Genealogy Chat

Hello, Can anyone please give me some advice. I am looking for my grandfather Stephen A Easter who was born in Herts and who probably adopted the surname Easter when his mother (poss) married when they moved to London. His mother (Amy Easter) had 3 further children and her surname on their birth and death certs differs !! She has put down Smith and also Brown as poss nee surnames..but of course, she may have made these up for reasons unknown ! I can't find either Amy or Stephen anywhere ! How can I go about finding out my grandfathers birth name - I do know his date of birth - 10 June 1874 and all marriage certs only show his father as "christian name unknown, Easter Deceased" I think I have hit a huge brick wall. Any help or suggestions would be most welcome. Regards Annabel

Although there are quite a few by the name of Easter registered in 1874, there are none by the name of Stephen, and none registered in Herts. Have you any other details, no matter how small Paul

I dont know if you have their details from 1891 census,but here goes incase you havent: living 7 Leysfield Road,Hammersmith Easter Amy daughter age 6 born London Easter Stephen son age 16 born Herts Easter Amy Head(married) age 42 born Herts Anna

There is only one Easter on the Decoder who would come close in age and has anything to do with Herts. He is called Charles, and was a railway fireman, born in Harrow and was in Watford Urban, Herts at the time of the Census. Paul

so you're looking for a Mr Easter who married Amy Smith/Brown/Whatever from Herts aoon after 1874? FreeBMD will make this sort of search easy when it's finished. What's the father's name on the other kids' birth certs?

Thanks ever so much for all your help. I do have the 1891 census for Leysfield Rd,Hammersmith, in fact thats about all I do have and unfort Free BMD hasn't been able to help ! The three other children Amy had (10 years after my grandfather Stephen Easter was born) are Amy Harris Easter, William Harris Easter (both fathered by William Harris Easter senior) and then Henry Harris Easter (fathered by Henry Harris Easter) !!!!! I presume Henry and William senior were brothers 1 - nothing like keeping it in the family !! If anyone is able to offer any further help, I would be every so grateful ! II don't think the Easters were Herts based, I think Amy met William and Henry in London when she moved there, so I am really stuck as don't know what my grandfathers birth surname could be and I cant find a Stephen Smith or Stephen Brown born in Herts in June 1874....Regards Annabel

well with the law as it stood then she couldn't legally marry both brothers, so something somewhere is not quite as it outwardly appears can't see a marriage for either of the Easters 1882-7 could be Amy and Stephen are hard to find in 1881 because Stephen wasn't with his mother. Not many ways for a woman to work and raise kids outside the workhouse about the only thing going in your favour is that Amy and Stephen weren't very common names then. The 1881 census only has 14 Stephens age 4-8 born in Herts how reliable is your date of birth? Sometimes people added a couple of years on to start work early, and never knocked them off again. There was a Stephen Alfred Smith born Watford Herts in 1876 living with grandparents in 1881 (1876 Jul-Sep Watford 3a 412) clutching at even more straws, the Smith grandparents had their eldest in Bucks, and the census has an Amy age 23 born somewhere in Bucks married (?) to an Alfred Brown