Who was Edwin Henry Hooker and what happened to him?
 

I've stumbled on a little mystery for you all, though doubtless Kate or Merry will have it solved by the end of the first page. :p

On this 1891 census page, we can see Henry Hooker's family in Egham, Surrey.

Henry - head, 43
Henry, Jr. - son, 18
Albert - son, 12
Edith - daughter, 15
Janet - daughter, 10

(There is also another daughter - Minnie, 17 - who is absent as she is a servant in another household).

Below these are the people I am interested in, as the next person on the census is something of a mystery to me, and I am trying to work out whether he was in fact a son of Henry's - and thus missing from this particular family tree - or simply a relative of some sort.

The entry has been transcribed by Ancestry as 'Elburn Hy - son, 6' but I thought that rather unlikely, and tried putting Edwin into FreeBMD. Sure enough, I found this:

Births Dec 1883

HOOKER Edwin Henry Windsor 2c 429

Egham is (or was) in the Windsor registration district, which has been written down as his place of birth. The age also matches up, more or less.

Beneath Edwin, we then have Matilda, a servant, and beneath her Henery (?) and Arthur something, who are given as boarders. Ancestry has transcribed them as Hooker, but I cannot work out what the word after them is supposed to mean, as it is not the same (an 'e' has been added after it) as when used with Henry's family. Perhaps one of you more familiar with census records can help me there.

Also, Henery has an occupation given, but I can't quite make it out - something-House Boy?

Unfortunately, I can't find any marriage or death registries for Edwin, and the only reference I can find to him on the census records is in 1891, in which he has been transcribed as Elburn.

Could any of you please help me find him? I am really just trying to rule him out as having been Henry Hooker's son, as otherwise I have someone missing from that particular family tree, which would be unfortunate.

Obviously the last resort is that I purchase a copy of his birth certificate, but hopefully I'll be able to find some other information without having to do that. You lot are usually quite good at finding people lost in the mists of time. ;)

Incidentally, I have everything I've been able to find on the other children: Harry, Albert, Edith, Minnie & Janet - only Albert married and had any children. I have managed to find dates of birth and death for most of them from the 1939 Register and probate records.

Thank you!

The surname for Matilda, Henery and Arthur is Doe. Henery's occupation is House Boy and the person who was extracting the data from the census form has written Dom next to it to show what category it should be counted in.

Ahhh! Thank you Kate, that makes sense. I did look at it and think Doe, but then I just thought it seemed odd and was perhaps a variant of ditto or something, and thus Hooker. I'm not an expert on reading census records so thought it best to ask.

Still, if that means the Does are a different family then that may bode well for Edwin indeed being Henry's son, although the question is then what happened to him, and who his mother may have been.

On the 1911 census, Henry has writen 5 children total, 4 still alive - this is because both Edith and her mother Maria died in Woking Asylum. However, assuming the 1911 census is only counting the children of Henry & Maria - and Edwin was a bastard - then presumably it would not count him.

I expect you already have this, but Maria was admitted to Woking Asylum 26 May 1881 and seems to have stayed there until her death in 1916, so it does look very unlikely that she was Edwin's mother.

Yeah, I have that as a source, thanks. Maria died in 1906, also in Woking Asylum.

Judging by subsequent census records, it doesn't look like Henry ever re-married, so if Edwin was his son then it seems very likely he was a bastard.

It seems Matilda Doe still worked for Henry ten years later, in 1901.

I wonder if she was the mother? It says she is married, though.

EDIT: I wonder if this could be her:

Deaths Dec 1932

DOE Matilda 84 Windsor 2c 511

She's down as being 41 on the 1891 census, so the age would match up.

I'm just trying to see if we can maybe trace Edwin (under a different name) by tracing Matilda, but of course it could be a false lead.

I think this is Matilda in 1881 though the sons' details don't quite match 1891:
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/75...nSearchResults

84 St Pauls Rd, Kentish Town, St Pancras
Charles Doe Head Mar 42 Publisher Surry
Matilda " Wife 33 Somerset
John " Son 9 Scholar "
Henry " " 5 "
Joseph A " 4 " Bucks
Elizabeth Hathaway Visitor Unm 57 Independent "
Margaret Entwistle Visitor " 11 Scholar "
Annie Young Visitor " 25 " "

In 1901 Charles Doe is married but his wife isn't there, so that 1881 family must be the right Matilda.
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/78...nSearchResults

Yes, I was just looking at the 1881 census, although I hadn't found Charles in 1901 yet.

This looks to be the marriage, then.

Matilda Brooks.

Births Mar 1853

Brooks Matilda Yeovil 5c 558

So, could be an 1852 birth. That'd match up with the Yeovil, Somerset stuff on the Henry Hooker census.

Births Dec 1838

Doe Charles Windsor 6 244

Deaths Sep 1924

Doe Charles 85 Kingston

Likely?

EDIT: And 1911.