WARD changed name to FINCH - why?

[Bemidee]

Hi to Adele and Raffaele,
Many thanks to you both - I have always been searching for Ward up till 1894 - never even thought that he could have been Finch then Ward and back to Finch! Now we are more confused than we were before but you have opened up a whole new line for searching. I will pursue this and see what happens.

Having read your messages late last night we then spent ages discussing them! Now we are wondering if Finch and Ward ARE two separate people after all as, Finch could have been son No1's father. Annie was pregnant when she married Ward as marriage was 30-10-1893, birth of son No2 was 5-4-1894 so marriage could have been result of brief fling with Corporal Ward while he was stationed at Canterbury. Annie COULD have returned from India on her own with her two sons and gone to live with Finch in time for the birth of the first daughter in 1896 and all subsequent children without ever having divorced Ward or married Finch. The 1911 census shows a marriage of 22 years entered first against Finch's name then that is crossed out and the 22 is entered against Annie's name. Obviously the number of years should be 18 to agree with marriage certificate but we have assumed that the years were increased to 22 to cover the birth of son No1!

All that still would not explain why child No5 is born in Canterbury with his father shown as a Sergeant Major unless Ward and Finch ARE the same person as we have always felt they were. In which case Raffaele's theory is very possible but I still cannot understand why there do not appear to be any records of his army service after 1894 in either name. Does anyone know if any records for the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) were destroyed at any time?

Anyhow, thanks again for giving us lots to think about - no wonder my mother-in-law would never talk about her family! I think we have a few skeletons around!
Bemidee.

[Karen Newman]

I wonder if this could be William James' birth reg:

William J Lynch
Year of Registration: 1866
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Dorking
County: Surrey
Volume: 2a
Page: 123

given that Benjamin and Elizabeth appear to have married in 1869.

Then I found this on the LDS website:

WILLIAM JAMES LYNCH
Christening: 14 OCT 1866 Dorking, Surrey, England
Parents:
Father: JOHN MANN
Mother: ELIZABETH LYNCH

It is from a 'proper' batch but there is a note I have never seen before:

'This information was generated from another entry that appears in this index. Look for another entry for this person. '

But I am blowed if I can see another entry - the batch number is C074073

[AdeleE]

That's an excellent find!

I can't find a relevant entry either. And it's bothering me that it doesn't span the gap between Lynch -> Finch.

We have to find where the surname Ward fits into the puzzle.

Adele

[Bemidee]

That's blown that theory then.

His military record is what we really need but I understand that it has not been located as either Finch or Ward. They should be in the PRO by now.

The only reason I can think of is if he ran away from home to join the army and lied possibly about his age and name.

I have been pursuing all the various theories from you and others but still getting nowhere fast. Have you any idea how I can find out where the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) regiment was on the night of the 1891 census please?
I feel that, as William James WARD was a Corporal in 1893 when he married, he could well have been a Private in 1891 - not sure whether that will be helpful or not but it would be another piece of info!
Thankyou for your help
Bemidee

[JAP1]

Hello Bemidee,

Wikipedia says that the Bays:
"were stationed in India between 1885–1894 and then in Egypt in 1895–97.
The Bays fought in South Africa (1899–1902), arriving in 1901 ..."

Perhaps William James WARD/FINCH might have been in India at the time of the 1891 census? He might perhaps have been home on leave when he met and married Annie Eliza GRANGER; apparently he and new wife Annie then went to India where William James jnr was born in Apr 1894. But then back to England later in, or just after, 1894 when the Bays' time in India finished. (Annie's son Arthur might have gone with them or might have stayed with his grandparents - which is where Annie and Arthur were in 1891.)

William James snr probably didn't serve in Egypt. But, as has been suggested, he could have been a reservist and have returned to the army at the time of the Boer War, and thus may have been on the way to (or already in) South Africa at the time of the 1901 census.

The Queens Bays site lists at:
https://www.qdg.org.uk/military_genealogy.php
19657, Ward, William James, N/A, Corporal, 1893, Bays, Order
20271, Ward nee Grainger, Anna Eliza. N/A, Spouse, 1893, Bays, See Above
19658, Ward, William James, N/A, Child, 1894, Bays, See Above

I take it that this is the site from which you have commissioned research?

Sorry that this doesn't throw any light on the WARD/FINCH puzzle.

Best of luck,

JAP