Clara Jane Shipley b.c.1880 - in Dudley?

[pollux83]

I'm trying (without success) to identify the ancestry, plus any siblings, of Clara Jane Shipley. According to the 1911 census she was born in Dudley which, I understand, was in Staffordshire at that time.
She married George Josiah Hawker at St James Church, Ashted, Birmingham, on 8 Sept 1906. The certificate shows her as a spinster, age 29 (so born c.1877). This birth year aligns with the 1911 census where her age is 33 (1878).
However the 1939 Register shows her birth year to be 1881 and her civil death record (in 1962) as 1884.
Her father, according to her marriage cert, was William Shipley (deceased), glassblower.
The 1911 census entry is a bit confusing as they evidently got their details crossed, but I know George was born in Nechells, Birmingham, so the mention of Dudley presumably applies to Clara.
Anyway, I can find no other convincing records (birth, censuses etc) for a Clara born in or around Dudley with a father called William. Playing with spellings of the surname (Shippley, Shepley, Shirley) hasn't helped and neither has juggling her forenames.
The wide variations in her year of birth and the incorrect number of years of marriage in the 1911 census (given as 7 when it was in fact 5) suggests that they were either poor at maths (probably true!) or they had something to hide. If the latter, how much of the other information can be trusted?!
So has anyone out there any knowledge of the Shipley family in and around Birmingham, please?

[Ayashi]

There is a birth for a Clara Jane Shipley, 4 qr 1884, West Bromwich 6B 777. Could this be a possibility? In terms of distance West Brom and Dudley are basically next door to each other, although this would be on the later end of your time scale.

[lizdb]

1891 - a possible for the one bn 1884

Tatenhill Staffs
James Lawrence 56 garden labourer bn Brewood
Mary 64 bn Shirley Wick
John 26 son painter
Clara Shipley 8 granddaughter bn Tatenhill

[Ayashi]

No, I had a look and that's a different Clara from the Clara Jane birth listed above. The Tatenhill Clara was born and christened 1883 Tatenhill, dau of Thomas and Mary.

Of course that means we are still missing the 1884 Clara from census :/

[pollux83]

Thanks for those suggestions. Tatenhill is close to Burton on Trent (beer country) I believe, so that could work if William was a glass blower (did they make the bottles in Burton?). But it's a fair distance from Dudley.
I'd spotted the W Brom birth too but I've not found any census that confirms it's the right family (I'm too mean to buy a cert on the off-chance!)
I'm grateful for your help!

[CaroleW]

Have you considered she may have been illegitimate and registered under a different surname?  If her mother married a Mr Shipley she may have taken her stepfathers surname

[CaroleW]

Did they have a daughter born 1918?

[pollux83]

Hi Carole, thanks for your posts. Yes, I agree that she may have been born with a different name, but I've not found anything to confirm that. Nor to deny it either! I would still have expected to find a census with a William Shipley who was a glass blower, but haven't. Of course, his occupation in the censuses might have been described differently.

And yes, according to George's military records they had a daughter in 1918 - Ellen.  There seem to have been a couple of marriages of an Ellen Hawker in Birmingham (1938 and 1940) but I have not yet discovered if either were 'my' Ellen.

[CaroleW]

The 1938 was Ellen E so I think she may be the 1940