Edward Cecil Roberts

[Bladders]

researching Edward Cecil Roberts, son of Joseph Roberts.

Edward Cecil married Frances Mary Anne Smith, Bombay 1881.

Children: Harry Walter Roberts March 1882, Frank Clive Roberts Feb 1883, Katie Darvel Roberts Oct 1884 and Cecil Metcalfe Roberts July 1888

any help would be appreciated

Bladders

[Tati]

Hi Bladders,

The boys' army papers show dad Edward Cecil living in East Ham in the early 1900s.

A free search of the latest available census www.1911census.co.uk suggests that Edward Cecil was born ca. 1854 and living in West Ham district with his wife Frances. A different freely available index  here: www.GenesReunited.co.uk/search.page/index/census_1911 shows that Frances was born Bombay and Edward Cecil was born Manchester.

From there, we have this census:

1861
RG9/1480 48 7
Tiverton, Devon
Paul Street
Mary Kate Roberts, head, wid, 31, Teacher of English, French and Music, b. Monmouth Newport
Mary Brewer, aunt, wid, 63, b. Gloucester Stroud
Elizabeth Ann Jenkins, aunt, unm, 50, Schoolmistress, b. Yorkshire Sheffield
Henry T Roberts, son, 8, scholar, b. Lancs Manchester
Edward Cecil Roberts, son, 7, scholar, b. do.
Charles W M Roberts, son, 3, b. do.
Joseph Geo W Roberts, son, 11 mo, b. do.
Sarah Ann A Hawkins, serv, unm, 19, House servant, b. Devon Cullompton

Any use?

[Tati]

FreeBMD www.freebmd.org.uk tells you Edward Cecil's birth reference. If you use the references to order a birth certificate, it would confirm that father was Joseph and would tell Mary Kate's maiden name.

Edward Cecil Roberts
Dec 1853 Manchester 8d 216

Searching FreeBMD for a possible marriage between a Joseph Roberts and a Mary Kate, we find this:

Jun 1849 I of Thanet 5 595
Joseph Roberts to possibly Mary Kate Metcalf

I like it, especially as you mentioned Metcalf later used as a middle name.

Conveniently, a 1849 marriage means they should be on the 1851 census together and here we are:

1851
HO107/2229 709 39
Manchester, Lancashire
15? Bk Mostey Street
Manchester & Salford Bank
Joseph Roberts, head, 28, Bankers Clerk, b. Cheshire Macclesfield
Mary Kate, wife, 21, b. Monmouthshire Pilgwelly
Janet Mc Lean, servant, unm, 22, House servant, b. Scotland
Charlotte May, serv, unm, 30, Cook, b. Nottinghamshire Upton
William Burns, serv, unm, 23, Bankers Porter, b. Lancashire Manchester

[Bladders]

Hi Tati,

you are fantastic 2 responses in such a short time - I don't know how you could do that research so quick, I had found out tha Joseph was his father, and that he was already deceased by the time Edward Cecil got married, and I suspected Metcalf was a maiden name somewhere in the tree.

We have a few ghosts in the closet, and our line of the family are all gone bar my brothers and I, so it is remarkable to be able to find this all out.

Thankyou so much.

Martin Roberts

[Tati]

Very welcome 

I just had a look at 1871. By then, Edward Cecil was working as a Draper's Assistant in Frodsham Cheshire (RG10/3693 77 21).

Mary Kate, I believe, is a governess at London St Margaret (RG10/128 37 2) as Kate Roberts. She's still a governess 10 years later: http://www.rootschat.com/links/0cnu/

Not sure where the other children are hiding!


 

[Tati]

Have a search here: http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch

The site has a likely christening for Mary Kate in 1829.

Joseph is going to be harder to pinpoint, his name is less uncommon. His marriage cert should show his father's name, which might help.