I
uncovered information about the parents of a deceased relative by marriage recently. I didn't go sleuthing intentionally, but as more and more statutory records are digitized across the globe, new information is always coming to light.
Sometimes, family members would like information never disclosed at all. I get that. But in the age of digitization and widely available online records, that simply becomes impossible.
In this case, it turns out that the deceased relative by marriage was born to a woman and a biological father who was long married to another woman. Whether my relative by marriage ever knew this is unknown.
I always knew the biological parents' names, and that the mother for reasons that always escaped me went by her maiden name all her life, very unusual for the time. When I asked my relative why, the answer was vague.
I’d always found it strange that I couldn’t find a marriage record for his parents, when I knew that they'd met and married in London. British marriage records are so easy to find.
I knew from family stories that the biological father died when the child was very young, and where he had died, but not when. I knew that when the child and its mother emigrated from England to Canada, the mother presented herself as a widow. This is how she appears in the ship passenger list and on her cemetery burial record, but using her maiden name.
And yet, in Toronto city directories (where they settled after emigrating), she used the biological father's last name and identified herself as his widow. Those directories have also been digitized. The stigma for her child in school would otherwise have been great, I have no doubt, in a city that for decades was a very staid place, known as "Toronto the Good".
And yet, in Toronto city directories (where they settled after emigrating), she used the biological father's last name and identified herself as his widow. Those directories have also been digitized. The stigma for her child in school would otherwise have been great, I have no doubt, in a city that for decades was a very staid place, known as "Toronto the Good".
So, back to my discovery. What led to that was an Ancestry hint for the probate record of the biological father's estate, which was left to the lawful wife. Once
I found that, with the wife’s name, I was able to find their marriage record and
so much more. The biological father came from a large family in Scotland. I've found his parents, grandparents and great grandparents, siblings, nieces and nephews. All these people my deceased relative by marriage grew up not knowing.
My deceased relative by marriage was born in Ireland. Perhaps because the London-born mother had relatives there. It turns out that a summary of my deceased relative's birth registration has also been digitized and is on at least three family history search sites. Interestingly, and unusual for the time, the birth wasn't registered for at least six months. I wonder if it took that long for the mother to convince the biological father to give his child his name. The summary lists the child's name, the quarter of the year when the registration was done, the district, and where the The actual registration record hasn't been digitized, so I don't know if the biological father is named, but he did indeed give his child his name.
Mother and child left England for Canada two years after the biological father's death, coinciding within a few months of the probate of his estate. Did he provide for her or their child at all in the years before his death? Did his wife know about the relationship? Did he and his wife have children of their own?
I'm sure discoveries like this are happening in many families. As more records are digitized, long held family secrets will be secret no more.
The never ending story continues....
© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved
