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These are some good points, and the foundry business looks like it could have been fairly small as Frank was living in an ordinary detached house on the 1939 register. I can look to see what Frank's father in law's occupation was, as well as George's father in law.

I posted on here a few weeks about about a Cyril Lewis who married my grandad's cousin, it turned out Cyril was illegitimate when I ordered his birth certificate. He gave a false father's name, Frank Lewis on the marriage certificate and by coincidence the 1939 census shows a Frank Lewis living down the road from Cyril and his mother Lily in Merry Hill, Wolverhampton.

This Frank Lewis who appears to be no relation, was born in Willenhall a few miles east of Wolverhampton around 1880 and his father Joseph was a lock worker as lockmaking was the main industry in Willenhall. What interested me was how Frank, after working as a clerk at a foundry, was an ironfounder himself by the 1939 census. His brother George had also moved to Wolverhampton and was a commercial traveller.

Was it quite common for some people from working class backgrounds to set up their own businesses like Frank or to become a travelling salesman like his brother? I found George's one son trained as an architect and later lived in Tettenhall, a leafy village that used to have its own council, but it's now part of the borough of Wolverhampton. I might have an even more distant connection by marriage with this family as I had heard of a Mary Lewis (Lewis was her married name) who was a cousin of one of my great-grandmothers from Bilston who later lived in Tettenhall and her husband was either an accountant or architect.

Cyril Lewis's birth certificate came today and it mentions he was born at Prince Street, Netherton, Dudley. As I suspected, it shows his father's section to be blank. It also mentions his mother Lily's occupation was domestic servant. As there's no details on his father, it makes me wonder where Cyril's middle name Dyson came from, unless it was Lily's mother's maiden name.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when Lily and Cyril were living in Wolverhampton in 1939, there was a Frank Lewis who lived down the road who appears to have been unrelated as I traced his family and found they originated from Willenhall (for members who don't know the Black Country Willenhall is between Wolverhampton and Walsall) and they were lock makers like so many people in Willenhall.

I wonder if Cyril might have known Frank and that could possibly have been why he used the name Frank for his imaginary father on the marriage certificate.  I was also thinking as Lily was a domestic servant, could the father have been her employer as I know this did happen

Quote from: Milliepede on Sunday 04 May 25 16:03 BST (UK)

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I wonder where he was in 1921, perhaps living with relatives?

Good question yes where was he. Possibly with grandparents? 

Were Lily's parents Thomas and Hannah 

Hannah was a widow in 1901 age 43 bn Dudley living Wolverhampton

Lily's parents were Thomas and Hannah, sorry about the late reply. I wonder why they moved to Wolverhampton? Cyril and Lily were living on the western outskirts of Wolverhampton in 1939 in what was then a fairly new house