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Received the first marriage certificate today:

25th May 1918

William WILLIAMS Age 21 Bachelor Gas & Water Fitter 133 Townsend Rd Southall Father: Thomas WILLIAMS Father Occupation: Retired Captain Merchant Service

Harriett HARRINGTON Age 23 Spinster Munitions Works Hand 46 Park Road West Luton Father: William HARRINGTON Father Occupation: Night Watchman

So in 1918 Thomas Williams is alive (this marriage) and by 1923 Thomas Williams is deceased (second marriage).

Assuming Merchant Service is Merchant Navy, I found https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/merchant-seamen-serving-since-1918/ but the records seem to start at 1918 which might not be helpful if Thomas Williams was already retired. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Hi CaroleW,
I named Thomas as a Colenso as that is my current thinking. I know from the Y-DNA that somewhere in the male line the surname was Colenso. Family story was that "Williams" was picked at random from a phonebook but not sure which male that was. The "phonebook" clue provides a window since British phone books were published from 1880 onwards, the year after the public telephone service was introduced to the UK.
Thank you!

Hello,
I'm trying to solve an old family mystery where reputedly the surname was changed deliberately. A male descendant has completed a Y-DNA test and the surname match was "Colenso" so I believe that is the original surname. The family originated from Cornwall in the late 19th century. Working backwards, the most recent male that I don't have a birth record for is:

William Williams (b. 12 October 1897 Cornwall d. 1989 Barnet)
The DOB comes from the 1939 register.

He married twice. I think the first marriage was Harriet Harrington (1918 Luton)
I know the second marriage was to Rose Marie Waldren (16 Dec 1923 Monken Hadley, Middlesex)
I haven't got any certain matches on early census records and I do wonder if he was the one who changed his name from Colenso to Williams. Any help greatly appreciated!

Thank you Shanreagh and Bbart!

I found Berryleys in 1904 at NLS: https://maps.nls.uk/view/82870401#zoom=5&lat=10193&lon=8401&layers=BT

In the Parish of Grange, I found the Wilson family living at Berryleys in 1881 and 1891 census. Andrew Wilson described as Farmer of 252 acres of which 223 are arable employing 4 men 2 boys and 2 girls.

Thank you everyone. I did see the newspaper article from 1977 about the sad loss of a child. The letter I have dated 1988 mentioned other children so making an assumption there are more, possibly alive today which as I understand makes them hard to trace in Australia. I’ll try the VIC bdms as it would seem the family were living there in 1988. Thank you!