Adelaide/Edith Bowler/Shaw
 

Seeing that Shropshire parish records are now on Ancestry has encouraged me to look again at my husband's great grandma Edith (Adelaide)Shaw. She has always been a bit of a puzzle as she apparently left the family sometime after her last child's birth in 1922 and I have never found any trace of her after that.

In 1911 she is listed as Edith Lyons age 24 born Market Drayton. On her 1907 marriage cert she was Edith Shaw age 21, father Thomas Shaw ag lab. In 1901, I found her in Tyrley as a servant age 13. Also in Tyrley are a Thomas Shaw, wife Mary Ann, daughter Elizabeth c1889 and son Thomas c1897. My late father in law had a recollection of an Elizabeth, and Thomas, so this seemed to fit. However in 1891 this family were in Little Drayton with older daughter Adelaide, not Edith. I was unable to find Edith elsewhere and it was suggested that Edith can be another version of Adelaide. I found a marriage in 1888 for a Thomas Shaw and Mary Ann Bowler. I couldn't find a birth for an Adelaide Shaw, but did find one for an Adelaide Bowdler and have the cert.
Checking the Shropshire parish records yesterday, I found a baptism for an Adelaide Bowler, parents Thomas and Mary Ann and wondered if this is the same one.
I don't have a sub and was wondering if someone could confirm the details for me please? One of my problems with this family is that some records seem to be Shropshire, whilst others are Staffordshire, which gets very confusing.
Thanks

There isn't an image, Lynn.

Baptism 8th January 1888 at Little Drayton.
Parents: Thomas and Mary Ann Bowler

The GRO doesn't have a birth registration for Adelaide.
It does have

BOWLER, EDITH BENBOW
GRO Reference: 1887 S Quarter in MARKET DRAYTON Volume 06A Page 744

In 1911 Thomas and Mary Ann Shaw are at Market Drayton.
They have been married 23 years, had 4 children, 3 still living, 1 dead.

With them are Elizabeth, 21, and Thomas, 14, and also
Ruth Bowler, visitor, widow, aged 75.

Of course, the images are on FMP not Ancestry!

No additional information, unfortunately, except that Thomas was a labourer.

Ah, baptism at St Leonard's, Woore:
Edith, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Bowler.
4th September 1887.
He was a general labourer living at Dorrington.

Ah, I was hoping that it would say Thomas Shaw and Mary Ann Bowler. The birth cert gives the date of 1/6/1887
The birth cert is in the name of Adelaide Bowdler not Bowler, these names seem to be interchangeable.
Is there an image of the marriage of Thomas and Mary Ann in the Staffordshire parish record collection? It would be interesting to compare the address to that given on Adelaide's birth certificate.

No, and http://www.marriage-locator.co.uk can't find the place, so they were probably married at a Register Office.

Thanks. Did they have register offices back then? I have only ever seen marriages in churches from the 1800s

From 1837, you could marry in a Register Office. It would be useful for people who were nonconformist, who might not be able to get the Registrar and their minister of choice in the same place at a convenient time.

When I queried why a great aunt had a register office marriage, rather than the church wedding her sisters had had, my great uncle implied that the church wedding was a lot of overblown nonsense involving unnecessary expense.

Ok thanks. I have found some trees on Ancestry that have the family, including Adelaide but they don't have any dates for her marriage or death, which helps my theory that she iwas Edith. sadly the one that looked most interesting, didn't have the option to contact the tree owner.