Dear familyfinder2
This is most intriguing!
John Flynn and Emily Podger were my great grandparents although I actually know very little about them. They were married on 29 September 1886 at St Mary of the Angels, Paddington. I have an old photocopy of their marriage certificate but strangely can find no reference to them or their children in the 1891 or 1901 censuses and no record of their childrens' births/baptisms.
The family reappears in the 1911 census in London. John and Emily are living with three unmarried daughters: Catherine 23, Mary 18, and Margaret 14 and one son, John Leonard 12, my grandfather. However, the census form does state that John and Emily had FIVE children all still living in 1911. According to the census form Catherine, Mary, Margaret and John were all born in Westminster.
Until I found the 1911 census I had believed that my grandfather had only two sisters, Mary and Margaret both of whom I remember from my childhood.
Now the plot thickens. With the marriage certificate I also inherited a photocopy of a 'Certificate of Registry of Birth' for ELLEN MARY Flynn dated 11 July 1889 in Lambeth. For a long time I thought this related to my 'Auntie' (great aunt) Mary, born about 1893, but as the census gives her age as 18 in 1911 this is clearly not the case. Consequently I rejected Ellen Mary as a member of the family mainly because I couldn't imagine John and Emily naming one daughter 'Ellen Mary' in 1889 and another daughter 'Mary' in 1893 - but perhaps I was wrong!
So, it seems Ellen Mary might well be the missing child, a year younger than Catherine and four years older than Mary. If so, my grandfather, the baby of the family and not born until 1898, was the brother Ellen Mary left her money to in the '50s. I will contact my mother's surviving sisters to see if I can glean any further information but I won't 'hold my breath' as the say.
I would be interested to know how you were able to link your Ellen Mary to John and Emily and would be grateful for any further snippets of information, however insignificant, you might be able to let me have.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
Gerald Sleeman
