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Ok some more information from my mum.

On the marraige certificate John is still alive - so would tie in with the death record someone kindly found earlier on in the post (June 1931)

Wedding date was 11/04/1931 in Swinton (Barton upon Irwell)

The bible says the following:

To celebrate the confirmation of Edith A Spence on her confirmation at Rotherham Parish Church on April 6 1925

It is signed by someone on 18/08/1925

Registration of birth became a legal requirement in the 1860s I think, but even after that date some still slipped through the net. I have yet to find my grandfather and any of his six siblings all born between 1875ish and 1894ish! So it happened.

Michael you say on her death cert that John was still alive. How do you come to this conclusion?

My mother gave her father's name and occupation on her marriage cert in 1943 and he had been dead since 1920. I think quite often people only mentioned if father was deceased if they were asked ...

Death cert?? I meant on her marriage certificate. The reason we assume he is still alive when they got married is because under husband's name it gives her dads name and then says deceased... next to her dad's name it doesn't say deceased.

I also have what I think is the death record from June 1931 for John Spence so this would tie in with him still being alive

??

Name: Edith Ada Houghton
Birth Date: 19 Jul 1909
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1978
Age at Death: 69
Registration district: Barton
Inferred County: Greater Manchester
Volume: 39
Page: 0671

this death record is definately right and confirms her DOB

Of all the Edith Ada's born in Sept qtr 1909, I can eliminate a number of them as dead, christened or on 1911 census with both parents - the ones I haven't eliminated yet are:

Goacher, bor Burton
Jones, born greenwich (haven't actually checked her yet)
Warwick born Winslow Bucks.

Michael David....it's not impossible he was deceased....on my grandparents' marriage certificate in 1902 my grandfather's father is shown as deceased - which as he died in 1897 was correct. My nana's father is not shown as deceased but he died at sea in 1893 :-(

I agree with Flip that it is unlikely paying someone will turn up anything more than we have.....

I STILL can't help thinking that Rotherham might be a red herring. THere is absolutely nothing to prove she was born there or had any origins there. The only connection to Rotherham is that bible some 14 years after she was born. So who's to say she wasn't born in Lancashire? And that she returned there where she met her husband.....

That Houghton/Spence marriage is interesting.....if any connection to James could be proved then perhaps her mother was a Houghton and related to James????

Just a thought....

I have traced her husband's past right back and have the address they were at and where he was born (all matches).

So her husband was originally from Lancashire - Swinton.

I agree that Rotherham isn't necessarily where she was born but even doing a wider scale search, isn't revealing her on the 1911 census.....

No I agree....she certainly wasn't given the name Spence at birth....and without any other clues it is hard!!

Baptism, however, is a prerequisite to being confirmed.....so she cannot have been confirmed in Rotherham if she hadn't been baptised. So maybe that's the key to the whole thing a baptismal certificate??

Jude

Is it possible she was placed in an orphanage in Rotherham?.
The entry in the bible sounds very much like the one in my gran´s bible which she recieved on her confirmation when she was living in a Waifs & Strays society home in Leeds. (Now the Church of England Children´s Society).
The orphans were made to go to church by the orphanage & were ofthe placed away from their "home ground".
In my gran´s case, the family were from Barnsley. She was sent to Leeds & 2 of her brothers went to Wakefield & Huddersfieald respectively. Still looking for the 3rd brother :-( :-(

She may not be on 1911 census, or could be under a different name.

Of all those registered in the right quarter I'm just left with Edith Ada Goacher, born Burton, staffs and Edith Ada G Warwick born Winslow, Bucks. Can't find them on 1911 census to eliminate them, nor any marriages/deaths with any certainty. Maybe someone else could take a look for them?

Also bear in mind that the birthday itself may be correct on the death certificate but could easily be a year or so out. It would depend on who registered the death, how well they knew the deceased and what the deceased had told them(!) If her birth was not registered then the date of birth shown on the death cert could well be her baptism date from her baptismal certificate. Bit of a longshot maybe but worth bearing in mind.

Also bear in mind that she might not show as Edith Ada at birth, but just as Edith or Edith A.
Makes things a little more difficult.
Plus, she might have not told the truth as to her birth year.

Jill's right, it's easy to get the wrong year although remember a birthday. I think you said somewhere in this thread you had her address from her marriage certificate. It may be worth trying to get the local library/records office to look up who was living there a couple of years either side of 1931. They probably make a charge, but as your mother is considering hiring someone it may be a cheaper option to see if the occupants can give more clues.