Edward Palmer Smith

[JVH]

Thanks Andrea, for the links.

Carole, that worked just fine.  I was originally using the FindMyPast 1911 Census Person Search, and was getting nothing for Florence, absolutely 0 hits, no matter how many of her names or initials I used, or not, and even if I inverted the first and last names, as they suggest for an institution.  Now on the 1911cesnsus.co.uk site all I have to do is find all the families I'm following who cross the 1911 boundary, and do a free index check on them, and have my searches all ready to go for obtaining the original pages.  Thanks again.

John

[Annette7]

Have found Edwin Palmer Smith in 1901 - not quite what I expected.

1901 - Somerset & Bath Asylum, Bishops Lydeard, Somerset

Edwin P. Smith   Patient   Marr.   37   Shoemaker    Lunatic   Born unknown.

Ref. RG13 - 2279 - 136 - 18

Is this why Florence took to drink??

Annette

[JVH]

Annette, you come up with the most wonderful stuff!  Having part of the family living in the last operational workhouses was fun, but having a certified lunatic in the family is priceless.  If only my mother and father, who died within the last year, had been around to hear this.  I'm sure they would have loved it. 

We're not clear on who did what to whom.  Was this him "dying of a broken heart" because she was drinking already? All sorts of possibilities...  I see Flo had 2-3 kids post-lunatic, so was Edwin the father, one wonders?  My family history is a soap opera! 

It seems Edwin was almost nothing of what we thought.  The next thing we know you'll find out he upholstered hamsters for a living.

I haven't found anything convincing for Edwin in the 1911 index so far, although I'm finally making progress on the Howard family.  You really have to tease the information out, don't you?

Must let my sisters know the latest news before this blizzard brings down the power lines...

Thanks for making my day!

John

[CaroleW]

The next thing we know you'll find out he upholstered hamsters for a living.

Love it!! 

[JVH]

By the way, I have a birth certificate for Cyril Charles Greyson Smith on order from the GRO.  (1892 Sep-Dec Pancras 1b 15).  Expected mailing date 07 Feb, but from previous experience I suspect it will be a couple of weeks before I get anything.

John

[Flyfree]

Hello, the Archibald Dunster Smith mentioned in this post was my maternal grandfather, he is buried in Taunton Deane cemetery and I am going to see his grave this weekend when I visit my aunt (who is his daughter) in Somerset.  He was shell shocked in the war and died in 1959 when I was 6.  I never met him.  My aunt and cousins who still live near Taunton may have futher information about the family.  I wonder if this is any help?  Obviously Cyril was his brother.

[Flyfree]

I have just finished reading all the posts re Edward (Edwin) and found the one that says he was a lunatic in the local asylum, so I think it's important to mention here that his son, my grandfather Archibald Dunster Smith, also spent time in the local asylum, I was told it was because he was shell shocked, but if his father suffered from mental illness perhaps this was not the only reason ? My mother never mentioned her real father, and the family history on that side is a huge mystery , for instance I grew up never knowing that my mother had an elder sister, Mildred.  I don't know who you are, that you are so interested, but maybe you are a long lost relative of mine ??

[JVH]

Hi "Flyfree"... you certainly would be a relative of mine, in fact a second cousin.  I have a quite extensive tree for the Smith line, leading back through the Smith, Maskell, Dunster, Bierley, Redman, Warner, etc. lines, some as far back as the 1700's.  I have the asylum records for Edwin, and also some brief records for when Archibald and his mother and siblings were in the Taunton Union Workhouse (from Apr 1899 to Nov 1902).  I can certainly give you viewing rights to my family tree on ancestry.com if you'd like.  And I would certainly like to add your information to the tree. All I have for Archibald was his birth in Cardiff, Wales, and I show him in the 1901 and 1911 census - after this I lose track of him. I haven't been able to clearly identify a military service record, as there are many Archibald Smiths, but none with "Dunster", and I have no details such as service number, which service he was in, etc.  I can also send photos of your relatives descending from Cyril Charles Gray Smith, Archie's brother.

The story that descended through our family via Cyril was a fabrication.  When he was married in 1919 he claimed his father was deceased.  He also said his mother had abandoned the family and that his father had died of a broken heart.  In fact his father had been unstable and at times might have been violent towards his wife.  While he was in the asylum for the first time and she was with the kids in the workhouse, and after that period, she kept the family together.  Edwin in fact went back into the asylum in 1925, and died there in 1936.  Our great grandmother seems to have been abused in memory as well as in fact.

Hopefully eventually we can find out what happened to other members of the family, such as the eldest, Edwin M, born in 1891, Henry, born in 1909 (d.1975?) , and Ivy, born in 1905 (d.1965?).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

John

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