My wife's grandfather Frederick Henry Shore was born in 1883 at Woodside Road, Flaxley, to Henry Shore and Eliza Shore formerly Baldwin. Henry was born in 1860 in East Dean and lived in places such as Lea Bailey and Cinderford before eventually moving to Wales in the 1880s. It seems that soon after this Henry changed his surname to Windows, along with those of his wife and children. By 1911 they were Shores again. From family trees I've seen on ancestry.co.uk it seems Henry got the name from his mother's maiden name Mary Ann Window. Has anyone got any information about this family, or any clue why they might have changed their name?

Hi Paul
Welcome to the Forum.
Have you searched the Parish Records for Births Deaths and Marriages on this site ?
I had a quick look and there could be close relatives at Cinderford.
Also are you looking for earlier Ancestors and if so do you have any other information on them ?

take care with Covid19

Sid Toomey

The Census Returns are quite helpful in this case as they indicate some of the children were born outside marriage. This is the 1851 Census for the Shore family:
1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Downend Lower Drawley Hill, Horsley, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Members that resided in the household at the time of the census.
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
William Shore Head Married Male 26 1825 Chair Maker Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Mary Shore Wife Married Female 25 1826 - Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Elizabeth Window Daughter Daughter Female 3 1848 - Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Thomas Window Son Son Male 1 1850 - Stroud, Gloucestershire, England

You will note that Elizabeth and Thomas are listed with the surname WINDOW but in 1861 they are listed with the Surname SHORE and that their mother is Widowed:
1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Little Dean Hill, Lea Bailey, Ross, Gloucestershire, England
Members that resided in the household at the time of the census.
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Mary Shore - Widow Female 34 1827 Charwoman Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Elizabeth Shore Daughter - Female 13 1848 - Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Thomas Shore Son - Male 11 1850 Scholar Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Richard Shore Son - Male 9 1852 Scholar Horsley, Gloucestershire, England
Ellen Shore Daughter - Female 5 1856 - East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Harriet Shore Daughter - Female 3 1858 - East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
Henry Shore Son - Male 1 1860 - East Dean, Gloucestershire, England
John Hill Lodger Married Male 43 1818 General Dealer Middlesex, England
Ann Hill Lodger Married Female 47 1814 - Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales
Mary Hill Lodger - Female 9 1852 Scholar Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

The records tell us that Elizabeth and Thomas were born before William Shore married Mary Window in 1860. Here are the entries from BMD Index:

Births:
Name: Mother's Maiden Surname:
WINDOW, ELIZABETH -
GRO Reference: 1847 D Quarter in STROUD Volume 11 Page 397
WINDOW, THOMAS -
GRO Reference: 1849 D Quarter in STROUD Volume 11 Page 421

Marriages Jun 1850
Shore William Stroud 11 533
Window Mary Stroud 11 533

As mentioned Mary was widowed at the time of the 1861 Census and we find William's burial took place in 1858:
Year: 1857
Month: Jun
Day: 14
Surname: SHORE
Forenames: William
Residence: Cinderford
Age_at_death: 38 Yrs
Officiating_Minister: J.G.Smythies
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P85/1 in 1/12
Page_No: 32
Parish_Chapel: Cinderford St John

And this is before the birth of Henry in 1860:
SHORE, HENRY WINDOW
GRO Reference: 1860 J Quarter in ROSS Volume 06A Page 408

It is clear that William Shore could not have been the father and it maybe this is the reason for the change of name to WINDOW.

Mike

Hi Sid,
Thanks for your reply, and I apologise for not answering sooner, I hadn't checked this site for a few days.
I have looked at the Parish Records and I'm sure I'll be spending more time with them as my research continues. As for earlier ancestors, I've seen trees on ancestry.co.uk that go way back, but rather than just accepting and copying their information, I'm checking everything very thoroughly and gathering all the evidence I can to make sure I'm adding the right person each time, so progress is very slow! I'm sure I'll be back here as I work backwards, but for now I'm filling in gaps closer to home. I really only made this post to see if anyone else knew about the name change.
Thanks again for taking the time to welcome me to the site.

Hi Mike,
Thanks for your reply, and for taking the time to find all that information - especially for Henry's birth details which I hadn't found before. I failed to find him on ancestry or familysearch - even now with the info you provided - and I hadn't tried searching on GRO itself, until now. It would be interesting to see whose name is givens as his father on his birth certificate (if any).
I knew about Henry's older siblings being named Windows, and I'd worked out that William Shore could not have been his father. Curiously, on Henry's wedding certificate (1883) his father's name is also given as Henry Shore. His mother was still using the name Shore when he was born so it's natural she gave him the same name. She apparently remarried in 1871, so maybe there was some friction in the family, the stepfather expected him to adopt his surname, or maybe Henry learned the truth about his real father, or maybe he just got on better with the Window(s) side of the family (including his big brother and sister). I also wondered if there might've been some scandal to do with the name Shore or if Henry were hiding from creditors or something.
It occurs to me now to send a message to whoever posted the tree in question on ancestry and see if they know anything. I'll let you know if I find anything.