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Just to close off this set of messages, for the benefit of any future researchers, I have decided that the child in my photograph of Eileen Mary Sellars is most likely her son Robert Daryl Saben, born in mid 1946 to her second husband, and is not a son of her first husband Philip Hugh Boulton, who died in May 1941. It eventually dawned on me that the official and well-established war grave being tended by Eileen and her approx. 5-yr-old son at Alperton Cemetery was likely not installed as WW2 ended but later. Attempts to date the style of her dress also suggested early 1950s rather than mid 1940s.  Eileen's Will mentions only one child, her Saben son, and makes no reference to Boulton.

Many thanks to those who offered assistance with my enquiry. If anyone is interested, I've now finished the book which prompted my original question. 'Brothers in Arms, the Great War Letters of Captain Nigel Boulton, R.A.M.C., & Lieut Stephen Boulton, A.I.F.' will be available next week.

Best wishes,
Louise Wilson
Melbourne, Australia

I've sent an email and have received a holding reply. I'll update you all when a substantive reply comes through.

An update for my 'helpers' - the single page probate document for Eileen Mary Saben was duly delivered to my computer, unfortunately with no will attached. Probate was granted to her son born in 1946, with an address for him relevant to 2008. I've found no online clues for his current whereabouts, but I did find mention of Eileen Saben on the website for her local church in Lowestoft, Suffolk. The kind people there have mentioned my quest in the parish newsletter, and I hope someone who was friendly with Eileen will come forward with some information. More anon.

I had no idea my 'simple' question would arouse such a flood of responses. Thank you, everyone.

Unfortunately, no-one in the family in Australia knows the facts other than what I'm stating here. Philip had an only sibling, a brother in the RAAF who was injured in WW2 and had no children, and his unmarried uncle in the Australian artillery was killed on the Western Front in WW1. His aunt (my grandmother) was the only sister of Dr Nigel Boulton, who was a doctor in the RAMC in WW1. My mother, in her 90s, remembers only that her cousin Philip supposedly had a son and my mother also 'thinks' that Eileen died young, which is Mum's reason for why the family lost contact. It may not be true.

There was no child before Philip's marriage, as he did not arrive in England until June 1939 and he met Eileen soon afterwards. Philip wrote a letter to his father at the time of his marriage in January 1940, saying there were no plans for children until the war was over, but further letters from him have not survived. 'Accidents happen', so Eileen could well have had a child before or just after he was killed (29 May 1941). She was working in the Auxiliary Territorial Service when they married.

The family in Australia would have been strangers to her and she probably felt her duty was done in sending the few photos that we have here.  There is a photo of a child aged about two, while the child in the photo taken at Alperton Cemetery looks to be about six years of age. The photos are undated and unidentified, except for a later annotation 'Philip's son'.

Just to reassure anyone reading this topic, in past years I've looked everywhere I can think of without actually spending any money on BDM certificates of possibe relevance to Eileen. I've now concluded that the most important piece of data at this stage would be to find her exact date of birth, so that I can narrow down the options for her death under various possible surnames.

When I started this topic earlier today, a number of messages ago,  I was pretty sure she must have been the Eileen M Sellars whose birth was registered at Driffield in the Dec Qtr of 1920. From everyone's feedback, I realise that I should forget about finding the baptism and instead I should purchase the 1920 Driffield cert and also the 1922 Hammersmith cert.

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

PS Thanks for the search in Scotland but there has never been any mention of a Scottish connection.

PPS Before i close, I'm wondering how to get a copy of the will for the 2007 death of Eileen Mary Saben, should I discover that I need that. The will would presumably state at least one family member.

I wonder what is going on? Curiouser and curiouser. The family legend is that Philip was on a 'secret mission' in 1941, but that would hardly be impacting anything today!

I'll see if I can find out something through the Hastings end, but do you happen to remember the second initial that was on the screen before the entry disappeared?