I found him too and, who knows, he may be the one.
The putative father's address in 1919 was given as 6 Alfred Street, St Leonards on Sea, Sussex but I have not found any links with this area. The electoral register shows a family by the name of Everest living there at this time. He could have been lodging with them at some time during the year though.
Ernest's adoptive parents were told he was an officer but I've no idea if that is true. I haven't found any military records yet. He was unoficially adopted and so no records exist.
His birth certificate has his name as Leonard Maurice Moore (mother Agnes Moore - a cook). I've checked her address given on the birth certificate with the electoral register in East Ham for 1919 and an elderly couple, George & Elizabeth Olsen are registered there. I'm assuming she was staying with them as friends of her family. I've tried tracing their history to see if there is a link but have found nothing so far.
We have a letter written by his birth mother, Agnes, which is heartbreaking to read. She sent it just after the baby was adopted. She was saying that she was sure that he'd be a good boy for them but if they needed any help to look after him, she would love to help. She promised she wouldn't try to take him away. I felt she may have lived somewhere near Tunbridge Wells, Kent if she was offering to help with him - again, it's just a guess.
Although we know his mother's name and where he was born, there are too many Agnes Moore's to be able to know which is the correct one.
One other tantalising clue we have about my father-in-law's paternal side is
that he probably descends from northern european ancestors. My husband passed away with a rare bone marrow condition and when searching for a bone marrow donor, we were told he had a rare tissue type and that they would expect to find it amongst northern european donors.
It's intriguing!
