LOST PARENTS

[Pottoka]

Why is your friend so keen to find this particular man? Apart from the certificates for his son's birth and death, does she have any proof whatsoever of his existence?

[Pam Downes]

Why is your friend so keen to find this particular man? Apart from the certificates for his son's birth and death, does she have any proof whatsoever of his existence?

Checking for Leonard Ebbs, born/married/died on FMP's civil births/marriages/deaths datasets for England and Wales which to the best of my knowledge cover from 1 July 1837 to 2007 I found:
Seven Leonards (some with, some without a middle name/initial) born between 1874 and 1956.
Only the Leonard born in 1943 had the middle initial of G; otherwise the nearest is a Leonard F G born in 1956.
There are eight marriages (two of the Leonards might have married twice) between 1905 and 1983.
And three deaths. The earliest being the Leonard G in 1943; then the Leonard who was born in 1874 died in 1955; and another one who died in 2010.

Therefore, unless a Leonard George was born outside of England and Wales (so you have to include Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, Isle of Man as well as the rest of the world) I think most of us would agree that an error was made on the certificates.
The answers to

1. Who registered the birth and death of baby Leonard? (Column 7 on both certificates.)
2. Were the birth and death registered on the same day? (Column 8 on both certificates.)
3. What names - first names and previous surname(s)are given for baby Leonard's mother on his birth certificate?

are needed. When you're already under stress, having a Registrar firing a load of questions at you it's very easy to either give a wrong answer in the first place, or else misunderstand/mishear the question and give a wrong answer.

ADDED:
Apart from the 2010 death, all the other BMDs are showing on FreeBMD.

[Jomot1]

Was James E Ebbs also a printer or in a similar trade? If yes then the 'mistake' suggestion certainly seems plausible.

However, another possibility is that the biological father had the forenames Leonard George and that Florence Mary/Marie passed him off as her husband for registration purposes by adding her married surname (Ebbs) to his genuine forenames.

This is exactly what my GG Grandmother did, and not just once!

[Lizziejane]

Thank you all so much, I’m meeting my friend on 4th Dec and will relay all your answers
Kind regards
Lj

[Lesley Robertson]

Pam has asked an essential question. Who gave the information on those birth and death certificates? I have a couple of death certificates where hospital staff did the registration and in one case got it wrong.

[Lizziejane]

Both signed by register W C Eve birth 4thhAugust 1943 looks like 5th August both birth and death Hackney Hospital. Cause of death Prematurity.

[Jomot1]

Both signed by register W C Eve birth 4thhAugust 1943 looks like 5th August both birth and death Hackney Hospital. Cause of death Prematurity.

Is WC Eve the Registrar or the Informant? The informant is the key one.

[Lizziejane]

Registrar

[Pam Downes]

Is WC Eve the Registrar or the Informant? The informant is the key one.

As I said earlier

1. Who registered the birth and death of baby Leonard? (Column 7 on both certificates.)

On the birth certificate you have the following columns:
Column 4, headed name and surname of father.
Column 5, headed name and maiden surname of mother. If the mother had been married before, or had a different surname for another reason, e.g. she'd been adopted, then that should also be shown .
Column 6, headed rank or profession of father
Column 7 is headed 'signature, description, and residence of informant.

In addition to the details in column 7 on the death certificate, what is written in column 5 headed occupation? It should be along the lines of 'son of (name) followed by an occupation e.g. postman, soldier, bank clerk.
The occupation details in column 6 on the birth certificate and column 5 on the death certificate might be crucial to solving the mystery.

[Lizziejane]

birth cert, Column 4 age 1 day, Column 5 Florence Mary Ebbs formly Webber, COLUMN 6 Printer Warehouseman 35, Wallis Road, Hackney. COLUMN 7 L.G.Ebbs 35, Wallis Road.
death cert, Column 4, 1 Day, Column 5 35, Wallis Road, Hackney. Printer Warehouseman Son of Leonard George Ebbs.