Thomas Graham, Graham orphanage London? Illegitimate son of Colin Campbell? 1897

[Dundee]

Alfred HARRIS, french polisher, was living in St Pancras in 1891.  He was a widower and had been married to (Sarah) Elizabeth HOBBS. I personally doubt that he was married to Louisa.

This is probably the birth registration of Thomas.

HARRIS, THOMAS
No mother's maiden name
GRO Reference: 1891  M Quarter in PANCRAS  Volume 01B  Page 108

Because there is no mother's maiden name indexed it is possible that only the mother is named with a surname of HARRIS.  It is equally possible that the father is named as Alfred HARRIS and the mother is named as Louisa XXXX.  The maiden name would only be indexed if she was named as 'Louisa HARRIS formerly XXXX'.  In the spirit of leaving no stone unturned it would be worth getting the certificate to see what it says.

Debra 

[brigidmac]

I agree that HARRIS was most likely Louisa s Surname  name and she was unmarried so no maiden name to look for .

Even if there is a baptism a father could be named but invented .

Was Thomas still around in 1939 ? Have you found him on the 1939 register ? What date of birth is given .

Btw when you said your gran met her mother-in -law could it have been a foster mother nottne birth mother who she met ?

[gtoal]

Was Thomas still around in 1939 ? Have you found him on the 1939 register ? What date of birth is given.

Btw when you said your gran met her mother-in -law could it have been a foster mother nottne birth mother who she met ?

We'll look for him in that 1939 Census.  I don't know for certain but my understanding was that Thomas grew up in an orphanage rather than a family home, and although he knew who his mother was, he was not brought up by her.  I remember my mother saying that Granny had reported visiting the mother who was by that time a seamstress, and a respectable woman. I'm near certain this was the birth mother - I've never heard a hint of there being an adoptive family. Remember this was all a family disgrace that was never spoken of so I've only got bits and pieces of it from what I may have gleaned as a child and from exactly two conversations on the subject with my mother in later life - the first as a teenager when I wasn't paying a great deal of attention, and one a few years before my own mother's death, where we have a combination of her reluctance to talk about it coupled with her failing memory. I believe her exact words when asked for more detail were "the book is closed on that subject."

[Dundee]

It wasn't a census it was an identity register, and as he lived in Scotland you will have to apply for an extract. 

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/national-register

I would first check if they give the date of birth because it would be pointless to just get his age unless they give it in years, months and days so that you can work it out yourself.

Details of people who are contained within the 1939 Register who have since died are now being made available. Please be aware that due to the fact that this register is more modern than the Scottish census, which is closed for a 100 year period, it is only possible to provide limited information on the named individual; namely their address in 1939, marital status, age and occupation.

Debra 

[Dundee]

They do provide a date of birth, you can see a sample here:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=735513.0

Debra 

[heywood]

I have just looked again at  the Military record for Thomas Graham.
I think I am understanding this correctly, but on the page after his 1924 letter with address Stoneyhill Cottages, there is his discharge details.
The address on there is the address, 23 Saughton Hall, Murrayfield, Edinburgh. - 1919

There is then an address 30 Forth View, Wallyford, Midlothian which might be Musselburgh?

On a conduct sheet, it says he is 24 yrs, 5 months , was born in London, is a Footman and enlisted in Birmingham. Another page says he joined at Stirling.

Some of these details have been mentioned, possibly, but not sure about those two addresses.

[gtoal]

Wallyford is half a mile up the hill from Musselburgh - certainly a place that someone from Musselburgh would consider looking for housing in.  My own mother moved to Prestonpans when she married - about a mile east of Musselburgh and Wallyford.  So I can believe that.

The Stirling enlistment: that is very plausible because I think Stirling Castle was one of the places where he worked as a valet.  I have an old memory of having a picnic in the park as a very young child and my mother pointing it out to me.

G

[gtoal]

There was a Louisa Ellen Spickett born 1860 in Boughton Blean, Kent who married Alfred Thomas Harris (1859? 1861? Woolwich, Kent) in 1881.
(possibly this notice: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8913/images/ONS_M18814AZ-1048?pId=27109438 )
The couple show up in the 1891 England Census as married, with two children Charlotte (1882?) and Mary (1884?).
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12738442:6598?queryId=f11323ddca17b78a952612387b18c2e0&_phsrc=SXS700&_phstart=successSource

There's a family tree on Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/157889452/person/242074331871/facts
which adds a son, Charles Sydney Herbert Harris, 1889-1979. Woolwich, Kent.

If this turns out to be the right Louisa Harris, her forebears are quite well documented in https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/157889452/family?cfpid=242074331871&fpid=242074331871&usePUBJs=true

Louisa Spickett had 3 siblings - Ellen F (1856-1934), John T (1858-1932) and George W (1862-1908) - George W had 9 children and many grandchildren - definitely some scope for potential DNA checks to confirm whether this Louisa Harris nee Spicket is Thomas Graham's mother as suggested by the St Pancras documents ... but this all depends on Louisa Harris later becoming Louisa Graham and the child Thomas Harris becoming Thomas Graham.  Which means a divorce from Thomas Harris (if they were indeed married; and unlikely as common folks didn't tend to divorce much in those days) or Alfred Harris dying and Louisa remarrying.

I can't find a death date for either one.

(However, here is where this line of enquiry starts to look like a rabbit hole... when looking for Alfred Thomas Harris, the best I can find is Thomas Alfred G Harris born in 1860 in Boughton Under Blean, Kent ... who has a sister Louisa Ellen born 1864! I'm thinking (or at least hoping!) this one is a coincidence and not the husband of Louisa!)

Graham

[heywood]

The records for Louisa Spiller Harris don’t match the record for Thomas Harris born St Pancras with mother Louisa.

Births for Harris/Spiller, Woolwich
1891 June quarter Alfred Harris - death 1891
1892 Louisa - death 1892
1893 Violet Emily

I think you can discount that lady.