Is Henry Ernest George my grandfather?
QMy great great grandparents, William George and Esther (née Parkes), had six children at 89 St Merrow Street, St Saviour, Southwark, Surrey, including my grandfather. On his marriage and death certificates his name is Henry Edward, but I can’t find a record of a birth. Censuses (from 1891) and marriage and death records suggest he was born 1883–1885. A Henry Ernest George was born in the last quarter of 1882 in Southwark, with the same parents and address. Could this be my grandfather? Richard George Hartshorn
AIn a case like this, it’s important to gather as much information as possible about the ‘target’ ancestor and about the family to which you believe they belong. It’s a process known as family reconstruction.
We’re looking for proof that the Henry Edward George who married in 1908 and died in 1931 is the same person as the
Henry Ernest George who was born in 1882 – or alternatively, proof that he isn’t. And we can quickly find the necessary evidence to support the theory that he is, by looking at the marriage records of Henry Ernest’s siblings, Alice Maude and Samuel James. Alice married Arthur Godfrey Glen in 1905 and Samuel married Lily Maria Holmes in 1907. The two witnesses at Henry Edward’s 1908 marriage were AM Glen and LM George – that is, his sister Alice Maude and his sister-in-law Lily Maria.
It’s also worth noting that Henry Edward gave his father’s name as William Wieldon George, and Alice gave her father’s name as William Weldon George.
As for the apparent change of name, of all the ‘facts’ that we research about our ancestors’ lives there are none that are quite as unstable as their names. Middle names are particularly vulnerable to change and, in this case, it may be relevant that Henry’s brother, George Edward, died, aged just nine, in 1894. Perhaps Henry took on his brother’s middle name in his memory? David Annal