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« on: Tuesday 18 June 13 18:16 BST (UK) »
I have discovered that Robert Henry Brownell and his wife adopted many of their children. Most of their children in the Census records do not have birth records with the surname Brownell and later Census records actually show some of their children as Adopted.
In the 1871 and 1881 Census records they have two daughters, Elizabeth and Ellen. They both have the same estimated DOB. Ellen is the only child that has a Brownell birth record. Although Mary Elizabeth was not adopted until 1874 I am wondering if she was actually living with the Brownell family in 1871 and the adoption was not made official until 1874.
The McKeand family have a Census record for 1881 and Elizabeth is the only one missing from that record, perhaps because she was already living as a Brownell with the Brownell family at that time.
I cannot find a 1871 Census record for the McKeand family to backup my hypothesis.
From my research I am almost convinced that the Elizabeth Brownell living with the Brownell family is the same Elizabeth McKeaned that was born to George and Elizabeth McKeand. I think that later when she married Joseph Rome she used her original family name. Certainly her birth sister Louisa was witness to her marriage.
There is still one thing that is still puzzling me though. Why does the adoption letter say Mary Elizabeth McKeand?