Find Ancestors

Well if you're going to have a star on your chest, this is the first thing you need to have in your quiver:

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

You find his name, you click on the page number. (You have the huge luck of apparently having a page with only two names -- before 1911, you can't tell which of two brides married which of two (or more) grooms in most cases.) There's a third name there who seems to have been mistranscribed - the page number shown for her doesn't match with Romford, undoubtedly where she married.

Play with FreeBMD. You can search for a surname married to a given name, a given name with a particular mother's surname (after 1911), a Mar* maried to a Jo*, and on and on.

Do not "upgrade" here. "Here" is just a second-hand portal to what lies elsewhere. If you're serious, I recommend Ancestry. Others like FindMyPast.

You don't have access to censuses now? If you want him tracked to 1901, will do. I'm looking at the image for 1901 right now. I think you may well have cracked it.

1881 is free at Ancestry. Start here:

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/rectype/census/uk/default.aspx

You should be able to find both of them with their parents in 1881, given how old they would have been when they married in1892, so that's another stroke of luck.

Are these the brothers sailing London/Quebec aboard the Corinthian 1913.
Alfred 1899
Arthur 1901
William 1900

They are listed as part of Dr Barnardos Party

I seem to be falling down on the job all over here.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/home-children/001015-100.01-e.php

Search for Drake, year of arrival 1913.

The anomaly is that all three of them seem to have been listed as belonging to two different Barnardo's parties.

The only other Drakes that year were a Francis Thomas, 9, and a James, 15, who were in different parties altogether. So I do think that is the three in question being shown twice, possibly as a result of some last-minute rejigging.

One party is described as "boy farm workers", the other just as boys. Both say destination Toronto, but that would have been somewhat pro forma. Barnardo's main staging house was in Peterborough, northeast of Toronto.

Janey,

Just had another look at the record and yes they are listed twice, both on the Corinthian but different dates september 25th 1913 and June 12th 1913........odd....Barnardos Party Sheet 1 and Barnardos Party sheet 4

Ann

I can't thank you enough - all this info and help is just fantastic. It has enabled me to find another contact here, Shirley. She has told me that Ephraim was in prison (surmising poverty link, but don't know yet) and Alfred's sister tried to support family by negotiating with local shopkeeper - child resulted. All very tragic by the sounds of it. As poor, am assuming this is why the brothers were in Barnardo's? I have a lot to get my teeth into. Can't believe you have tracked the ship they were on! Many thanks.

I still can't find a better marriage than the North Yorkshire one.