Thanks Lizdb, and heywood'
I hear what you say and have E-mailed Thomas' Daughter who gave me the 1911 census listing of Thomas to tell me what age was put for him, but I haven't recieved a reply yet, there seems to be some confusion about his age, I believe at one tim he put his month of birth as June.
The one thing that bothers me is why did they say that he was found on the doorstep, which is what all the family have been told if he was adopted, surely it is an honourable thing to adopt a child, so why try to hide it.
I know of one person who was born out of wedlock who was adopted by her stepfather at the age of 16 so that it would make things look more respectable when applying for a passport etc, could this be the case with Thomas I wonder?
One thing I have learned while researching this case is that many untruths were put onto documents in those days,eg, Hannah was single, and living with her parents on the 1871 census, and John Edwin was living with his sister and her Husband in Newcastle under lyne, they got married in 1873; on Barbara's birth certificate it says daughter of Hannah Thomas formaly Davies and John Thomas deceased, but I found no record of a marriage or a death for John Thomas, and John Thomas was a name sometimes given to the male private parts in those days.
On the 1881 census barbara was living with her grand parents as Davies aged 8 ten years later she was said to be 16, and on the 1801 census she was given as head of family and working as house keeper for her father age 22, when in fact she would have been 28, and her father was living 20 or 30 miles away.
Frank
