Why does my grandfather’s elder sister vanish from the records?
QMy grandfather Arthur Moth was one of 12 children, the eldest being Ada Georgina Moth, born in Gosport on 4 June 1871. I’ve researched the life history of each sibling, but in Ada’s case I can get no further than the 1891 census, where she is a housemaid at 4 Lynchford Terrace, Waverley Road, Portsmouth. After this, I can find no marriage, death or any further record on the 1901 census. I’ve tried the newspapers, immigration and travel to no avail. Ann Parsons
AAll trees, however well researched, have a problem individual who just disappears without trace. The only approach is to work through the most likely reasons and eliminate, as far as possible, each one.
A woman might change her name through marriage, or perhaps die young, but both should leave easily found records. Another common explanation is that she lived with any Ada of roughly the right age, leaving the surname blank but using her birthplace; and check entries where only initials are used (common in the records of workhouses etc).
Check the deaths of her parents and siblings – who registered them? Did any leave a will that mentioned Ada? Was there a funeral announcement in a local newspaper that might list Ada as a mourner?
I would also make sure that at least one close relative has their DNA tested in case a match emerges.
However, I can’t see any definite match for her in the 1901 or 1911 censuses, nor the 1939 Register, so I would look closely at emigration. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the colonies, especially Canada, were looking for new immigrants, and agents advertised offers of cheap passage to suitable candidates. Young female domestic servants were especially targeted, to balance the number of young men arriving to work in industries such as farming.