Genealogy Chat

Harold in 1939:

Harold Boster [ Baxter with terrible handwriting - have submitted correction]
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name Harold Boster
Gender Male
Marital Status Widowed <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Birth Date 24 Jan 1879
Residence Date 1939
Address 31 Wallington Road
Residence Place Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Occupation Joiners Engineer H M Dockya??
Line Number 12
Schedule Number 18
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Ebcc
Borough Portsmouth
Registration district 90/1
Household Members (Name) Gender
Harold Boster Male
May Smith Female - 30/5/1881, married.


His wife Esther had died in Portsmouth in 1935.

Name Mrs Norma R Felstead
Birth Date 1939-1941
Residence Date 2003-2004
Address ****************************
Residence Place Northampton, Northamptonshire, England

Name Norma R Felstead
Birth Date 1939-1941
Residence Date 2005-2008, 2010
Address *********************
Residence Place Northampton, Northamptonshire, England


Name Mr Leslie Ronald Peter Felstead
Gender Male
Age 74
Birth Date 1931
Last Residence Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
Postal Code District Nn3
Death Date 7 Apr 2005

Repeating my question -
what was Norman Robert's occupation , per the 1937 marriage cert?

The Stage 21 April 2005 has the death notice for Leslie Falstead.

"Les Leigh" is under his name and I thought it may be the name of a house but there was a singer/ entertainer in the 70s and 80s performing on stage and at holiday camps....no idea if this is correct though.

The notice says he was "the dearly loved husband of Norma and Dad to C...... and A..... and grandfather to R...

I'm not finding the births of the 2 sons though.

Perhaps the sons were adopted.

However - going by ages, Norma Redfearn seems not to be Norman Baxter.

My ‘take’ on the death notice is that he wasn’t the natural father of the named children. Using the word ‘Dad’ instead of father suggests that scenario to me…………

However, I think the whole Felstead ‘connection’ is irrelevant

Janet -
when your friend has the 1988 marriage cert, please come back and let us know what it says.

Even though it's nothing to do with Norman Baxter 1912, it would be interesting to know the explanation of the strange names.

In Norman Robert Baxter's 1937 marriage certificate his occupation was given as Restaurant Waiter. My friend has a feeling he had some connection with aircraft, possibly in the RAF during the war.
We are now fairly sure that the Leslie Felstead/Norma Baxter is not connected with her family, but I'll certainly report back once the certiicate is received.
Basically, after Norman and Mary Ann (Patterson) were divorced, he seems to have disappeared, and my friend is trying to find out what happened to him.

I have passed all the above information on to my friend to sort through and see if she can track her grandfather through it all - she has asked me to pass on to you all her grateful thanks for your help, and for taking the time to look into this for her.

Message from my friend:
My mam did mention that she thought he was called Edwin but when I saw the marriage certificate I told her she was wrong. I need to go and tell her as always she was right

Gloucestershire Echo 06 September 1945

Norman Edwin Baxter of Bowling Green Rd, Cirencester was applying for a variation to a maintenance order made to his wife in Wallsend in November 1944. His wife would receive £1 10s plus 10s for each child each week. There were 2 children.
It was reduced by 2s.

1939 for Mary Ann.

1939 Register
9 Orchard Gardns, >>Wallsend<<, Wallsend M.B., Northumberland, England

Household members (6 people)
First name(s) Last name(s) Birth date Sex Occupation Marital status Schedule Schedule sub number
Catherine Patterson 06 Jun 1896 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 46 1
Mary A Osselton (Butler) 28 Jul 1916 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 46 2 (this one is obviously a mistake that has not been removed)

The record for this person is officially closed.
Maria Shakespeare (Patterson) 24 Aug 1922 Female Hotel Assistant Single 46 4
Mary A Osselton (Baxter) 28 Jul 1916 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 46 2
Anthony E Baxter 21 Sep 1938 Male Under School Age Single 46 3

Thanks Alviegal - I had seen the 1939 for Mary Ann, but not your first post, that's very interesting.

Norman Edwin Baxter died in 1975 in Hampstead. In the 1960 Electoral Roll he was living in Hampstead with Marjorie Baxter. I found a probate record of which the following is a precis :
Marjorie Baxter otherwise Marjorie Allanson, London NW11, £45,728. Resealed Western Australia 1972
NW11 includes Hampstead. What does the resealed bit mean though?

Resealing probate https://ukprobatereseals.co.uk

If a person dies and they have assets held outside of the UK, and that country is recognised under the United Kingdom the Colonial Probate Act, then the UK Grant of probate can be resealed in that country. This simplifies the probate process in that country.

In the same way as a UK Probate can be resealed overseas. If Probate has been granted overseas, then provided that country is part of the UK Colonial Probate Act, the foreign probate can be resealed through the UK Courts. Resealing simply implies the affixation of a seal to a document that has already been sealed.

Norman Edwin Baxter
in the London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965

Name Norman Edwin Baxter
Electoral Date 1938
Street Address
[45 Westdale Road]
Ward or Division/Constituency
[Woolwich]
County or Borough Newham, England
[Newham]


Name Mary Ann Baxter
Electoral Date 1938
Ward or Division/Constituency Woolwich
County or Borough Newham, England

From a tree on Ancestry.......

Norman Edwin Baxter
1912–1975
BIRTH 26 OCT 1912 • Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

DEATH APR 1975 • Hampstead, Greater London, England

Yes thanks Erika, I'm pretty certain all those are right. I'm trying to track him from when he left Mary Ann, looks as if he was in lodgings in London before settling in Hampstead. Now I'm trying to find out who the Marjorie was.

I wonder if this could be Marjorie:
Name: Norman E Baxter
Registration Date: Jul 1967
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Brent
Inferred County: Greater London
Spouse: Margery F Corrall
Volume Number: 5a
Page Number: 1057

Marjorie and Norman weren't married. [EDIT: but I think I've got the wrong birth below !]

The probate record says she died on 30 August 1971.
Her address was 1 The Ridgeway, London NW 11.

Deaths Sep 1971 (>99%)
BAXTER Marjorie 23Au1904 Hendon 5c 457


??? {EDIT: No maybe this registration is too late for an August birth ?? ]

Births Dec 1904 (>99%)
ALLANSON Marjorie Chertsey 2a 59

Marjorie Allanson
in the 1911 England Census
Name Marjorie Allanson
Age in 1911 6
Estimated Birth Year abt 1905
Relation to Head Daughter
Gender Female
Birth Place Horsell, Surrey, England
Civil parish Horsell
County/Island Surrey
Country England
Street Address Nirvana, The Grove Ferndale Rd Horsell, Surrey
Registration District Number 32
Sub-registration district Chobham
ED, institution, or vessel 03
Piece 3017
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Edward Allanson 40 Head - Secretary of political organisation
Dora Maude Allanson 36 Wife
James Edward Allanson 7 Son
Marjorie Allanson 6 Daughter
Harold Edward Allanson 4 Son
Betty Allanson 2 Daughter
Lewis Prior 28 Brother In Law (Brother-in-law)
Beatrice Sophia Goldring 24 Servant
Alice Wigman 21 Servant


In 1921 Marjorie and family were in Lewisham.
1929, still at that address.
In 1933 her parents, plus siblings Betty, James Edward and Kenneth Edward (1912) were at 17 St Mildred's Road, Lewisham.
Dora and Kenneth were still there in 1939 , per ER.
However, on 1939 Register, Dora's in Dorset:

Dora M Allanson
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name Dora M Allanson
Gender Female
Marital Status Widow
Birth Date 2 Oct 1874
Residence Date 1939
Address Beeger Cottage Chidcock
Residence Place Bridport, Dorset, England
Occupation Private Means
Line Number 34
Schedule Number 127
Sub Schedule Number 1
Enumeration District Wlcj
Borough Bridport
Registration district 267/1
Household Members (Name) Gender
Dora M Allanson Female - private means
Ada M Elswood Female - governess, retired
Aileen M Allanson Female (James Edward's wife)
This record is officially closed.


Entirely off at a tangent;
Ada Mary Elswood 1874, native of Dorset, was a governess in the USA, 1910 - 1932. When she went there in 1910 her "person in country from whence alien came" was Mrs Allanson, King's Avenue, Clapham.


I can't see Marjorie in 1939 - so far.

Please see my previous post re Margery Corrall :)

Yes, I've edited my post, expressing doubt re the Marjorie I suggested.


But even so, this is Margery Corrall's birth, so not the right person - quite apart from the spelling, and middle initial:

Births Sep 1914 (>99%)
CORRALL Margery F Reiger Pancras 1b 195