Were Silas and Thomas one and the same?

What a fascinating case! And it’s one that has some good examples of our lying ancestors

QAfter a bit more digging I found my missing family (searching for MONK had previously not picked up MONCK!) However, one question remains, namely, what happened to Fanny/frances WEBB née Monk and was her husband Silas WEBB and Thomas WEBB one and the same person. I can’t seem to take this any further.

AWhat a fascinating case! And it’s one that has some good examples of our lying ancestors. I have no doubt whatsoever that Silas Webb and Thomas Webb are the same person and that when he married for the second time (almost certainly bigamously) he used a false name and even went to the length of creating a new father for himself in an attempt to muddy the waters and throw any interested parties off the trail. Little did he know how easy it would be for us to uncover his deceptions from the comfort of our 21st century living rooms! It’s worth noting that when his daughter Sophia married in 1925, she gave her father’s name as Silas Thomas Webb.

The timing of all of this is of particular interest here. Silas and Frances/fanny were clearly still together in 1891, living at 126 Great Knollys Street in Reading. But by sometime around 1898, Silas had taken up with Ellen Elizabeth Ireson; their oldest son, Ernest William, was aged three at the time of the 1901 census. I’m pretty sure that he was registered as Ernest William Tappern in the September quarter of 1898; the GRO’S birth index gives the mother’s maiden surname as ‘Preson’ but I’m sure that this is simply a misreading of the unfamiliar surname Ireson. Without seeing the certificate it’s difficult to know exactly what’s going on here (i.e. how much lying is involved!) and the same could be said with their second child.

‘Thomas’ Webb married Ellen Elizabeth Ireson in late 1899 and as you have already discovered, their daughter, Sophia Amelia Ellen, was born on 28 November 1900, yet her birth seems to have been registered giving her mother’s maiden name as Webb.

Of course the big question is, what happened to Frances/fanny? And there’s a fascinating clue which you may not have come across. On 14 July 1897, Frances Webb, formerly Monk, went into the register office for the district of St Mary, Reading, to register the birth of her daughter, Lily Ernestina Webb. Lily had been born at 3 Great Knollys Street, Reading on 5 June 1897 and Frances told the registrar that the father was Silas Webb, a builder’s labourer.

This, therefore, would appear to indicate that Frances and Silas were still together as late as July 1897. There is, however, no obvious later trace of Lily, or of Frances for that matter. In theory it should be possible to trace Lily from her distinctive middle name, particularly since we have her exact date of birth, but I can’t see any promising candidates in the 1939 National Register, nor any convincing post-1969 deaths.

It should also, in theory, be possible to find some sign of Fanny/frances, but if she married again, or if she adopted an entirely new identity, it’s going to be very difficult to track her down. If she happened to still be alive in 1939, it might be possible to identify her through her birth date so you need to get a copy of her birth certificate. I would also strongly recommend that you get copies of the birth certificates of Ernest William Tappern and Sophia Amelia Ellen Webb to see what secrets they hold. DA