RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Sussex => England => Sussex Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Paul Beard on Friday 18 March 11 16:46 GMT (UK)
-
Edith Emma Stoner was the daughter of George Friend Stoner and Mary Ann Etherton. She was born in Lower Beeding in October 1889 (Horsham 2b 316 refers). In 1911 Census she is shown as living in Bolney, Sussex under her maiden name.
She died in Brighton on 30th June 1951 (Brighton 5h 61 refers). She is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Lower Beeding, alongside the double grave of her parents. Her details on the grave are Edith Emma Harrison and her age of 61 at time of death gels with what I know of her date of birth.
Family photograph, sent to her younger brother Harry in July 1915 (my maternal grandfather, who was born in Lower Beeding on 13th August 1894 ) show her with a young child (no more that 18 months old) and a man (presumably her husband) who was wearing the uniform of an army sergeant.
The photograph was taken in the studios of 'Wallers' in Horsham. Both he and she look to be around the same age. She signed the card 'Edie' but a search using that as first name produced zero results.
I am unable to trace any marriages between a Stoner and Harrison, other than one involving an E Stoner, who if it was my great aunt would have been 56 when she married. That particular Stoner married Frank F Harrison, born abt 1877 and who died in Worthing (Worthing 5h 575 refers). Clearly that marriage is not the one I am seeking.
I have tried Ancestry and Free BMD without any joy - any suggestions as to where to look next would be much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to read this message and for any help you are able to offer.
-
Link to previous related thread: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,517132.msg3727892.html#msg3727892
-
Have you investigated whether she left a will, in case that yields a name for her husband?
-
Yes - seems she died intestate
-
Was there any message other than the signature "Edie" on the photograph sent in 1915?
Does the 1946 funeral report mentioned on your other thread list a Mr Harrison amongst the mourners?
Was any mention made of Edith Emma's death/funeral in the local papers in 1951?
-
She died in Brighton on 30th June 1951 (Brighton 5h 61 refers).
Do you have that Death Certificate - who was the Informant?
-
Thanks for the suggestion and will now set about doing that. Only thing on rear of postcard is 'To dear Harry with love from Edie'
The newspaper report (dated 31st May 1946) lists all of the children (and their spouses) of the deceased but shows the Harrisons simply as Mrs Harrison (daughter), which leads me to believe that Edith's husband probably died prior to May 1946. Supporting my theory, I guess, is the fact that she is buried alongside her parents - with no mention of her husband on the grave
-
I believe that I have solved it. A search of Genes Reunited revealed that Edith Stoner married William Charles Tranter in Midhurst, Sussex in 1913. As previously mentioned the man in the photo was an army sergeant. I then traced a WW1 death on 9/3/17 in Flanders - Sergeant William Charles Tranter of Royal Field Artillery. Also traced was the birth of a son, Thomas G Tranter in Midhurst in 1914 - father William Charles Tranter - mother Stoner.
Scenario seems to to be that Edith subsequently married Frank F Harrison (born abt 1877) in Brighton in December 1945 (Brighton 2B 585) and he pre-deceased her when he died in Worthing aged 71 in December 1948. That would explain her having a young child and then, when she died, having the married name of Harrison as per on her grave. It also explains the photo of mother and child with a uniformed army sergeant.
Thanks for the interest and assistance given in helping me solve this.
-
Ah - well that looks like a result!
I wonder whether perhaps Edith didn't marry William Charles Tranter, despite having a child with him - I must say I can't see such a marriage, and his CWGC entry mentions his parents but not a widow. I also note that she used the Stoner surname, rather than Tranter, when marrying Mr Harrison.
Just a thought :) - anyway, I am pleased you have managed to identify the people in your photo. Thomas George Tranter seems to have died in South Staffordshire in 1985, his DOB given as 13 June 1914. So he'd have been just over a year old when the photograph was sent (perhaps it was taken to mark his first birthday?).
-
Hi - the marriage between William Tranter and Edith took place in Midhurst in 1913 (2b 311) in the Jul-Aug-Sep quarter. I've also managed to enlarge the badge on his army cap and it is correct for the regiment that the deceased soldier was serving in. Thanks for your interest in this thread and all the very best. Kind regards Paul
-
Ah yes I see it now - good stuff :)
-
I understood from an Ancestry tree that Edith Emma Stoner (birth registered Horsham, mid-Sussex 4Q1889) married in Karachi to Alfred Harrison. (Search on Edith Emma Stoner 1889 Horsham).
The reference given is "Holy Trinity Church. In 1914 Karachi was in India prior to the country being partitioned. Wedding source - Page 78 GRO Index Army Marriages 1881-1915 and copy of marriage certificate."
The Edith who married William George Tranter on 28/9/1913 was the daughter of Rosa Stoner (registered 1Q1888 Midhurst, West Sussex) the same district as the marriage.
I do not know which Edith M Stoner (there were many and more 'married in and became Edith M Stoner) married Frank Harrison in 1945 in Brighton RD. A guess would be Edith M birth 2Q1920 Brighton. There was a Brighton death of Edith Mary Harrison in Nov 2005, dofb 17/3/1920.