"Inmate" In An "Institution"

[mergendy]

Indeed, Alpine, that's how I'm so sure about the Ellis Jones marriage... If only all people everywhere were as helpful as rootschatters!

I'm now pretty sure she's the Winifred M from Westbury, and if so, THANKS Mabel for providing Frank and Jane Jones as my possible great-great-grandparents!

Seems a shame to retire now that I'm making more progress (at least in my mind!), but it's getting late here in Berlin...thanks all!

...and so to bed...

[alpinecottage]

Always a good idea to post the link to previous threads ( where relevant) to save other people going over the same ground. 

Terms like imbecile, idiot etc can mean suffering from depression or bi-polar disorder or Aspergers etc - all conditions which we wouldn't use the word "imbecile" for these days.

Hope you've found her now.

[Ruskie]

Very useful link to previous thread alpine - thank you. It always helps to know the background behind the 'facts' or 'assumptions' . 

[Galium]

This is only a tentative suggestion, as I have no proof, but have you considered the possibility that Winifred was not from Wiltshire at all?  Her child was born in Lancashire in 1913, and she married there in 1916.  Where was she living for over two years in between? If she was not near her family, who cared for her child?

I know your family story is that she was a servant in Wiltshire, but other points from that story - eg that she married in Wiltshire appear to be incorrect, and there is nothing to confirm that she was born there.

Do you know when she died?  She and Harry Lot lived in the Devizes area after they married, and it looks as though Maxwell married there in 1938.  Is she the Winifred Ellis who died in Devizes district in 1975 aged 86?

[mergendy]

Hi there Galium, and many thanks for your reply.

Winifred was indeed a Wiltshire gal, as confirmed by other members of the family. You're correct re: Maxwell's marriage to my grandmother, Violet, and my father remembers her living until a ripe old age, so I definitely think 1975 is a good fit on that score, and she was indeed Winifred Ellis living in the Devizes area by then...obviously more detective work is needed here to be 100% sure, not least because of the common surname, and if the marriage cert proves unsatisfactory I can always order the birth certificate of her second son, Harry, which presumably would be more exact about date of birth and birthplace...

[avm228]

if the marriage cert proves unsatisfactory I can always order the birth certificate of her second son, Harry, which presumably would be more exact about date of birth and birthplace...

Not sure what you mean by this? The birth certificate will give Harry's date of birth and birthplace (obviously) - but not Winifred's.

[mergendy]

My mistake, I'm being inexact...I meant age, not date of birth...you can tell I'm a beginner...

As I know she's a Wiltshire lass, her age at marriage would help me find her for sure, and thus order her birth cert, but if her marriage certificate only says "full age" then I could order her second son's birth cert, which would (I think) give her age then?

[avm228]

Winifred was indeed a Wiltshire gal, as confirmed by other members of the family.

Family information is really important in our quest, but it is definitely worth keeping an open mind until you have documentary confirmation.

I remember being told confidently by my great-aunt that her grandmother Annie (my gg-grandmother) had been born in Scotland and had kept her Scottish accent all her life, despite living in South America.  I drew a complete blank in Scottish records and it was only by a stroke of luck and a lot of perseverance that I discovered she had been born in Nebraska, USA - albeit of Scottish parents who were fresh off the boat when she was born and remained in America for the rest of their lives. So far as I know, Annie never set foot in Scotland.

Do let us know when the marriage certificate arrives

[avm228]

then I could order her second son's birth cert, which would (I think) give her age then?

No, her children's birth certificates will not give any indication of their parents' ages.