, England School Room Maid Mary HEWICK Serv U Female 26 Peckham, Worcester, England Nurse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source Information: Dwelling 32 Cleveland Sqr Census Place London, Middlesex, England Family History Library Film 1341004 Public Records Office Reference RG11 Piece / Folio 0018 / 125 Page Number 43 All my Amelias were called Milly throughout their lives, except around vicars and enumerators. Their names change then from Amelia to Emily and even Millicent. It's to be hoped that the employer did get all the details of his servants right, but that certainly did not happen in my family. B

Hi Brenda Thank you, that's certainly worth looking into as she's certainly the right age. I've got several ancestors working as servants and don't think there's a single one where the name, the age and the birth place are correct. It's almost as if the employer didn't know and had no desire to find out. Mere minnions! The family as a whole are regularly mistranscribed as Stewart or Steward so quite possibly..... Lou

Have a look at the governess's name. How many Trauleines do you know?!!! OMG the more I look at this household, the more of a nightmare it becomes. I bet the original image didn't say Pimbea either.