Baffled - any ideas/wild guesses/sensible theories?,

[MaxD]

Progress report.  Ada's marriage certificate (to Charles Francis Bullard Birchall in 1889) says Ada (no middle name)Double, age 20, father Joseph Double dec'd, occ Baker, all correct facts.  So far then, apart from the appearance of the name Edgcumbe, no connections made.  She divorced him in 1902 (rare occurrence), I'm waiting to hear from TNA how much it will be to copy her petition papers, may be a clue there.
Incidentally, after a second marriage, she died in 1935, leaving a sum worth £113,667.49 to her son from marriage one!
More later perhaps.

MaxD

[Doddie]

Hi MaxD, for what it's worth as a possible expanation here is my similar situation. My g. grandfather William Wilson was born near Southport in 1877. On  his birth certificate he is plain old William Wilson, son of Robert Wilson and Mary Jane Dickinson. He carries on quite happily as William Wilson  it seems until about 1931. In that year one of his daughters got married. His name on the marriage certificate appears as William G. Wilson. The same applies to his own death certificate in 1943. This preplexed me to say the least. I eventually made it down to the cemetery where he was buried in Leigh, Lancashire. From the grave stone it transpires that the 'G' stood for Gerrard. This, I found out soon afterwards, was the maiden name of his maternal grandmother (Ann Gerrard married Richard Dickinson in 1831 in Liverpool). At the time I had no idea why this middle name suddenly appeared out of  nowhere. It was suggested to me that it was not uncommon at the time for people to 'adopt' a personally significant middle name later in life. Whether this was done in any legally formalised way (such as changing a name by deed poll) I couldn't say. All I know is that I was glad to get to the bottom of things.

Regards

Doddie

[jorose]

What address was Ada at for her first marriage in 1889 - was this the same as her mother's address in 1891?
And the witnesses - known family members?

[suzard]

Progress report.  Ada's marriage certificate (to Charles Francis Bullard Birchall in 1889) says Ada (no Incidentally, after a second marriage, she died in 1935, leaving a sum worth £113,667.49 to her son from marriage one!
More later perhaps.

MaxD

Thanks for letting us know - so it seems she used Edgcumbe when she felt like it

I think you may have misread the amount she left- if I have the correct Ada

Probate
Ada Edgecumbe Buckley of 56 Park Hill Road Wollington Surrey (wife of Herbert William Buckley) died 17 Apr 1935 at 23 Bentick RSt Marylebone Middlesex.
Admin London 21 Aug to the said Herbert William Buckley retired civil servant and Francis Cyril Edgecumbe Birchill, salesman

Effects 2286 pounds 16shillings and 4 pence

Maybe it was Herbert William Buckley who left a large sum of money??

Possibly he died Dec qtr 1957 - but the money then would still be in LSD-pounds shillings and pence- and you seem to have the amount left in decimal???



Suz

[MaxD]

Jorose - Ada was at the Terminus Hotel London Bridge (a likely story!) when she married in 1889. Mother in 1891 was living in Romford, on her own, having been widowed in 1885.  Witness names are not known family members (a bit strange as there were other siblings scattered about London "in service" at the time).

Doddie - I'm looking out for something similar.  This extra name doesn't appear on Ada's family side at all, I'm confident of that.  I am in the throes of looking at the first husband's line but so far no success.  A (heavy emphasis) theory in the back of my mind is that son Francis Cyril Edgcumbe Birchall born 1893 (first record of the Edgcumbe name) may have been fathered by an Edgcumbe and Ada added the name when she felt like it, followed by her mother in a move to pretend that it had always been in the family.  It would have been too complicated I suppose to organise the addition to all the other siblings (no Facebook then) hence only those two family members carrying the name.

Next move is to get Francis Cyril's birth cert (another payout!) while keeping an eye open for Edgcumbes in the vicinity of Ada and her husband.  Embarrassed to speak ill of a great aunt but he was 49 and she only 24 at the time of the son's birth so who knows?

Thanks for your interest again.  MaxD

[MaxD]

Sorry Suz, missed your post when replying earlier.  The £2 grand then would be worth £113 grand today was what I should have made clear.
MaxD

[jorose]

Can you give us the names? I'm thinking that if she was working in London then the witnesses might have been coworkers or people she lived with. The hotel address may have been because she needed an address within the right parish (a "suitcase address"), or possibly she worked there?

(Or maybe she worked for Mr Birchall; I do have one in my tree who married the nanny on his third go round).

[MaxD]

Witness names are H Roberts and Wm G Read.  As to working for him, always possible.  As it happens, Annie, one of her older sisters, is in the 1891 census (first after the marriage) as servant to younger sister and her husband!  Annie had come to the big smoke earlier, she was a servant in 1881 in Paddington (with yet another sister!) and one can easily imagine her bringing her younger sister up from Essex to first work and then marry the master of the house - pure conjecture of course.