ERNEST(PHILLIP?) HOPE

[haney]

Hi loupyloo2u.  Was you mum Viki-Joy Freeman Hope.  I'm looking at a photo of her now.  LOL how strange.  Dianna

[Jsmp]

In regards to Reggie knowing Ernest - I was speaking from a more intimate level. How often do middle names come up in conversation? I have heard that he visited, but that is very different from living and growing up within a family :-) those nuances may not come up.  Or did Ernest actually attend his son's weddings - and wrote down the wrong middle name himself?

Someone else directed me to seek out Beverly :-) I was just unsure how much connection she also had with her biological dad, but then she was 26 year old when her dad past.  Plus when I was first doing this and found Beverly I was a teenager, and the information I got from Legacy was that her name was Joyce Agnes, Beverly had been crossed out. So definitely a trail that I should look into :-)

Hi Lu

I also suspect Philip to be a red herring and have questioned whether this was an error when describing Ernest W F Hope.  Such mistakes can easily be made - indeed, as you say, Reggie may just not have known his father's middle name or have been confused as to what it was.  There doesn't seem to be anything more that would suggest him to be Ernest WF Hope's father and no contemporaneous records indicating otherwise.

[haney]

Sorry guy's but on Ernest William Francis HOPE'S marriage to Sarah Jane Towell it states his dad is ERNES PHILLIP HOPE deceased and that Ernie was a 32 year old Bachelor born in Marrickville Sydney NSW, Occupation Metal Worker.  So very confusing really!!!  Would be interesting to see the birth certificates of the children of Sarah Jane Towell and Ernest W. F. HOPE.  Will we ever figure this out???
Regards Dianna

[haney]

OOPs forgot the "T" on Ernest Phillip!   Also mother NOT LISTED, that is really strange, Dianna

[Jsmp]

Sorry guy's but on Ernest William Francis HOPE'S marriage to Sarah Jane Towell it states his dad is ERNES PHILLIP HOPE deceased and that Ernie was a 32 year old Bachelor born in Marrickville Sydney NSW, Occupation Metal Worker.  So very confusing really!!!  Would be interesting to see the birth certificates of the children of Sarah Jane Towell and Ernest W. F. HOPE.  Will we ever figure this out???
Regards Dianna

Interesting... I wonder what he was doing in India then?  Perhaps as an Australian soldier?  Surely there would be corroborating military records if so.  Anyone else have any idea of a reason that would put him in Bombay?

[loopylou2u]

Hi Dianna,
Yes, my biological mother was Viki Joy Hope, known as Freeman when she died.  As you can see, she had very dark hair and eyes which makes the Indian heritage likely.

The problem is that Ernest William Francis Hope says he was born in 9 Jun 1890 Marrickville, NSW - but I can't find that record.  If he was born in England or India - why would he say Marrickville. We now have two different family members from his second marriage both saying there were Indian links - he spoke Hindi, (learnt from his mum or from living in India?) and had dark features.  So his dad has to be half India or something else, and English.

So the question - was Ernest William Francis born here like he said, but undocumented. Was he born on a boat on the way from India to here? So who was his dad, was it an Ernest Phillip ... was he station as military in India, or trade working in India. My mother in law said people would take passage on cargo ships from India to Australia at this time, up to 30 passengers per cargo ship.

[loopylou2u]

I'm curious in what context Ernest WF spoke Hindi - did he self talk to himself? Or was he observed to speak to others in Hindi?

How did Sarah and Ernest meet? does anyone have that story :-)

[loopylou2u]

So I have done my DNA 8% southern Indian. So there is now that as confirmation for this thread that there is another link to Ernest William Hope being of Indian descent.

[Jennaya]

There was a British celebrity on Who Do You Think You Are, who uncovered Indian heritage. A soldier who was stationed there had a child to an Indian woman. When the soldier died, the child was sent back to Britain to be raised by her grandparents, and the Indian heritage was covered up. I can't remember the celebrity's name; however I was wondering if a similar situation could have happened in your family. This would explain the lack of knowledge about his mother and his own birthplace.

EDIT  The celebrity was Olivia Colman  - her ancestor was employed as a soldier by the East India Company