Illegitimate child and name changing

[Jane_Adams]

Not sure if this is the best place for this but I couldn't see anywhere more appropriate.

Anyway, my 2xgreat grandfather was born out of wedlock. Its a bit of a tangled web, but the basic details are:

He was born in 1852, named William Bentley Hancock. His parents (William Estwick and Louisa Hancock) later married in 1856 (after William's first wife died).

I don't think William and Louisa lived together as husband and wife and Louisa died in 1862 when William Bentley Hancock was only 10 years old. William Estwick married Eliza Joyner in 1862 and had a son, William Freeman Estwick, in 1863.

William Estwick died in 1866. I have a copy of his will (he appears to have been quite well off), and he does not mention his son, William Bentley Hancock (in fact seems to go out of his way to deny his existence).

William Bentley Hancock seems to have been taken in by his aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and William Archer (Elizabeth was Louisa's sister), as he appears on the 1861 and 1871 censuses with them (in fact in 1871 he is shown as "William Be. Archer, Son"

William Bentley Hancock marries Harriet Brockwell in 1875 and on the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census they are shown as Hancock.

Ok, this is where it gets confusing.

In 1875, William and Harriet had a son called William (my great grandfather). William Jr. married Frances Ferris in 1902.

They had 2 children, my grandmother, Ellen Louisa Hancock was born in 1905. They had a son in 1907. As far as my nan and the rest of the family were concerned, however, he was known as Sydney Archer. The story was that their father would not say why he had a different name to the rest of them, just that there was 'no funny business' (he was a very stern man who you apparently didn't argue with). Syd and even his wife, Rose, always said they didn't know why he was called Archer.

I have now tracked down Syd's birth and marriage certificates. His birth was registered in the name of Arthur Sydney Hancock, and his marriage was registered in the same name. However both Syd and Rose's deaths were registered in the name of Archer.

We had thought that it was just Syd that was going under the name of Archer, but recently I decided to start filling in gaps with deaths and started looking for the deaths of William and Frances (my great grandparents). After much searching, I have found them both, and both deaths are registered as Archer!!! He died in 1950 and she died in 1954.

Now, we're pretty sure that my nan never knew that her parents were going under this name, I even remember her having indignant conversations with my mum about why on earth her brother had a different name.

What I haven't been able to establish (and what is my main question), is whether they would have had to officially change their names in some way or if they can just call themselves that in those days. I was told by the relevant registrar's office that you don't have to 'prove' a name when registering a death, its based on what they are told.

I'm waiting for a copy of these new death certificates as it will be interesting to see who registered the deaths, particularly Frances, as she died later.

I'm still trying to track down William Bentley & Harriet's deaths. I have established that they didn't die between 1904 and 1930 in the name of Archer, so I am guessing that it will probably be under Hancock.

I don't think we will ever know why they changed their name, but our theory is that it was some kind of acknowledgement to the Archer family for taking in William Bentley. Additionally, the Hancock name is in fact irrelevant in our history. Louisa was born Louisa Phippen and married a James Hancock in 1846 who was killed in a fire in 1848. So he was only called Hancock because his parents weren't married at the time. Otherwise, he would have been Estwick.

Hope you have followed all that. Would appreciate any views you may have :)

(Incidentally, all this happened around Poplar, East London).

[Geoffers]

What I haven't been able to establish (and what is my main question), is whether they would have had to officially change their names in some way or if they can just call themselves that in those days. I was told by the relevant registrar's office that you don't have to 'prove' a name when registering a death, its based on what they are told.

You don't need to go through any official process in order to change your name, you do so by use.

Still reading through the rest of the message trying to get things in order in my mind as to where you may look for more information

[Geoffers]

Having pieced things together in my mind, it would seem that William Archer who married Elizabeth Hancock basically adopted William Bentley Hancock as his own.William Bentley Hancock @ Archer probably felt some affection or loyalty to the old boy and felt more his son than William Estwick, who from what you have written did not acknowledge him.

From your point of view, I think it would be interesting to try and locate a will for William Archer (who 'adopted' William Bentley) to see what that mentions. Did William Archer who married Elizabeth have any natural sons?
Perhaps he made a clause in his will to the effect that he would like William Bentley to use the surname Archer? I think it would be worth tracing.

[Jane_Adams]

Thats a good point, and not something I had considered doing. I know that William Archer was still alive in 1901 living in Stepney Sick Asylum. I've not yet tracked down his death, so I will look into that.

William and Elizabeth had 8 children, including 4 sons (one of which was called William!). I have traced descedents of some of the children through Genes Reunited.

I obviously can't speak for any of the other generations that have passed, but I certainly feel more affection for the Archers than I do the Estwicks, so I wouldn't be surprised if they felt the same way.

[Geoffers]

I know that William Archer was still alive in 1901 living in Stepney Sick Asylum. I've not yet tracked down his death......I obviously can't speak for any of the other generations that have passed, but I certainly feel more affection for the Archers than I do the Estwicks, so I wouldn't be surprised if they felt the same way.

Pehaps he popped his clogs about 1905-7-ish - hence William wanting to have his son named Sydney Archer??

I wonder if William appear in any directories after this date and if so is he recorded as ARCHER or HANCOCK? You might be able to narrow down the period when he actually began using the surname.

At the moment this is speculation, but it's fun trying to work out what may have happened. Thanks for including sufficient detail with your first message so that ideas might be suggested - it's so much easier than trying to tease information out bit-by-bit.

Just browsing the GRO index, I see that a William Bettley Archer died in Mar 1908 at Greenwich is that just pure coincidence, or is there a connection?

Do let us know if you get anywhere.

[Jane_Adams]

Yeah, I am wondering the same thing (about whether he died around the time the children were born).

Interesting about the trade directories. William Bentley Hancock was a coppersmith, William Jr was some kind of marine engineer/labourer (erring on the labourer side as this is on his children's marriage certs - he apparently used to work underneath the ships, repairing them and such like). Syd was a docker/stevedore. Not sure if any of those would have a trade directory, but will investigate that.

Glad I didn't bore you to death with my original post - I had actually chopped out some of the irrelevant detail (like the fact that on the '51 census when William Estwick is married to Ann, he has Eliza Joyner - who ends up being his 3rd wife - lodging in the same house! Swine!).

Will update if I find out anything more :)

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Jane_Adams]

Just browsing the GRO index, I see that a William Bettley Archer died in Mar 1908 at Greenwich is that just pure coincidence, or is there a connection?


Yes, I have seen that one too. He is too old though, at 87 he would have been born around 1821, and mine was born in 1852. Plus theres no connection that I know of in Greenwich, they lived their whole lives in Poplar.


Edited to add: just for interest, the Bentley name comes from William Estwick's mother - it was her maiden name.

[Jane_Adams]

Update....

I have received both the death certificates this morning. Interestingly, both deaths were registered by my nan!!! So she obviously did know they were called Archer!

Bizarre!