Grandmother stolen at 2 years of age (1897). Help?

[giblet]

It would be interesting to see if the birth date Barnardo's gave Mary Ann is the same as on the birth certificate.

[Finley 1]

As I said 'Magic' researchers on here   

This is a pretty awful tale!! but hopefully you will find the answers you are looking for.

In this kind of research, it is very often a good idea to .....  look sideways  ....
So noting the names that have been offered.  I would follow that name through any possible route, certificates and census' etc to see if it eventually leads to your Gran or to someone else.

I have often started tracing someone who I am convinced is correct only to find there are two almost identical names and ages in the same area. 

So triple check and sadly you will have to buy certs that may be wrong to be able to find the correct one.

Well done    again to all brilliant researchers on here...


This DNA you had has really shown its worth.. pm me the details of the cost etc please (for my own research  )

As you have mentioned the quirkey times that coincidences have happened with you visiting or being in particular places that poor little 'Mary Ann' had possibly been..  is something that often happens within research like this, and for me personally means we are touching something very special that none of us really understand.........

I do hope you have the strength.... (when you have ALL the darn nearest correct details) to get the story out there... It is on a par with so much that is on the shelves - I am sure it is a story of note that people NEED to see... Remember Oliver Twist...and Les Mis...   I for one want to read it now........    simply because it has a happy ending 

xin

[heywood]

Just a couple more notes

1901 3191 /118 /6

Harritt Fisher and Alice are in Basford Workhouse.

There doesn't seem to be much in records for relevant time, but it does mention a record of children in the workhouse. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Basford/#Records

Family Search 1911 index shows a likely Harriett as an inmate and would be worth following up https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XWSK-YB3. There is also a 13 yr old Alice.

I do hope that this is the right family for you.

Heywood

[Ruskie]

I have been following this thread, and commend the rootschatters who have managed to find so much. Great work!

Xinia is correct in saying it is essential to (try to) look for all other Mary Ann Fishers to see if there are others in the same timeframe and area. If not, then this adds to the probability that you have the one and only likely Mary Ann.

Harriet Fisher in the workhouse in 1901 and 1911 fits in well to paint a picture of the circumstances and I think adds weight to this being the correct family.

If anyone knows of any rootschatters who may be able to make a trip to Nottinghamshire Archives to look up the appropriate records (as per Heywood's link) could they please forward them a link to this thread. I think it would be worthwhile to get hold of the records for Harriet and Alice.

PS. A slightly belated welcome to rootschat CarolRR. 

[MonicaL]

Fantastic result all of you here - well done doesn't come close 

Monica

[miriamkinga]

Absolutely amazing research guys. Such a dreadfully sad story, so glad that Carol's grandmother had a good life in the end 

[giblet]

Carol the newspaper article attachments have been removed [most likely due to copyright?] but i still have a copy of the article saved to my computer if you didnt get a chance to save them from the thread.

[CarolRR]

That was quite a welcome to the group!  I will be singing the praises of each of you here, to everyone that I know.  I apologize for some of the postings last night, I became very emotional and hit 'post' a couple of times without re-reading what I wrote.  You are all amazing!
I will be ordering the birth certificate today - Barnardo's assigned my grandmother a birthdate of 1st August 1895 - there is no formal 'certificate'.  My grandmother entered Barnardo's on 1st March, 1898 and they indicated she was 2 1/2.  I guess that is how they chose Aug. 1st ...
Before going to bed last night, I did a quick search on Harriet and found "Harriet Fisher, christened 6 Jul 1873, Whatcote, Warwick, England - parents George and Ellen".  I don't plan on pursuing this right away - it took me 10 years to discover what you kind souls provided me with last night, so I'm going to sit on this for a bit.  I heard back from my DNA match "Fisher" and it turns out that her ancestors went to the US in the 1600s, and she isn't sure where we connect.  Her profile also indicates that she has "Hall" in her ancestral names. I have no interest, whatsoever, in knowing anything about that branch of my tree - thank God someone had the sense to report him - the Courts likely saved her life by putting her into NSPCC - the system worked for her, thank God.  As for Harriet, I can't wrap my brain around her leaving her 2 year old child behind, in the care of this 'animal'.  I have 2 daughters, and I don't understand.  Did her children have different fathers and she disliked "Hall" so much that she didn't care about the daughter that she had with him?  I'll likely never know and I don't really need to.  In the grand scheme, she truly was an orphan, as reported in all of her records ... 
There are many Mary Ann Fisher's in the UK in the same time-frame as my grandmother, so I think that it would be almost impossible to sort through. 
There was supposedly an older child as well as Alice - my search now will be to try and find the siblings.
A very heartfelt 'thanks' to all of you - you sure know how to make someone feel welcome!!! 
What a great site you have here - I learned of it yesterday ...  magical ... 
Giblet, what was the source, and date, of the article you so kindly provided? 
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[giblet]

Hi Carol,
Its a awful lot to take in.

The article was in the below newspaper

Leicester Chronicle and the Leicestershire Mercury (Leicester, England), Saturday, January 15, 1898;
pg. 2; Issue 4536