I cant find her mother - Lincolnshire

[clairenorman39]

Hi everyone,
I really am stuck with a Gt Gt Grandmother of mine. Her name was Dorothy Robinson and she was born abt 1845 in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (according to census results). Her father was Frederick George Robinson B 1821 in Gainsborough.
I cannot find Dorothy or her father in the 1851 census and by the 1861 census, Frederick has been widowed and is living with his sister in Peterbro. Dorothy has been to prison and is in the west riding reformatory for naughty girls!
At the time of admission to the reformatory, Dorothy was living with an aunt - Ellen Broomfield in Masbro (1859).
So I presume her mother had died before then.
Any help with this quandry would be really appreciated.
Many thanks
Claire

[Valda]

Not much help I'm afraid.

1851 census HO107 2120 folio 189
Bridge Street Gainsborough  Lincolnshire   
Anne Robinson 44  Rotherham, Yorkshire,  Head  Unmarried Nurse
Ellen Robinson 21  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Sister Unmarried Dressmaker
Rebecca Robinson 29  Beckingham, Nottinghamshire, Sister-in-law  Married labourer's wife
Clara Robinson 1  Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, Niece 

Unfortunately this appears (from the 1861 census) to be the wife and child of William Robinson born Gainsborough circa 1819. 

The sister Ellen appears on the 1861 census as Broomhead

RG9 3489 folio
12 ? Walk Sheffield  Yorkshire   
William Broomhead 25  Masbrough, Yorkshire,  Head Married Filler
Ellen Broomhead 28  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Wife  Married Dressmaker
Joe Robinson 45 Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Lodger  Unmarried Cabdriver

I can see older brother Joseph in Gainsborough - a servant on the 1851 census but as well as Frederick I can't find brother William.

Regards

Valda

[Geoff E]

Here they were in 1841

634-4/25
Chapel Yard, Gainsborough
Mary ROBINSON 56 Widow (NOT Lincs
Thomas 28 Ostler
William 23 Carpenter
Frederick 20 Lab
Ellen 10
Others born Lincs.

Possible burial of father

Joseph ROBINSON 12 March 1841 (67) Gainsborough

[clairenorman39]

Thanks for that.
I had found these census results previously and tried to build a bigger picture.
I cant even find Dorothys birth in the bmd index so I am hitting a brickwall.
How can some of these ancestors be so elusive?

[Valda]

If a marriage did take place and there seems no evidence as yet from the civil registration one did - could it have occurred after Dorothy's birth, in which case you might be looking for a differently named child?

1851 census HO107 2120 folio 104
Whitehorse Yard Gainsborough  Lincolnshire
Ellen Hasthead 49 Tetford, Lincolnshire, Head  Married Mariner's wife  
Henry Hasthead 16  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Son  Upholsterer (app)
Elijah Hasthead 14  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Son  
Ellen Hasthead 5  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,  Daughter  
Dorothy Hasthead 5 Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Granddaughter  
William Oxley 22  Morton, Lincolnshire,  Son-in-law  Married Blacksmith Journeyman
Jane P Oxley 21  Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Daughter Married  
Maryann Clements 18 Colchester, Essex, Lodger Dressmaker

In 1861 Ellen is a widow and servant in Market Rasen with her daughter Ellen. The surname is spelt Hursthead.

I actually don't really know what the surname was - as neither of these seems a surname in its own right. The birth registrations don't help for Ellen and Dorothy

Births Mar 1846
Hostkead  Ellen     Gainsboro  14 327
Hostired  Dorothy    Gainsboro  14 321

but I think  the surname is probably spelt most commonly as Hosthead (but may be it is a variation of Horstead?)
Dorothy disappears after the 1851 census, though with her surname spelt in so many variations it is possible I missed finding her.

This is the only Dorothy I can see connected to Gainsborough but she is a bit of a long shot.

Regards

Valda

[clairenorman39]

Hi Valda,
Yes I had tried to fit that together already too.
I cant add it all up though.
Dorothy married a Henry Crabb in 1871 in Peterbro and then lived in Essex. I have a copy of her marriage cert which names Frederick George as her father and the witnesses were Fred and also her cousin Clara Robinson.
I am starting to wonder whether she was an incestuos child - Fred and Ellen.
Incidently  :(Dorothy named her female children Ellen and Elizabeth.
Claire

[clairenorman39]

Also I presume Ellen Robinson married William Broomhead but I can find no trace of the marriage either.
Oh what a puzzle!

[Geoff E]

the surname is probably spelt most commonly as Hosthead

That's what it looks like on the BMD index image ... alphabetically, it's after HOPKINSON anyway.

[Valda]

An illegitmate child can later be known by another surname especially if there was a subsequent marriage between their parents. Their births are ususally registered in their mother's maiden name.

Regards

Valda