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My paternal grandfather was Leslie Willis, (1908-1984) his siblings were Violet, George and Sidney. The 1911 census has given his mother as Matilda (born 1870), but no information on a father save listing Matilda as currently 'married' and for '11 years'. I considered one possibility being that the father is in the army, or something; if he was dead I suppose it would list her as 'widowed'. Matilda, as well as Violet and George, were born in Hoxton according to the census, and Sidney and Leslie in Stoke Newington. If anyone can give me any more information about this side of the family (particularly the name of Matilda's husband) I would be very much obliged; we've got my dad's mum's side of the family down back to 1748, so I'd like to make progress on this side as well! Many thanks in advance.

Have you tried freeBMD?

A possible


1901 England Census
about Matilda Willis
Name: Matilda Willis
Age: 32
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: George
Gender: Female
Where born: Newington, London, England

Civil Parish: Camberwell
Ecclesiastical parish: St John the Divine
County/Island: London
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status:

View Image

Registration district: Camberwell
Sub registration district: St George
ED, institution, or vessel: 5
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 166
Household Members:
Name Age
George Willis 32
Matilda Willis 32
Elsie Willis 6
Maud Willis 4
George Willis 2

Marriages Dec 1893
Burr Henry Robert St. Saviour 1d 355
>>>Cooper Matilda Emily St. Saviour 1d 355
Steer Julia St. Saviour 1d 355
>>>Willis George St. Saviour 1d 355

The only sure way to be certain is to obtain the birth cert for one of the children.

Possible for Leslie

Births Sep 1908 (>99%)
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Willis Leslie W. Ham 4a 467


Andy

Agree re the birth cert. Thought this might be a possible marriage as in 1911 she was listed as married for 11 years


Surname First name(s) District Vol Page

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Marriages Sep 1901 (>99%)
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BRICE William Frederick Holborn 1b 1387
>>Jones Matilda Holborn 1b 1387
MATON Ruth Holborn 1b 1387
>>Willis Cornelius Holborn 1b 1387

Thanks for all the prompt replies!
David- I've tried FreeBMD, but it only comes up with the same three 'Leslie Willis' results; I ordered the birth certificate of one, registered in the July-September 1908 period, but I received it today and in fact the details didn't match in name of mother, day of birth or location. The other two just don't seem to be him- one is born in Chester le Street (my grandfather was born in Stoke Newington according to the census) and the other has a middle name, which no other records pertaining to my grandfather list. I've found the record of his death, which gives his DOB as 13th July; is that definitely reliable as a source? (I'd imagine so, but...)

Diddydoris- I won't definitively dismiss what you found, but I came across that result once before, and not only was George not born until 1905 according to the 1911 census, but the daughters I've never encountered mention of before (of course they could have died young, but it's the George issue that makes me think it's not the same family). As for the marriage info, that could well be accurate; I'll keep it just in case, thank you.

Andy- I did try to order his birth certificate (it came today) but I can't gel the certificate with the census info, and the census info matches what my dad has told me of his siblings etc before...perhaps his birth wasn't registered? Also, is anyone else having problems viewing things on the site? Recently whenever I approve the use of 5 credits or whatever, it comes up with the viewer but doesn't show anything but white...
Thanks again, everybody; I'll keep on going!

Information on death certs is only what the informant thought they knew. My sons know my birthday (not that they ever remember it!) but they can't say for sure what year I was born.

Do you have Leslie's marriage cert? That should name his father and might give confirmation of his YOB.

Hmm, I see what you mean about the death certificate; that would be a major spanner in the works! My dad's elder brother may have the marriage certificate, but I wonder if it'd be easier to try and find it online myself rather than have him trawl through paperwork...? I assume one can get copies of marriage certificates, in the same way as the others?

I wonder if this could be Leslie mistranscribed - the Reg District covers Stoke Newington

Births Sep 1908

Willes Leslie Hackney 1b 474

Hmm, very possibly...there certainly are a number of variables that could cause problems, aren't there?
Well, I've found the marriage record for my grandfather and grandmother on another site (since the viewer isn't working for me here)- just a question I have about that: what information does a marriage certificate have on it? I mean, would it list his father even if he was deceased by that point, for example?

It should list his father's name and occuption and would also state whether he was desceased. In the later case sometimes the occupation is not listed.

OK, that sounds fairly promising. That's the next step then, thanks for the input!

OK, so I got hold of my grandfather's birth certificate (it turns out his WAS the 'Willes' one...can't think how that misspelling came about, but all the other details match up, so...) and his marriage certificate. The only problem being that the former lists his father as William, and the latter as George. Both have his profession as 'carpenter', however; the marriage certificate, dated 1935, lists 'George' as deceased.

Basically what I'd like are some ideas of where to go from here; I find it hard to believe that Leslie knew his father's profession but not his name, so he was probably at least KNOWN as 'George'; perhaps his middle name? Surely there are other ways of finding information than simply scouring the birth lists for 'George' and 'William' (there are hundreds, and I don't know his birth date or have a reasonable idea)?

Any advice welcome and appreciated.

Glad the birth cert matched. Does it list his mother's Matilda's maiden name as I would think the best way forward is to find his parents marriage.

It is possible that the use of George or William for his fathers could be because his grandfather had the same name. Remember the father would have given the details on the birth cert and the son Leslie would have given details on his marriage cert

I wonder whether the couple could be the George and Matilda that Doris found you in 1901. Matilda was listed as born in Newington which is the right area, but just noticed your comments to Doris re there being two George's so maybe not the right family

K- sorry for the late response. Yes, I found Matilda's maiden name to be Wilkes (and managed to trace her family back a further couple of generations) but as usual the Willis side eludes me...

As to the result Doris found previously- it's entirely possible that they are the same individuals; perhaps the two daughters AND the first George died somehow, and later they named their next son George also? Not impossible, certainly, but difficult to be sure. Certainly the DOB given in what she found matches well with Matilda's age as I have it; also the 1911 census (which doesn't include George/William for whatever reason) lists her as having been married for 11 years.

Looks like I'll go with that avenue first of all, then!
Thanks for the reply.