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  1. #1
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    Question Vanished Great Grandfather

    Hi all,

    This is my first post on the forum and I hope I am in the right section for my query, I have been trying to track down my Great- Grandfather John Trevor but have come to a complete standstill and can find no further information on him. So my question is, does this sometimes happen and at some point do you have to call it quits? I thought I was doing really well with him as I found his birth, his listing on the 1871, 1881 and 1891 census and also his marriage registration. However 1891 is where he sort of vanishes apart from a registration of him joining the local Militia in 1890 which he serves in up until 1895. I can find no registration of his death and his wife is living with another man as a 'Servant', she has 3 children all with the surname Trevor even though John has vanished off the face of the earth.
    Any advice on where I could look next would be much appreciated, although I feel that this may be one of those people that is going to be impossible to find.
    Just to clarify John Trevor was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire in 1867 to William & Martha, he marries Sarah Elizabeth Foster in 1889, in the 1891 census although they are married they are living at 2 different addresses.
    Once again any help or advice would be much appreciated.

  2. #2

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    Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum.
    It's possible that a little more information would help - for example, when and where was he born? Which militia did he join? Was it in 1891 that is wife was registered as servant? If so, how is she defined (Single, Married or Widowed)? What was his occupation when he wasn't a soldier?

    With common names, every crumb of info can help people stand out from the crowd.

  3. #3
    Famous for offering help & advice
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    on the 1911 census when Sarah Elizabeth Trevor is still housekeeper to widower Joseph Leadbetter at Stowe in Staffordshire, with her children Violet & William Thomas, she is still "married" as opposed to "widow". I'm assuming hers is the death at Stoke on Trent in 1937 at the age of 68.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the help, yes Sarah appears on the 1901 and 1911 census as living with Joseph Leadbetter as a housekeeper/servant
    She is always listed as married and does have 3 children during the time she lives with Joseph. I have copies of all 3 birth certificates for the children and there is no father named on any of them. When she dies in 1937 she has moved back to stoke on Trent. She is buried in Hanley cemetery in Stoke-On-Trent but sadly there is no headstone.
    Once again after the 1891 census John does not appear on another census or appear in the BMD records for Staffordshire. The only other thing I can think of is that he has moved abroad.

  5. #5
    Dundee10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenaturner View Post
    I have copies of all 3 birth certificates for the children and there is no father named on any of them.
    So John TREVOR is not the father of any of the children and Joseph LEADBETTER is more likely to be your great grandfather.

  6. #6
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Ok I lost what I had written so will start again.
    What does Violet Trevor's birth certificate show for Sarah's E's surname. Is it Trevor formerly Foster or does it just say Sarah Trevor? I ask because the GRO index has Violet's birth registered as Violet Trevor but there is no mother's surname shown which normally indicates an illegitimate birth and the mother's surname is the same as that of the child.

    John Trevor's attestation papers say he joined up in November 1890 and had no children. He had a medical in 1893 and was declared fit for the Militia reserve and was still part of the reserve force in 1895.

    Which one of Sarah's children is your ancestor? Was a father's name recorded on their marriage certificate?

    John is in the 1891 census at 47 William St, Hanley, married but with Joseph Slater his brother-in-law. 47 William St was the address he gave on his attestation papers.

    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  7. #7
    Newcomer to Brit-Gen
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    Yes and as such my mother and all of her side should probably be named Leadbetter and not Trevor.

  8. #8
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    Hi all,
    Christina, I have just checked the birth certificate for Violet and Sarah is listed as Sarah Elizabeth Trevor housekeeper, there is just a line through the space for father.
    William is my grandfather, I never knew him as he had split up from my grandmother by the 1939 register and my mother remembers very little about him. I do not have their marriage certificate but could apply for it and see if his father is included, I doubt it though as it would seem that none of the children had a connection to John Trevor. I would guess that Sarah and John were never divorced and as such she was unable to marry Joseph.

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