Keeping it in the family *UPDATED - now with birth certs*

[HarrysMum]

Originally Posted by Nell

Zoe - you'd better come back when you've got the cert and tell us what it says!

Ditto!!

[Merry]

Oh, this is creepy, isn't it? lol

Here's another slightly odd thing:

Ellen Higgs and John Shaw m in 1858 and seem to be together until 1871. However, someone submitting data to Family Search has put this:

Annie HIGGS
Female
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Event(s):
Birth: 1868 Newark Mb, Nottingham, England
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parents:
Father: Titus HIGGS
Mother: Ellen Emma HIGGS


Presumably they got their initial info from the 1881 census, as this would be where the place of birth came from, but I think Annie was registered in Pembroke district in Q1 1868 as per the 1871 census entry which has her b at Pembroke Dock, yet they have managed to work out Ellen's maiden name apparently without acknowledging her first marriage. Odd?

John Titus Shaw 1864 (can't read birthplace)

John Titus Shaw was b in Portsmouth (reg in Portsea)

[Olde Crone]

The certificate isn't going to tell you much though, is it. If they really were brother and sister, then one of them would have to lie about their father.

It would seem a very strange thing to do - they
MUST have known it was illegal and therefore the certificate wasn't worth the paper it was written on. One explanation is some kind of scam to get Army pay allowances for the "wife" and children.

Another explanation is that they are not brother and sister - baptisms?

YET ANOTHER, lol, is that one or other of them is someone else pretending to be them. We had an example of this recently, didn't we, where someone in the army ran off with another woman and she pretended to be the first wife, so that she and her children got army allowances. That doesn't quite work here, but may be something along those lines?

OC

Yes but the marriage certificate would still be interesting to see what they actually put! Might give a clue to who each of them were or yes they lied, still interesting.

Or as you have surmised perhaps they weren't biological brother and sister to begin with.

[Merry]

The baptisms of the two sisters are on the IGI (extracted). Unfortunately Titus's birthplace isn't on the IGI (Heckfield is/was in Hants, not Berkshire, I believe). It's difficult to imagine they didn't have the same mother, even if they has different fathers (secretly or otherwise)

Well I would assume they had the same mother too from the census details in the above post.

[Merry]

I wonder what happened to John Shaw?

[Margaret in Burton]

Originally Posted by Olde Crone

The certificate isn't going to tell you much though, is it. If they really were brother and sister, then one of them would have to lie about their father.

It would seem a very strange thing to do - they
MUST have known it was illegal and therefore the certificate wasn't worth the paper it was written on. One explanation is some kind of scam to get Army pay allowances for the "wife" and children.

Another explanation is that they are not brother and sister - baptisms?

YET ANOTHER, lol, is that one or other of them is someone else pretending to be them. We had an example of this recently, didn't we, where someone in the army ran off with another woman and she pretended to be the first wife, so that she and her children got army allowances. That doesn't quite work here, but may be something along those lines?

OC

Yes that was me doing my niece's hubby's tree.

[samesizedfeet]

In 1841 the two girls are with their mother (can't find Henry Titus yet, though not looked at length)

Hartley Westpall
HO107; Piece 385; Book: 23; Folio: 7; Page: 8

Jane Higgs 20
Harriott Higgs 2
Ellen Higgs 8 Mo

They're living next door to Jane's father and brother (Richard and Henry Godden). Although Obv there's no relationships so can't draw any conclusions from it.

Titus is born in 1843, Henry Titus dies in 1845

1851 is as above. Living with Richard Godden and Jane's new husband so the relationships given relate to Richard who is head - granddaughter/grandson. I suppose technically from this census Titus could be the child of another of Richard's children if he had another daughter who married a Higgs - which would make Titus and Ellen Emma cousins.

I may order Ellen's first marriage as well to see what she says for father on there.


It's funny as the lady I am doing this for said there's a bit of a family secret that she's been told will probably be uncovered - but I don't think this is it as it's too far back and not her direct line (she's directly related to oldest sister Harriet)

[samesizedfeet]

2 marriage certs ordered

Very tempted to get the births as well but I'll see what the marriages tell me first