So many Smiths

[christanel]

Marriages Jun 1918
Floyd James G Harding Islington 1b 332
*Harding* Rose B Floyd Islington 1b 332

Could Harding be a corrupted Haldane or vice versa?

Birth registration which matches Rose B on the 1939 register
March quarter 1897. Rose Blanche Harding, Holborn, vol 1b page 748

Christina

[christanel]

Free BMD has the Birth Christina found in 4) with mmn Smith
Smith Mabel H Smith Lambeth Q1 1915 1d 679

I only looked there since I had a similar situation recently with no mmn on one site but then
it was given on another! ie difference between GRO and Free BMDJ ill

Hi Gillian
FreeBMD and the GRO do differ as you say in the information given in their indexes. It is generally indicated in the GRO index that the omission of a mmn is because there is no father named on the birth certificate.
It is so good that Mabel's Mum gave her an unusual middle name and this certificate will give the mother's name and address which hopefully will be enough information to find her.
Christina

[gilian rowland]

Yes thanks Christina - I agree re the unusual middle name certainly helping! Jill

[almach]

Kathleen,

Do you have a copy of this birth certificate?
Smith, Mabel Haldane
GRO Reference: 1915 M Quarter, registration district LAMBETH Vol 1D Page 679.

If not, you need it to take you back further. If you do have it who is listed as parent(s)?

[almach]

James G Floyd (11 May 88) railway guard
Rose B Floyd (15 Jan 97)
Mabel H Smith (5 Jan 15) unemployed domestic duties.

I do wonder if the above folks are related in some way to Mabel. Mabel is unemployed, so presumably no income. As she's with the Floyds' in 1939 they must be caring for her. Of course, the Floyds' may be friends of Mabel's family or kind people who took her under their wings but whatever it poses the question of why she's with them and not her mother.

[christanel]

James Gordon Floyd's parents are James Ebenezer Floyd c1839 and Emily Palmer c1852 and married Holborn district Sept 1/4 1871.
Here's a turnup for the books - in 1915 James Gordon Floyd is in Perth Australia signing up for army duty. It gives his wife as Mrs. R B (Rose Blanch?) Floyd of Birdhurst? Rd Wandsworth but they didn't marry until 1918 so he must have been back in England in 1918. It also lists his brothers and some other addressess in red. He served from the 12 March 1915 to the 10 February 1919.
Ok so his brother was first named as next of kin but then that was changed to his sister and then again to his wife Rose Blanche on the 8 July 1918. He is in the 1911 census with his brothers and sister at 348 Essex Road Islington.. I can't detect a relationship between a Smith (Mabel's mother) and him but my suspicious mind says why did he go to Australia and sign up there in 1915.
Christina

[KathleenAMartin]

Thank you everyone who has contributed to my question.

I don’t have Mabel’s birth certificate but I think Alma is correct that I need it to research further, so I will order one.
I have always thought ‘Haldane’ was a strange middle name and wondered if it was a family name passed down, I never thought it could actually be a clue to finding a missing father.
Having to look again at the wedding certificate I noticed that her occupation is listed as ‘munitions worker’ not sure if that is significant or offers up a useful clue.
I have a lot of reading to do and will follow the information given to see where that takes me.
Thanks again for all your help, it has certainly made me look at things in a new light.
Kathleen

[Pamelawagster]

1911 there’s a Smith family with a son Frederick Haldane Smith,1893 Islington.

With his widowed mother,brother and sister.
Address:
First Floor 43 Florence Road Stroud Green N, Hornsey, Middlesex, England.

Maybe connected by the name ‘Haldane’.

[barbara lee]

... but my suspicious mind says why did he go to Australia and sign up there in 1915.
Christina

I heard somewhere that at least one young Englishman in Australia signed up for the war, thinking it would all be over by the time he arrived in Europe and it was a free passage home. Ah, I remember, it was the Australian hero John Simpson Kirkpatrick (the man with the donkey). He wanted to get home to his family in Tyneside, but ended up in Gallipoli. So that's a reason for signing up in Australia - free passage home.
B

[Squaredancer]

I had a relative who was born in Australia but his family moved back to Britain when he was small. When WW1 started he went back to Australia and signed up there, stating his mother's name as his 'aunt' for next-of-kin. His wife had a hard job finding him... So going to Australia could have been an attempt at disappearing.