Thomas Connolly & Edith Sharratt
 

Mindful of my previous advice to myself:
I have come up with a couple of interesting points regarding the marriage of Thomas (Patrick) Connolly & Edith Mary Sharratt, Jan 1931.

• A possible child born the year before their marriage
• A prison sentence for Thomas a month after their marriage

I've started a new thread with the details and will hopefully get some feedback/comments on my thoughts before I go off on a tangent!

Please don't give the name of the possible child though, unless you know for sure that s/he is dead.

With regard to the child, if it's the one registered in the mother's surname, then, yes, it could be Edith's, but there are quite a few other unmarried Sh?r?tt women in the area and sometimes an illegitimate child would be born away from where the woman lived so that means a load more ladies who might have come in to Cheshire for the birth and then moved on again.

Thomas and Gladys appear to have two children with them in 1939 and they may well be the son of Thomas and Edith and the one child they seem to have had together. I have looked at two other Sh?rr?tt women married soon after 1930 in Wirrel district and both of those have the correct number of children living with them in 1939 to reflect the number born in their marriages.

Of course sometimes an illegitimate child (or any child!) ends up living in a different part of the family, so the truth may be different again. Only to add that the 1930 child doesn't appear with the maternal grandmother in 1939, which could have been a possibility.

I think you may be stuck with getting the birth cert if you want to find out more about that child!

Oh, I wish you had said it was the crime that led you to believe that child belonged to Thomas and Edith!! If only I'd looked for the crime first! lol

So, Thomas already had a child by Feb 1931? Yes, it could be the one you were looking at. I wonder which child is missing in 1939?

Crime?

The newspaper article about TPC's crime mentioned he had been disowned by his father. However, Thomas senr may not have been perfect either! I don't have time to go back and post all the links right now, but here:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/...nolly%20wirral

he seems to be the co-respondent in a divorce case in 1942.

Back in 1939 Thomas senr was living with his wife, Mary Chapman b 1883. George Williams and his wife were together (she was born 1897). Her surname wasn't written, as it was the same as her husband's, but a different hand has squeezed the name Connolly into the space which confused me for a minute! It turns out Mary A Williams (also Drummond) married Thomas Connolly in 1943. There's a likely death for the first Mrs Connolly in Q4 1941.

Yes, Maggie, this:

was where he tried to defraud someone out of £3 by giving them a sob story about his circumstances which were untrue and he was found out.

Since this all fits together, we can post the name of the 1930 birth since I have found a death (sure hope I was looking at the same birth you were!)

Ethel Sharratt birth registered Jan-Mar 1930 Wirral, MMN Sharratt (no MMN shown on GRO site)
Ethel Sharratt marriage to Neilson Apr-Jun 1953 Chester
Ethel Neilson / Sharratt death 2018 Bellshill, Scotland, age 88, MMN Sharratt (on Scotland's People).

Will just check back on Ancestry because there was also a death / burial record on there... edit: never mind, that was a different year!

Since she died in Scotland, I don't think her 1939 Register record will have been opened.

I think I saw a couple for Thomas the father. I found that birth of the other child in Kite's post yesterday but I didn't look any further.

Edith Mary Sharratt had a younger sister Ethel, born 7 May 1908, Hoylake, Wirral.

I was always of the imression it was her who married John Neilson and moved to Scotland?
At the time though I wasn't aware of the Ethel born in 1930.

I actually have a (verified) photo of the wedding of Ethel & John, although I must admit that I have entered the following note against the marriage entry in my tree:
Research Note: This marriage to be confirmed as it would make her 45 at the time, which is probably older than she looks on her wedding photograph.

This now leaves me with nothing but a birth 7 May 1908 and baptism 30 Jul 1908 for Ethel (my aunt), who was always elusive and difficult to research.

Ethel Neilson died in 2018 age 88 so must be the one born 1930.

There is an Ethel Sharatt death Apr-Jun 1969 Spilsby district (Lincolnshire), dob 7 May 1908. I will see if I can find her on the 1939 Register.

No luck with the 1939 Register, I'm afraid.

Oh, there is an Ethel Jones death index entry matching the Ethel Sharatt one, so maybe she was known as Mrs Jones but not married to Mr Jones?

There is a family on the 1939 Register in Skegness (which was in Spilsby registration district):
William J Jones 29 Mar 1900 Lorry Driver
Ethel Jones 7 May 1908 Unpaid Household Duties
a little girl - name later changed to Collingwood - the fact that the record is open should mean she is deceased but I haven't managed to find a death record and I know some have been wrongly opened so I won't put full details
and a closed record.

Of course it's easy to go wrong with a name like Jones so I could be on the wrong track! Does Skegness ring any bells with you?

lol An hour behind you Kate, but I found the same entries!

The entry that's blanked out in 1939 is probably a birth from Q4 1938, Spilsby district.

There is birth registration for a child under the name Sharratt maiden surname of mother Sharratt in Southwark for Jan 1937, could possibly be the same one.

Great find and definitely the right person. I've not used Scotland's People before but have now registered. I notice that, unlike the GRO, they don't give a quarter date. I'm wondering if anything can be gleaned from the Reference 566/ 393 alongside the name with regard to date?

Its the registration district number:

Bellshill (formerly Bothwell)Lanark 19722006 Old RD 566 Today's RD566

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/resear...tion-districts

The other numbers maybe number in register.

But on the 1939 register Ethel & William are recorded as married.

Not that I'm aware of but I've no idea where she ended up.

Doesn't mean they were!

I've just ordered the birth cert for Ethel Sharratt b.1930 in the hope that it will confirm Edith Mary as her mother.

Also ordered the marriage cert for Ethel Sharratt & John Neilson 1953 to see who Ethel lists as her father (also some info on John Neilson).

As Kate says, it doesn't mean they were, and in this case it's pretty clear they were not. We have the death reg for Ethel recorded with two surnames and also the birth of a child in Q4 1938 also recorded in two surnames.

But there's also the birth of another female child b. Q3 1937 with the same two surnames. However, she is not the one on the 1939 registration and the blanked out one could only be one of those children (female Q3 1937 or male Q4 1938).
Both were registered in the Spilsby District.

I've looked on FreeBMD, Ancestry and FMP but I can't find the 1937 entry. In any case, yes, I agree with what you say otherwise. Did you check neither of the Spilsby children died before Sept 1939?

First quote is a post I made a few days ago about the 1939 register entry.

I found a birth registration for a child under the name Sharratt maiden surname of mother Sharratt with the same first name in the 1939 Register in Southwark for Jan 1937, not two registrations though just the one so if that man in 1939 was her father then he wasn't present if it is the right registration and the right child. I suppose it is possible the mother could have been in London in 1937 working in service.

If the Jan 1937 birth is a child of Ethel's, then there can't be another in Q3 1937. I still can't find the Q3 birth in Spilsby.

Neither can I.

The blanked out one could be anyone - for instance, an evacuee.

The name of the child on the 1939 Register that you can see may be the middle name and not the first name.

Edit to ask: has anyone found a marriage for this child yet?

Yes, there is a likely marriage in 1958 with a middle initial matching the given name from the 1939 Register, but I don't want to post too many details on here as the person may still be alive despite their 1939 Register record having been opened.

Ahhh right.

Ah, just checked. The Q3 is in Oldbury, Worcestershire but the two names are correct.
I can't find the birth for the Q1 1937.

I think the one Maggie found was registered in the mother's surname and was in London.

The birth I found was Jan 1937 Southwark London.

Received certs today which confirms Edith Mary as Ethel's mother.

9 Feb 1930, Maternity Home, Poulton-cum-Spital. Ethel, Girl, Father's name and occupation left blank. Mother, Edith Mary Sharratt, Domestic Servant of 1 Walker Street, Hoylake-cum-West Kirby U.D. Informant, E.M. Sharratt, Mother, Maternity Home, Poulton-cum-Spital. 19 Feb 1930, G.H. Tomlinson, Registrar.

18 Apr 1953 after banns. John Neilson, 22, Bachelor, Plumber, 22a Green Street, Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Father Walter Neilson, Miner. Ethel Sharratt, 23, Spinster, 26 Curzon Park North, Chester. (No father's name recorded). Witnesses M. Smith & R. Cuthbertson. Ceremony conducted by H.J. Williams.

From the information on the marriage cert I think John's parents were Walter Neilson & Elizabeth Frew (ScotlandsPeople Marr: 1930 Ref. 656/5 Stonehouse) and that John died in 2017 (ScotlandsPeople Death: 2017 Ref. 577/841 Hamilton), a year before Ethel (ScotlandsPeople Death: 2018 Ref. 566/393 Bellshill). Hamilton & Bellshill are very close to each other. One may have died in hospital and the other at home.