Who is that man?

[adrian7886]

Hello

I am trying to find out something about my paternal Grandfather.

From 1920 onwards my Grandmother was living at 15 Osborne Road Petersfield. Her name was Annie Louisa Smith (nee Brown)

She had three children from 1920 on one of which was my father. I know all of his siblings and have birth certs. Some were born prior to 1920 to a different father

The three from 1920 onwards do not have a father on the birth cert but all have the middle name Bonner

The electoral roles show that from 1919 to 1923 an Edward Bonner was also living at 15 Osborne Road Petersfield so I'm pretty sure he was the father but that's all I know.

I can find no records of them ever being married and on Annie's death cert she is shown as Widow of Edward Smith which makes no sense. Her death was registered by my father.

With so little to go on what could I do to find out more about Edward Bonner?

The maternal side of my Fathers family tree is coming along nicely but the paternal side is proving more of a challenge. It stops with Edward

Hope you can help 

[Annette7]

There is a marriage between an Edward Bonner and Annie L. Smith listed in the Sept. quarter of 1920 at Petersfield, Hampshire.   Surely this must be your couple?

Perhaps he wasn't actually free to marry her (i.e. bigamous) so she reverted back to the Smith name.

Purchasing this certificate is surely a must to enable you to move on.

Annette

[silvery]

Reference

September quarter 1920, vol 2c page 502

[adrian7886]

There is a marriage between an Edward Bonner and Annie L. Smith listed in the Sept. quarter of 1920 at Petersfield, Hampshire.   Surely this must be your couple?

Perhaps he wasn't actually free to marry her (i.e. bigamous) so she reverted back to the Smith name.

Purchasing this certificate is surely a must to enable you to move on.

Annette

Thank you very much

But what I dont understand is why he is not named as the father on any birth certs and why on Annies death she is "widow of Edward Smith"

[avm228]

But what I dont understand is why he is not named as the father on any birth certs and why on Annies death she is "widow of Edward Smith"

Was there a first marriage (which took her from Brown to Smith)?  Perhaps she disowned Mr Bonner completely and pretended he hadn't happened.

Or perhaps Bonner/Smith were aliases for Edward.

Who was the informant on the death certificate? If not a close relative they may simply have had erroneous information.

As to why he didn't appear on the birth certs if he was there at the relevant times, I agree that is very peculiar indeed!

Anna

[adrian7886]

Thnk you for your reply

There was first marriage. She was Brown then Smith. Her first husband died in 1918

The informant on her death cert in 1959 was my father Lionel Bonner Smith. He must have told the registrar that she was widow of Edward Smith.

She was always known as Granny Bonner by my older cousins. I was born sometime after her death.

[Richard Knott]

Are you saying that you want to trace Edward Bonner and that all you know about him is that he is on the electoral roll from 1919-1923, and that his surname is a middle name for your father and some of his siblings?

As Annette says that 1920 marriage certificate seems a must, although whether you can believe his father's name is a moot point.

Do you know (roughly) when and where he died? Or how old he was in 1920 (again, the marriage certificate would say)?

Did she carry on at that address after 1923 and he disappear (even though a daughter was born in 1924)?

The odd thing is that, although she was free to marry him (her first husband having died) and they did marry, the children were registered under her surname. It is possible that he was already married - she may not have known that at first - and it is possible that they fell out after 1923, but that doesn't explain the birth registers.

(There is another Bonner having children in Petersfield at the same time (mmn Venes) - although I can't find their marriage)

Richard

[adrian7886]

Hello

Yes its Edward Im after

I have no idea when he died but I do have a vague memory of seeing a picture of Annie with a gentlemen in the back garden of Osborne Road that must have been taken around the 1940s early 50s as they were both quite old and holding lots of cats !!!!!

I know it to be Osborne road due to the view from the back garden.

The house was the family home from 1920ish right up until I moved out after my fathers death in 1977. The house was owned by my father as it was left to him in Annies will.

I know absolutley nothing about Edward apart from he lived at Osborne road in the early 20s

[Richard Knott]

Possible death:

Petersfield   Mar 1949
Edward Bonner   age 64

I don't know how accurate this age is.
The only Edward Bonner (no other names) that fits was born in Haslingden, Lancashire!, and the 1911 census clains that there aren't any Edward Bonners b Lancs.

Richard