Tracking down William Frederick Trotter Smith b1901 Gateshead

[keyboard86]

OK Birmingham area for this William F T but b c 1908?
Keyboard86
EDIT He was William Frank T Smith b 1908 Lewisham I believe?

[jim1]

There's a marriage for a Frank Smith to a Grace E Hayman 1940 Bromley.

[MrsSelfPub]

This is amazing - I am so grateful to you all 

Jessimond Southern marriage is definitely correct as it has confirmed to me by her grand-daughter.

He also is known to have lied about his date of birth for military purposes and it is listed as 1904 on one of the military records.

The possibly bigamy/polygamy is interesting. His grand-daughter says that he was stripped of his medals and 'busted down the ranks' at one time.  I don't know how best to check out the military records as I only have a basic Ancestry subscription and the occasional use of the local library's FindMyPast.  Everything else seems to lead to my credit card!

[Girl Guide]

This is the slightly annoying thing about later marriages.  You don't get the full first names given when there are more than one. This can lead to finding the wrong marriage unless you have definite information from elsewhere.

[Ladyhawk]

Jessimond Southern marriage is definitely correct as it has confirmed to me by her grand-daughter.

Here's a post looking for info. on WFTS, gives date of marriage to Jessimond
.?topic=8826.0

for info.

1945 Liverpool ER Jessimond Smith is living at the same address as four persons with surname Southern (ER shows her parents/sibling at that address 1939-40)

[keyboard86]

OK so that we possibly can get rid of the William F T Smith 1908, he was registered March qtr 1908 Lewisham as William Frank Thomas Smith mmn Overton
Keyboard86i

[Ladyhawk]

So he married as William F rather than William F T:-

Marriages Mar 1929   
Smith    William F    Southern    Liverpool    8b   81   
Southern    Jessimond    Smith    Liverpool    8b   81

marriage cert. available to view on line

William Frederick Smith 25 Bachelor Soldier in His Majesty’s Forces, Ashton under Lyne
Father William Frederick Smith (deceased), Gentleman
Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932

[Girl Guide]

Telling porkies about his father then.  I gave his birth details from the GRO at reply#1 which shows that he was illegitimate.

I did wonder if the Trotter name was anything to do with his father, but no way of proving that.

[MrsSelfPub]

Oh yes - I think he may have been a bit of a rogue!  Thanks for the tip on how the illegitimacy was shown using the '-'   Does this imply that her maiden name was actually 'Smith' then?

I have laboriously 'walked' through pages of the 1901 census to try and find a barmaid in Gateshead with the name Mary Ann of about the right age.  So far I only have someone called 'May Brown' widow of 228 Westbourne Avenue and listed as a barmaid. I may give up on this route...

The rumour is that his mother was a barmaid.  The 'Trotter' could well have been a nod to the likely father.