STAFF SMITH, Hanworth

[Davran]

My grandmother's birthday book contained an entry for 1 March 1878 for a K S Staff Smith (no hyphen). This has been confirmed by her sister's birthday book recently unearthed from a loft, with a suggestion that the 'K' could be a 'W' and that STAFF could be STAGG. The sisters, Dorothy (1897) and Elsie (1898) Osborne were born and brought up in Hanworth, Middlesex. There are no other STAFFs or SMITHs in the family that I am aware of.

The Staff Smith person has been puzzling me for years and I put him/her to one side as I was not sure which side of the family they belonged (if at all), but the new birthday book discovery gives them a family significance, linking them into the Osborne side and I would love to find out who they were.

I have trawled through the BMD indexes for K* SMITH and K* STAFF. There are 10 Kate SMITHs (none born in the London area) and several with an unsuitable middle name, plus a Kate Swann SMITH born in Tynemouth, who remained in that area through all the censuses. As far as I know the Osbornes had no connection to that area. There are no STAFF or STAGG with the initial K.

I then tried for W SMITH, with the result of a Walter Sidney born London C and William Stanley S born Poplar. There are no STAFF or STAGG entries. Of course the censuses give several Walters and Williams SMITH, but nothing which seems to connect to the family. Can anyone suggest how I can narrow things down without going to the expense of buying certs?

[Jan1954]

Hi Davran,

Bearing in mind that the birth was in March and that they had 6 weeks in which to register, I had a look in the next quarter and found:

Walter Staff Smith, April to June 1878, Vol 4a, page 791, However, this was in Blything (Suffolk). A bit closer than Tynemouth, though...

Jan

[birdlip]

Hi there,

have you tried Hugh Wallis's middle names index? Its organised into counties of course, but you could start with the counties you know the family lived in, and if you've narrowed it down to Stagg or Staff, it mightn't take too long...

regards birdlip

p.s. second thoughts...didnt read your post carefully enough, you have the actual birth date.. looks like Jan has found it!!

[bumblebee]

This could be the 1881 census for the birth that Jan found

Black Heath, Wenhaston, Suffolk.

Walter S. Smith 3 Son born Wenhaston, Suffolk
Alban (Albert?) J Spoore 1 Son born Wenhaston, Suffolk
James Spoore 26 Head born Wenhaston, Suffolk (Ag Lab)
Sarah Spoore 25 born Birmingham, Warwickshire

Class: RG11; Piece: 1894; Folio: 35; Page: 11; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341457.

Bumblebee

[bumblebee]

Still in the same place in 1891

Albion Spoor 11
Arthur Spoor 6
George Spoor 9
James Spoor 35
Jane Spoor 1
Mary Ann Spoor 4
Sarah Spoor 35
Walter Smith 13

Will have a look and see if any others look more likely.

Bumblebee

[bumblebee]

1901

Twickenham 43 Lion Road

Joseph T Dowden 57
Matilda Dowden 59
Thomas Dowden 23
..........Walter Staffpoore 23 Carpenter and Joiner, Boarder.

Class: RG13; Piece: 1188; Folio: 107; Page: 5.


Going by this census I think this is the chap that Jan found the birth for...does anything look likely?

Bumblebee

[Davran]

Hi Davran,

Bearing in mind that the birth was in March and that they had 6 weeks in which to register, I had a look in the next quarter and found:

Walter Staff Smith, April to June 1878, Vol 4a, page 791, However, this was in Blything (Suffolk). A bit closer than Tynemouth, though...

Jan

By Jove, Jan, I think you've (probably) got it! I did look in the June quarter, but obviously not thoroughly enough. :o

Bumblebee, great research from you. |bowdown| The 1901 entry could well be the key - Twickenham and Hanworth are very close together. It definitely looks as though he was just a family friend ........ though now I come to think of it my ggrandfather was born in Essex and one of his ancestors came from Suffolk. Hmmmm ........... off I go again on another avenue of research!!!!

I never thought of Hugh Wallis - I've only ever used the straightforward bit of his website. Food for thought there, too.

Thank you all so much for your help.