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From: "Leeanna Simons" <>
Subject: [SRY] Ponder this with me [SIMONS] also 1881 lookup??
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 15:41:40 -0800
References: <000201c09797$1bd6ed20$0100a8c0@patrick>


Hallo,

I am bringing down a wall! I can sense it but I am a bit puzzled about a
few things. I've outlined the scenario below. Any of you listers that like
a little puzzler might not mind reading this and pondering the
possibilities...

a) g.grandad William James SIMONS b. 1863 East Dulwich.

* Address on birth cert is Lordship Lane, Camberwell, Surrey [but the same
location is also called East Dulwich on a later marriage cert?].

* Mother's name is given as Mary Ann SIMONS (formerly KING)

* 1881 census had William James SIMONS living in family home. Father is
John SIMONS and all other details check out. Father's marital status at the
time says "M" not "W". There are 2 other children still in the home,
Caroline b. 1860 and Emily b. 1872.

Okay, I wanted to try and find marriage of John SIMONS and Mary Ann KING so
I did what all of us family history researchers do--so, based on the age of
Caroline who I thought to be the eldest child, I started reeling through
civil registration film to see if I could find the marriage. And this
deductive process has worked for me before. I tried to find Mary Ann KING
and John SIMONS in any quarter from 1855 to 1865, but nothing.

So, given the 1863 birthdate of my ancestor, and that I have the family
address at that time, I ordered 1871 census film thinking that perhaps
Caroline wasn't the oldest child after all.

I found the family on Holly Road, Langdon's Cottages [which makes almost no
sense to me as the Lordship Lane address appears before--in the birth
cert--and after this in other certs pertaining to subsequent events].
Question: how far is Holly Road from Lordship Land (Prospect Place to be
exact).

Here's the weird thing however: indeed John and Mary Ann (who appears to go
by Ann which might explain why I didn't find the marriage) are married and
have these same 3 children but John is 49 and Ann is 50. Folks, there's a 2
year old child here that the census of 1871 and 1881 say is daughter, not
granddaughter. Isn't that a bit on the old side to be having kids--esp in
those days? What could give here?

And where is Ann Simons in 1881? Is there a KS who would look for her. She
would be 59 or 60 yrs old and she was born in Chislehurst, Kent (which makes
sense as that is where the eldest child was born too).

My but I do apologize for the ramble. I am curious as this could be very
close to a brick wall that has had me stymied since I started this in 1984.

all the bast.
leeanna


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