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AG - :-D :-D

The baby was being cared for by her maternal grandparents, which would make absolute sense, as a widowed man would almost certainly have been unable to care for her properly on his own. He didn’t marry again until she was 5 years old and the child would by then have been settled in her home.

You're probably right, Names. I was only being facetious.

It's just one of those little insoluble mysteries which help to make family research so fascinating.

:-S

Such a tiny baby would have been given to someone to look after, probably family or a friend.

Isn’t is just as likely that her father and stepmother didn’t want to uproot her from the place she knew.

Maybe she didn't like her stepmother - or vice versa.

You'll never know the reason!

I have the death certificate for Christina Draper (nee Lavery). It's not easy to read but it seems she died 21 January 1933 at Rice Lane. Her home address was given as 55 Pugin Street, Liverpool, and registrant was James Draper, Milk Dealer Salesman. The cause of death was:
1. Puerperal septic infection.
11. Confined 14/1/33.
Google says it is a postpartum sepsis, a complication of childbirth, usually occurring within first 10 days after birth.
So it looks like Christina was certainly my James' first wife and the child shown in 1939 register is James' daughter. I wonder, though, why the daughter isn't with him in 1939 with his new wife Beatrice.

Yvonne, perhaps you will come back to let us know?

With the 1933 DRAPER child being with Christina's parents in 1939, it looks a probable match.

If the records are for the same Christina and her family, it would seem that she died soon after her daughter's birth, -How sad.

Oh thanks for that. Emily was the one I was fancying - I'll get the certificate for the other one.

NO - not Emily Brown -

here are Emily and her husband in 1939:

James Draper
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name James Draper
Gender Male
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 22 Apr 1902
Residence Date 1939
Address 46 Scourfield St
Residence Place Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Occupation Motor Man Unemployed
Line Number 37
Schedule Number 145
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Nhqi
Borough Liverpool
Registration District 453-5
Inferred Spouse
Emily Draper
Inferred Children
James Draper
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
James Draper Male 1902
Emily Draper Female 1905
This record is officially closed.
James Draper Male 1933


The son's birth:

Births Dec 1933 (>99%)
DRAPER James (mmn Brown) Liverpool 8b 357


Other children - Doreen will be the closed record:

Births Jun 1930 (>99%)
Draper Winifred Brown Liverpool 8b 412

Deaths Sep 1930 (>99%)
Draper Winifred 0 Liverpool 8b 78


Births Mar 1931 (>99%)
Draper Doreen Brown Liverpool 8b 450

Thanks for all this info.
Beatrice and James were in Liverpool when they married in 1938, she was indeed at Finchley Road.
The two earlier marriages I'm drawn to are to Emily Brown or the one, Christina, mentioned above. It looks like I'm going to have to look into some certificates.

Although Jean is an open record in 1939, which should mean she has died, she is on the Merseyside ER for 2025 (on GR) , so her death must be very recent.

In 1939, Samuel and Mary Lavery (Christina's parents), and the 1933 Draper child, are at 38 Cockerell Street.


Samuel Lavery
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name Samuel Lavery
Gender Male
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 14 Sep 1882
Residence Date 1939
Address 38 Cockerell Street
Residence Place Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Occupation Stationery Machinery Attendant L M S Railway
Line Number 15
Schedule Number 19
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Nijg
Borough Liverpool
Registration District 455/4.
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
Samuel Lavery Male 1882
Mary E Female 1886
Alice Female 1915
Joan Christina Draper Female 1933 [later Almond ]


Marriages Mar 1955 (>99%)
ALMOND Thomas DRAPER Liverpool N. 10d 315
DRAPER Jean ALMOND Liverpool N. 10d 315

Jean and Thomas had two daughters in Liverpool - 1959 and 1963, and possibly two more in Kettering, 1965 and 1968.

That's a good possibility, Gwyn.

Christina Draper
in the England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2024
Name Christina Draper
Age 23
Record Type Burial
Birth Date abt 1910
Death Date abt 1933
Burial Date 4 Feb 1933
Burial Place Merseyside, England
Cemetery Anfield Cemetery
Cemetery Section Church of England

Address: 38 Cockerell Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool


Yvonne -
the marriage cert will confirm or deny.

????
From freebmd..........

Deaths Mar 1933
Draper Christina .. 23 .. W.Derby 8b 53

James Draper
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name James Draper
Gender Male
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 22 Dec 1910 [Should be 1909 - see birth below ]
Residence Date 1939
Address 21 Finchley Road
Residence Place Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Occupation Milk Roundsman
Line Number 16
Schedule Number 142
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Nigs
Borough Liverpool
Registration District 455/2.
Civil Defense Role Arp. Voltry.
Inferred Spouse
Beatrice B C Draper
Inferred Children
Alan J Draper
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
James Draper Male 1910
Beatrice B C Draper Female 1908
Alan J Draper Male 1939



James Draper
in the 1921 England Census
Name James Draper
Gender Male
Age 11
Relation to Head Son
Orphanhood Both Parents Alive
Estimated Birth Year 1910
Birth Place Kirkdale, Lancashire, England
Residence Date 1921
Residence Street Address 10 Rollo St, Liverpool
Residence Place Kirkdale, Lancashire, England
Education Whole-Time
Inhabited Y
Ward Kirkdale
Parliamentary Division Liverpool Pb, Kirkdale Div.
Registration District West Derby
Registration District Number 455
Sub registration district Kirkdale
Sub Registration District Number 6
Respondent Mr Diaper
Enumeration District Name Liverpool Cb
Enumeration District 25
Schedule 233
Schedule Type Code E
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Elias Draper 49 Head
Margaret Draper 44 Wife
Thomas Draper 15 Son
Ellen Draper 13 Daughter
James Draper 11 Son
Margaret Draper 8 Daughter


Marriages Jun 1898 (>99%)
BLUNDELL Margaret W. Derby 8b 773
DRAPER Elias West Derby 8b 773


DRAPER, JAMES mmn BLUNDELL
GRO Reference: 1910 M Quarter in WEST DERBY Volume 08B Page 395


Limiting James's first marriage to West Derby or Liverpool, there are several possible brides:

Elizabeth Brennin in 1928 [ No children anywhere ];
Ruth Henelly 1929 [ NO, had children up to 1943 ];
Emily Brown 1929 [ Common name - can't be sure about children from FreeBMD];
Margery Wright 1929 [ No children in West Derby/Liverpool ]
Christina Lavery 1932 [ One daughter 1933 ];
Catherine Toner 1933 [ NO - had children up to 1941]

Haven't looked for any of the above on 1939 Register.

Where were James & Beatrice married?

If they were in England where are they in the 1939 register?

Added: using Freebmd I have found a birth for Beatrice in West Derby in 1908. And the marriage in Liverpool North.
I assume you already had this information which would have been useful to know. If you have the marriage certificate you will have the name of Jane’s father so you can find them on the census, This may help with narrowing down a possible earlier marriage.

Update:

This thread ties in with another - they shoould really all have been on one thread

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/ancestors/thread/1404010

I have a marriage of James Draper to Beatrice Bertha Courtney Bennett on 2 July 1938. James is shown as a widower but is only 28 years old so his first wife must have died early. Can anyone help me find his first wife.
Thanks.