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I am ever hopeful that today there is far less secrecy in similar situations and that families are much more open and honest. I know of several cases where adults have been mortified to find out that their relationship to others in the family was not what they'd believed. So unnecessary.

I know that the story of Laura Harris and the possibility that she was my Dad's half sister happened a long, long time ago, but I can't help but wonder if she did marry and have children whom I'd be very glad to 'hang' on to my family tree if they exist and if I could only find them.

My friend's mother died 5 years ago aged 90 not knowing that her Aunt was actually her half sister. There was a 20 year age difference and the "Aunt" had been raised by her grandparents as their child. It was only after my friends mother died that I did a family tree for my friends sixtieth birthday. At least now her uncle knows that his aunt was his half sister.

There is a case in OH's family where a daughter had a child when she was around 20, and that child was raised by mother's parents as their youngest (by far) child ................

She later married and moved out of parents' house, and had another child in the 1940s who did not find out until he was well into his 20s or 30s that his youngest "aunt" was in fact his half-sister.

The two siblings later lived together until she died only a few years ago.


So this is a fairly recent story!

But what is interesting is that this story was well known to OH and family (including his aunt and cousins) and talked about quite openly between us. We were even visited by the man, who also talked quite openly about it.

But I made contact with the grandchild of another of the "siblings" of the illegitimate child ........

....... and he'd only found out about the story in the last 10 or 15 years, and was treating it as the great secret of all time, not to be talked about, etc etc.

He had been told by the child! His parents had never mentioned anything about it, even though his father was at least 12 years older than his so-called sister.

Oh the secret was kept a very long time. My Dad was born in the village in 1901 and didn't leave until after I was born in 1943. It wasn't until he was over eighty that my aunt, who had continued to live in Stoke Works village, told my Dad that he had a half sister. His reply was that he'd often wondered why' she' came to the house so often when he was young. Unfortunately I never did learn her name. Laura seems the natural choice, and yes, I do understand that families sometimes closed ranks and claimed certain family children as their own. I wonder if I'll ever know more.

mind you, getting the birth certificate might NOT solve the problem.

I understand that it was not unknown for arrangements to be made so that the baby was handed over immediately after birth to the woman who had agreed to "adopt" it, and that that woman then went to register the birth.

Obviously not a common situation, but did occur ............ and this was a small village.

The other thing about small villages is that everyone would know who had been pregnant and who had not ............ and pregnant unmarried girls would move away until after the baby was born if possible, even back then. If the village knew, it seems unlikely that the secret would have been kept for long!

If you get the birth certificate and we have an exact DOB, we may be able to find her on the 1939 register.

I don't see a def marriage or death for her but there are a couple of maybe marriages for a Laura without a middle name in Worcestershire.

Yes, I do have the names of seven children for Anne Harris, including Laura. It's 12.30 a.m. here now so tomorrow I will check and see if that includes a child who may have died.

To be sure I must get hold of Laura's birth certificate, I realize that.

Thanks again.

1911 for ref.

Laura Harris
Age in 1911: 24
Estimated birth year: abt 1887
Relation to Head: Daughter
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Dodderhill, Worcestershire
Civil Parish: Dodderhill
Search Photos: Search for 'Dodderhill' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection
County/Island: Worcestershire
Country: England
Street address: Shaw Lane, Club House, Stoke Works, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Assistant school Mistress
Registration district: Droitwich
Registration District Number: 381
Sub-registration district: Droitwich
ED, institution, or vessel: 12
Household schedule number: 100
Piece: 17767
Household Members:
Name Age
George Harris 68
Anne Harris 65
Laura Harris 24



Anne states married 40 years, 7 children born, 6 living and 1 has died.

Have you accounted for all seven children please? This may let you work out if Laura was "adopted" by George and Anne.

Have you bought the birth certificate to be sure she is the correct person please?

Laura Harris
Registration Year: 1886
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration district: Droitwich
Inferred County: Worcestershire
Volume: 6c
Page: 362

I am increasingly convinced that Laura Harris, born in 1887 in Dodderhill Worcestershire and reported in the 1911 census as the child of George and Anne Harris, might well have been the illegitimate daughter of my Grandmother Louisa Harris. Laura was an assistant school mistress in the village of Stoke Works according to this census. I'm wondering if anyone could find out what happened to her after that date. I can't find any reference to a marriage or to her death, so I do hope you can help me.

I'll try to stay as close to this post as I can, but I'm living in Canada, and being eight hours away means that it'll be night time here when you're all bathed in sunlight.

Anyway I'd appreciate any help I can get. Thanks

Thanks a bunch!!

When it is your own post, and you have marked i as answered, then immediately below the title and immediately above your post are the following button (in magenta)

dd ReplyWatch ThisMark as Unanswered

You need to click on the Mark as unanswered

Jude

Dianne

I understand that the person who started the thread, ...... that is, you ....... can see on every post something that says something like "Tick as answered" on the header line, after the poster's name


I've never seen it myself, so I can tell you exactly what it says ........ but look along that "header" line on the posts.


One of the postings by Lynski, which shows green to me, should have something different on that line



and that is probably as clear as mud!!!



I'm sorry ...... it's close to midnight here!




sylvia

Thanks for your suggestion, Sylvia in Canada, but I don't have a clue how I marked the posting as being answered, and try as I might I don't have a clue how to remove it. I should stick to knitting!!

Can you please help me?

Dianne

I note you are still asking questions

However, you have amrked a posting as being answered


This shows on the "index" to postings as if the THREAD has been answered


when in fact it has not.


May I suggest that you remove that tick that you put on Lynski's posting from October



sylvia

Thank you all. I have solved the mystery about which Harrises were my ancesters. It IS the family of Peter and Sarah Harris. I know this because in the 1881 Census their address is recorded as 49 Sagebury Terrace, Dodderhill. That's the house where my father and I were also born. When the daughter of Peter Harris, Louisa, and my Grandfather married they must have moved in with the Harris family. Upon the death of her parents my Grandfather must have taken over as head of household and the rest is history.

Possibly Louisa's illegitimate child was Katherine Harris born in 1890. If so she was living with her uncle and aunt, Wm and Mary Owen in the 1891 census at Bath Gardens, Hanbury Street. Is this in Droitwich?

Thanx Jax. I'll know better next time.

Thanx Jax. I'll know better next time.

The trouble with the Genes records they are not so easy to search, so many of the people that tend to help on here use other sites... ancestry or FMP.
It seems better to put less information in than everything you know

jax

Thanks so much for all your info. I will try to pursue the marriage certificates.

Now I have a general question. If e.g. I want to find Peter Harris on the 1971 census I simply type in Peter Harris Droitwich. Individually I can find him and all his children if I look for them on a first name basis. However, if I simply type in HARRIS Droitwich NONE of their names appear. I did email Genes Reunited who suggested I just type in Harris Worcestershire. Same problem. No sign of any Peter. If I type in Peter, Worcestershire with no birth date, there are about six of them. Strange!

I hope I'm being clear enough and someone can help.

Thanks,

Dianne