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We don't know if that marriage is the same John Thomas - there was a birth reg Loughborough Q2/1902 so it could be his marriage.

We also don't know which death record is correct - the church records state age 48, buried 7/12/1944 but the only death registered in the area is for John J (which could be a misake) reg Q4/1944 age 43, again this could be a mistake if the person writing out the certificate was rather illegible. Are they the same person, and if so which age is correct?? We can only tie the burial to Gertrude's mother and probably her.

You said you were going to the local library, check out the burial indexes which will be on film, there is more often information regarding who bought the plot, their address etc. Also they may have local newspapers on film with obituaries. He was brought from a neighbouring village, so this could be relevant too.

Hi,
Further speaking to my mum, she is convinced John Thomas was Leonards dad, need to find out where JT was living. His marriage at BOS wasnt at a church on website, so it must have been at one of three others, Catholic, closed, Weslyn and Pres, closed, or Baptist still going? Florence as JTs mum cant prove that. But it is possible?

I think you've found Leonard's father, if you check the burial record on the web-link, you will find Florence Wells address in 1962 was 5 The Retreat, the same address Leonard recorded on his marriage to your mother the previous year. And it's highly unlikely she would have been buried in the grave of a stranger!

But I'm not convinced Florence was John Thomas (Jack's) father, isn't it more likely that he and Gertrude went to BuS with baby Leonard as was originally told to him, and it would be more likely they were partners? I'm not saying Gertrude was his mother, but remember, she wasn't free to re-marry until Tommy Cooke died in 1943.

Wow, that may be a breakthrough, but think it through a bit. John Thomas was not with Florence on the 1901/11 census so where was he - and why is he called Stevenson if his mother was Martin or Wells.

I'm not saying there is no connection, but it is a hugh leap to assume he is Florence's son. IF he is Leonard's father, and was living with Gertrude at the time of his death she would have probably arranged his burial. Then later, when her mother died she may have also have arranged that burial, and used the same grave, having already bought a plot for 2.

Between John Thomas dying and her mother dying she had married Mr Smith, so it was more unlikely Gertrude would be buried with JT.

If, what you are assuming is correct, then Jack would have been Gertrude's half brother.

Hi all,
We have got a result, Florence Wells (Martin) b1874 died 1962 age 88 BOS , John Thomas Stevenson b1896 died 1944 age 48. They are both buried in the same grave at Bos cemetery, unless its a mistake!!! Therefore they must be related, im 99% sure John thomas Stevenson is Florence Wells son born out of wedlock, and Leonards dad. Age, names, died young, it all matches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

William John's first marriage:

Name Gladys Burton
Year of Marriage 1939
Quarter of Marriage Apr-May-Jun
Registration District Loughborough
Registration County Leicestershire
Spouse's Surname Smith
Volume Number 7A
Volume Page 421

More food for thought as this marriage is at least two years after Leonard's birth.

From what Kevin said in the earlier postings, I think Leonard was told (presumably by Gurtrude) he was brought to BuS by his father Jack Stevenson and Gurtrude - she was still married to Tommy Cooke, so I'm assuming they were living together.

Whether there was any family connection (on Gurtrude's side of the family) to his birth is not what Leonard was told. The Leon B may be the right one, but it is also possible Jack Stevenson is his dad, and that could mean his mother could have been anyone. eg he had an affair & had son to an unknown woman (& birth reg under her name), or he may have been married & wife died or he ran off with child (but then why no birth under Stevenson).

Proving any parentage is going to be difficult - I think the best clues may lie with who Gertrude was living with before her marriage in 1945 - obviouly only those over 21 will show up on the ER, but if Kevin could find her with a man, probably going under his name we may be a step closer. If she is with a man, it may be possible to trace through the ER to see when he disappeared, and maybe get a better idea of when he died (or went off) somewhere beween 1936/45. We don't know his age, but he maybe enlisted and died in the war.

Kevin, your dad must have gone to school in the area - have you tried to see if there are any local records or spoken to the school to see what archives they have? Maybe school year books? There can't have been too many schools around at the time in the village. They may also be local residents of a similar age who may have been to school with him.

Try speaking to the Local family history society, their details are on that earlier web link they may be able to point you in the right direction.

So are you saying his step-parents were William John Smith and Gertrude Wells/ Cooke/ Denby?

Hi all,
Sorry had to laugh, only early photos of dad were taken by his mates maybe before he had to go in the army. So the NI no. is saying his DOB wouldnt have been in June? His step mum was from Loughborough, and William John Smith, sorry i was mistaken not the other way round, been up cemetery today. He was living in Lough in the 40s, not sure where he his from, his first wife was Gladys Burton. Im told Gert and his real dad lived in Derby before coming to Barrow?

Hi Flip,
I have just seen your post. When I first read Kevin's original post I wondered if the stepfather (John William-William John) and real father (Jack) had been friends/work colleagues as it was a huge financial commitment to bring up another man's child. But it really does not seem logical for a family with roots in BuS/Leicestershire to move to Derby and return to BuS. The trail certainly would not cover up the tracks of a local unmarried mother. Unfortunately, we do not know Leonard's exact age when he was handed to his step-parents which is why I asked about a photograph above.

Hi Kevin,
The National Insurance number was issued to commence use in the September quarter (ie July-September) of the year. For your father's generation they were issued to coincide with the year of the sixteenth birthday. Your father may have left school at the age of 14 and started work but he did not pay for NI stamps until he was aged 16.
Trying to decode the year your father was aged 16 as the next step.

Edit:
Do you have any photographs of your father as a baby? One with a date on the back of it would be priceless.

This route may be right, but I wonder why Leonard was was under the impression he had been taken to BuS as a baby with his father and Gurtrude - surely this is something she must have told him? It could simply be she lied to cover up for his real mother, or if she was telling the truth, who was Jack Stevenson - this has to be something he was told if he didn't have a birth certificate?

Even if the Leon B birth certificate proves a connection to one of the suspects for the mother, I think a check for Gertrude on the ER in the late 1930s/ early 1940s may be useful if only to eliminate or confirm the possible father.

Births Jun 1912 Wells Doris E Martin Leicester 7a 496

Births Mar 1914 WELLS Emma Martin Loughbro 7a 238


Marriages Jun 1942
Hindley Harold E M Wells Loughbro'. 7a 512
Wells Emma Hindley Loughbro' 7a 512

Name: Harold E M Hindley
Birth Date: abt 1916
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1957
Age at Death: 41
Registration district: Nottingham
Inferred County: Nottinghamshire
Volume: 3c
Page: 298


Marriages Sep 1947
Harvey Jack Hindley Loughbro' 3a 2311
Harvey Jack Wells Loughbro' 3a 2311
Hindley Emma Harvey Loughbro' 3a 2311
Wells Emma Harvey Loughbro' 3a 2311




Name: Emma Harvey
Birth Date: 26 Dec 1913
Date of Registration: Jun 1996
Age at Death: 82
Registration district: Melton and Rutland
Inferred County: Leicestershire
Register number: 1C2
District and Subdistrict: 6041
Entry number: 48


????

Name: Jack Harvey
Birth Date: 10 Sep 1914
Date of Registration: May 1994
Age at Death: 79
Registration district: Leicester
Inferred County: Leicestershire
Register number: H48C
District and Subdistrict: 6001H
Entry number: 204


Not seeing any children born in Leicestershire for either of those marriages.

I'm glad the Brooks Stevenson Wells possible connection made sense at least :-)

sometimes throwing names out like that actually rings a bell, somebody remembers hearing one of the names in the family

that's what I'm thinking, if Gert was unable to have kids and her sister's husband's sister's husband's sister ( or whatever it was ! ) was unmarried and needed someone to take her son ...


phew, Flip, at least that's Arthur sorted, and yes he and Gertrude must have divorced it seems

Hi,
Having spoken to my mum, she says the Brooks , Stevenson B, Wells combination sounds very interesting. Bearing in mind it is said that Gert used to miscarry, and if these people were all family? And someone had a child they couldnt look after? She also said there was another sister in the Wells family Emma 1914?

Wonder if Gertrude and Arthur divorced, there doesn't look like a death for him between 1945 and when she married John in 1951? The only Arthur E Denby death I can see is in Hendon 1959, and according to their marriage he gave an address in London. He could, of course, died abroad though.

Kevin, if you are going to the local library to check out the parish records, they may also have local electoral rolls which would save a trip to Loughborough.

added: Can't see the birth reg for Arthur E Denby, but he was on the 1901 census with father Arthur, mother Clara and sister Harriet (who was reg under mothers maiden name of Addleton in 1896) in Loughborough, and again in 1911 with a couple of younger siblings. both census say born Loughborough so I think we can rule out the overseas birth.

edit, his birth reg Loughborough Q1/1900 under the name Demby

chrissiex, re Arthur Denby and possibility of an overseas birth there were American, Canadian and New Zealand Forces based in the vicinity during WW11. Other nationalities I would have to research.

NI number received by pm.

thank you, being so nosy is a curse :-)

I just want to put the stepfamily info together here because I have been so confused by it ...

Births Dec 1901
WELLS Gertrude Louisa Nottingham 7b 304

Marriages Mar 1928
COOKE Tommy Wells Loughbro' 7a 183
WELLS Gertrude L Coke Loughbro' 7a 183
- child 1929 Loughborough (no ? ... see below )

Marriages Dec 1945
Cooke Gertrude L Denby Barrow S. 7a 445
Denby Arthur E Cooke Barrow S. 7a 445
- no children

Marriages Sep 1951
COOKE Gertrude L SMITH Loughboro' 3a 2225
DENBY Gertrude L SMITH Loughboro' 3a 2225
SMITH William J DENBY Loughboro' 3a 2225
SMITH William J COOKE Loughboro' 3a 2225

1911 ?
COOKE TOMMY 1893 18 Loughborough Leicestershire

Births Dec 1892
Cooke Thomas Loughbro' 7a 122

ah, a death in 1943 in Leicestershire, I can't see details at Ancestry

interestingly there is also no birth for Arthur E Denby in England/Wales, was he from overseas, married WWII ?


living with Tommy Cooke in Loughborough in 1911 are

COOKE SARAH JANE 1862 49 Loughborough Leicestershire
COOKE THOMAS 1865 46
COOKE FREDDY 1897 14
> COOKE LEONARD 1901 10 died 1918
COOKE GEORGE HENRY 1906 5

our Leonard was born while Gertrude was married to Tommy Cooke, the name could come from that family ... I had thought that Leonard was a relatively unusual name but it is proving not to be !


hm, looks like Tommy Cooke's brother George Henry married Gertrude Well's's sister Florence ( she is on the 1911 census ) a few months earlier

Marriages Sep 1927
Cooke George H Wells Loughbro' 7a 410
WELLS Florence COOKE Loughbro' 7a 410
... the 1929 Cooke-Wells birth more likely that couple's ?

but nothing I can find would connect our Leonard with either spouse in that couple


Gertrude Wells's sister Ethel Wells 1910-1955? ... married a Brooks

Marriages Sep 1930
Brooks John G Wells Loughbro' 7a 396
Wells Ethel Brooks Loughbro' 7a 396

Births Dec 1908 ?
Brooks John George Mt.Bosworth. 7a 70


Beatrice Bradley-Stevenson's brother Leonard Bradley-Stevenson 1897-1978 ... married a Brooks

Marriages Mar 1923
Brooks Margaret Stevenson Loughbro' 7a 211
Stevenson Leonard B Brooks Loughbro' 7a 211
- one birth > Jun 1923

... well ... living with John George Brooks in 1911 was

BROOKS MARGARET ELIZABETH 1907 4 Market Bosworth
BROOKS JOHN GEORGE 1909 2 Market Bosworth

Births Mar 1907
BROOKS Margaret Elizabeth Mt. Bosworth 7a 64

married very young in 1923 ... because had to ? ...

if the marriage broke down ... she could have had a child named Bradley-Stevenson and used it as her own surname to avoid naming father ...


it's a long shot but it could be a connection

stepmother Gertrude Wells's sister Ethel was married to a Brooks

mother ? Beatrice Bradley-Stevenson's brother was married to a Brooks
... so Ethel Wells's husband 's sister Margaret Brooks could have been wife of Leonard Bradley-Stevenson the brother of Beatrice Bradley-Stevenson the mother of Leonard
... or ...
mother ? Margaret Brooks Bradley-Stevenson's brother was married to a Wells
... Ethel Wells's husband's sister Margaret Brooks Bradley-Stevenson could have been mother of Leonard


Leonard's surname was never changed so it was not a formal adoption, so a placement within the family certainly seems to be most likely

Hi Chrissie,
I will let you know personally when birh cert turns up, have sent NI number, gonna have a beer now see ya.
Kevin

things you are checking for

the Bradley-Stevenson birth cert, ordered
( and I am eager to see ! ... but if no match had better not put details here )

Leonard Stevenson's marriage certificate ( or check at library ), for witnesses' names

Leonard's national insurance number for Perchino to decode birth date

anything else ?