Dorothy Minnie Matthews abt 1888

[LouiseJB]

I have my g-grandmother's marriage certificate of 1910 when she married William Arthur Smith. She was 22 at the time (May 15th) and he 21.
Dorothy's father was named as Charles Matthews (carman?) and the marriage took place in Wimbledon Surrey.
The witnesses were Eliza Smith and Thomas Albert Langley.

I have been looking for hours through the Census records of 1891 and 1901 for Dorothy Minnie and cannot place her with a father named Charles. I started by looking in Surrey / London / Middlesex but havent found the family. I have also looked for her under the name "Minnie".

I have looked at births of each quarter of 1887/88/89 and still nothing.

Does anyone have tips / ideas or guidance please?
Isn't it difficult to sleep when your mind is full of dead ancestors!!!!!

[Jan65]

There is a Minnie Matthew with father Charles in 1901 in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, although this Charles is an Innkeeper. Could this be your Dorothy Minnie Matthews?

[NickM]

Sometimes it happens that people believe that their name is different to the one that was actually registered, and it sometimes happens because parents often change their minds a little in the period between the official birth registration and their baptism.

My grandmother was a case in point - she went to her grave believing that her first name was "Happy". The name appeared on her marriage certificate, and on all the censuses. However, her official birth certificate revealed that her name was just "Phillis". Inbetween her birth registration and her baptism her mother evidently thought that my gran was a very happy baby, and she slipped the extra name in, which stuck.

What you need to do is to speak to the eldest people in your immediate family, and see if they can remember the names of any great uncles or aunts. It's amazing what turns up when you start talking to cousins.

If you ignore the "Minnie" middle name, there are quite a few Dorothy Matthews that are candidates for a match when you search for a Dorothy Matthews born in Surrey. Fathers can also have the habit of dropping their official first names - my father always used his middle name whenever he thought he could get away with it, because he hated his first name.

Oh, and people have been known to lie about their age - you need to widen your dates for searching

[blue eyes]

The nearest I could find in 1891 is for a Doll Mathews born abt 1887 Acton, father Charles his perhaps some else can decipher his occupation.

Class RG12
Piece 1031
Folio 69
Page 6

[Rubina]

The nearest I could find in 1891 is for a Doll Mathews born abt 1887 Acton, father Charles his perhaps some else can decipher his occupation.

Looks like Farrier to me.

[LouiseJB]

Nick - I think the name "Happy" is just adorable - she must have been a joy to have been around with a name like that! I guess you'd have to do your best to live up to it!

[Mutley]

Have you tried looking for Dad in 1901, quite a task I know but if you have run out of other options it may be worth a try.

A Charles Mathews born between 1838 and 1868, a Carman living in Surrey with a daughter about 13 years old. You may be lucky enough to find one with a daughter whose name is similar to Dorothy Minnie.

A Carman is today's 'white van driver' but then he probably drove a horse and cart.