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IF this is her birth registration it indicates that her surname is the same as her Mother's ie illegitimate
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
MAY, ELIZABETH -
GRO Reference: 1851 D Quarter in MAIDSTONE Volume 05 Page 359

In which case you may never know her Father's name.

The certificate would at least give her Mother's name to help place her maternal line

Could this birth be a possibility? :-

First name(s) Elizabeth
Last name May
Birth quarter 4
Birth year 1851
Mother's maiden name May
District Maidstone
County Kent
Country England
Volume V
Page 359
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Civil Births
Collections from Great Britain, England

Kath. x

SNAP, greyghost :-)

Kath. x

For out INFO - the census you site

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Bomb Alley, Maidstone, Kent, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Jesse Honey Head - Male 24 1847 Bargeman Kent, England
Elizabeth May Mistress - Female 20 1851 Mill Hand, Kent, England
Jesse May Son - Male 0 1871 - Kent, England

All said to be born in Maidstone

Evening Kathleen!

Jesse James birth reg.

MAY, JESSE JAMES -
GRO Reference: 1871 M Quarter in MAIDSTONE Volume 02A Page 627

and that of Robert John

MAY, ROBERT JOHN -
GRO Reference: 1876 S Quarter in MAIDSTONE Volume 02A Page 641

Do you have the certificate - does she name a Father and his occupation when she marries in 1878 ??

1881 census wrongly transcribed - Jesse James and Robert John do not have the surname Wilson, the original shows them as MAY

1881 England, Wales & Scotland Census
2, Havock Place, Maidstone, Kent, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Robert Wilson Head Married Male 31 1850 Captain of barge Holbrook, Suffolk, England
Elizabeth Wilson Wife Married Female 28 1853 Wife of captain of barge Maidstone, Kent, England
Jesse James Paul Honey May Wilson Son Single Male 10 1871 Scholar Maidstone, Kent, England
Robert John May Wilson Son Single Male 4 1877 - Maidstone, Kent, England
Thomas Wilson Son Single Male 2 1879 - Maidstone, Kent, England

Several trees on Ancestry, but none name her Mother, never mind a Father

Many Thanks everyone - I think it confirms that Elizabeth was illegitimate as was her first son Jesse James Paul May - she must have lived as partner with Jesse Senior giving the son Honey surname although i can find no record of a marriage.
Jesse senior dies in Jan 1873 when his son is a little over 1 year old - I have no idea what he suddenly died of, but if his job was a bargee and a dangerous occupation it could be he died by drowning or accident. I remember some story of him dying in the Port of London, but this may have been confused with Robert Wilson's later accident and drowning in Maidstone. I believe Elizabeth May lived with Robert Wilson for awhile as she had a son Robert John May( again illegitimate ) born in 1877 ( later called May Wilson, then officially Wilson after the marriage to Robert Wilson in Aug.1878. She would have known the Honeys and the Wilsons by association via barges and river work and location in Bonneys Yard area of poor housing in King Street Maidstone. Alas with illegitimacy, tracing parentage is impossible. Sadly it closes that route.

You can get his death cert for its info

Still a young man too !


Jesse James P Honey
Age: 26
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1847
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Death Registration Place: North Aylesford, Kent, United Kingdom
Death Date: Mar 1873
Inferred Death Place: Kent, United Kingdom
Volume: 2a
Page: 257

This looks like Elizabeth baptism

Maybe the second name refers to a father!

Elizabeth Gammon May
Gender: Female
Christening Date: 21 Dec 1851
Christening Place: Aylesford, Kent, England
Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Map:
View this parish
Mother: Mercy Ann May
Search Photos: Search for 'Aylesford' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection

Mother was quite old to be having yoing children if the census is correct

Mary Ann May
[Mercy Ann May]
Age: 60
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1791
Relation: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: Aylesford, Kent, England
Civil Parish: Aylesford
Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Maps:
View related Ecclesiastical Parish
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street Address:Bowling Alley >>>>>>>>

Occupation:pauper
Condition as to marriage:
Disability:
View image
Registration District: Malling
Sub-registration District: Aylesford
ED, institution, or vessel: 3a
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Schedule Number: 110
Piece: 1612
Folio: 50
Page Number: 28
Household Members:
Name Age
Mary Ann May 60
Stephen May 18
William May 16
Jessa May 14
Sarah May 12
Henry May 4

George May
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 13 Apr 1826
Marriage Place: Aylesford, Kent, England
Spouse:
Mary Anne Jarrett
FHL Film Number: 1469269 IT 8-9

Mercy Jarret
Gender: Female
Baptism Date: 13 Oct 1805
Baptism Place: Aylesford,Kent,England
Father:
Thos Jarret
Mother:
Sarah
FHL Film Number: 416879

Death

Mercy May
Age: 90
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1805
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Death Registration Place: Malling, Kent, United Kingdom
Death Date: Dec 1895
Inferred Death Place: Kent, United Kingdom
Volume: 2a
Page: 346


So she was a lot younger than stated on the 1851 census !

Living with a son in 1871

Mercy A May
Age: 66
Estimated Birth Year: 1805
Relation: Mother
Gender: Female
Where born: Aylesford Kent England
Civil parish: Aylesford
Town: Aylesford
County/Island: Kent
Country: England
Registration district: Malling
Sub-registration district: Aylesford
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Household schedule number: 176
Piece: 915
Folio: 58
Page number: 33
Household Members Age Relationship
Henry May
23 Head
Mary E May
20 Wife
William I May
1/12 Son
Mercy A May 66 Mother

Thank you so much, this could well be Elizabeths Mother and father. Obviously some intrigued and false reporting on ages lol. Does seem that the family were poor. I still believe they were linked to river transport.

Many thanks i will try and get my head around the information and further my investigations.

There is the following Baptism which I keep coming back too

First name(s) Elizabeth Gammon
Last name May
Baptism date 21 Dec 1851
Baptism year 1851
Place Aylesford, Ss Peter & Paul
Residence Aylesford
Mother's first name(s) Mercy Anne
Mother's last name May
Mother's occupation Widow
County Kent
Country England

Aylesford is in the Maidstone Registration District.

I can't see a Birth Registration for Elizabeth Gammon May.

There is no Father named on the Baptism image. Normally if the spouse had died
before the birth it would give his name with deceased after it.

Could Mercy Ann have said she was a Widow to save face?

Could the middle name Gammon be the father's surname?

EDIT

I see Shirley has already come up with this possibility :-)

Jesse Honey apparently had a widow and large family when he drowned in 1873.

Dover Express 10th Jan 1873

At an early hour on Friday morning Jesse Honey residing in Windmill Row Maidstone captain of the barge Union fell overboard in Limestone-reach and was drowned before assistance could reach him not withstanding that every effort was made to reach him. The deceased has left a widow and a large family.

EDIT, it's most curious, the details of barge captain and Windmill Row and large family tally better with Jesse Honey's father, also Jesse Honey, married to Frances Elizabeth, last child baptised 1873 (Kent baptisms FMP), Jesse James Paul was the eldest to be baptised, but the age at death , as posted by Shirley, ties in with Elizabeth's Jesse James Paul Honey.

Father died 1878, ties in with his birth c1818 on 1871 census

Deaths Dec 1878 HONEY Jesse 61 Maidstone 2a 409

It's almost like someone got the two Jesses mixed up in the news report, unless Jesse J P had gone back to his family in Windmill Row, with or without Elizabeth.