Oliver Morgan (mis-transcribed as Olive on 1871 census) (General)

by Helenebabette, Sunday, August 02, 2009, 23:09 (5665 days ago) @ Carole Lewis

Thank you so much for your reply. This is very welcome information. My mother-in-law, Oliver's granddaughter, will be absolutely delighted with this news. She has been trying for years to find out more about Oliver's origins.

I cannot find a birth record for Frances so was unable to trace her maiden name, but I suspected that Oliver changed his name later to Evans because this was his mother's maiden name, so I am pleased my hunch was right. I dont think, under the circumstances, that William Morgan was his natural father. I wonder whether William ever married Frances as there is no sign of a marriage record, and no sign of a baptism for Oliver, but there is a baptism for William junior recorded on parish records of this web site. So your great great grandmother was Eliza? I found her with William in the 1881 census where Oliver, who is now 17, is still calling himself Morgan but is listed in the census record as 'boarding' rather than as William's son, which adds to my belief that he was not William's natural son, and which may have accounted for the family stories that he and William senior had a troubled relationship. By this time the Morgan family had moved from Lydbrook to Birtley in the North East of England, presumably in search of mining work.

You could not find Oliver because of the name change. At some point between 1981 and his marriage date in 1884, he changed his surname. He married Anne Speed in 1884 by which time he was spelling his name Evean, but on his death certificate 14 Feburary 1923 he is calling himself Evans.

Oliver had 9 children with Ann (8 girls and 1 boy), but by the time of the 1911 census, Ann is dead, and he has 9 children to care for, ranging in age from 25 to 3 years old.

My mother-in-law's family always wondered where the name Frances came from as Oliver named his fifth daughter Frances Harriet. My mother-in-law's mother was called Olive and was the eighth daughter. Olive married Graham Walton and they had a single child, Doreen, my mother-in-law. Having been raised in the north east she migrated back down to Wiltshire early on in her marriage, in about 1962, as her husband Jim Scott, found a job with Rover in Swindon. I am married to their eldest child, Russell. Olive died in 1960 aged 55.

How did you find Frances? Do you know who her parents were? What were they doing in Rotherham? Did she die following child birth I wonder? Puerperal fever was a big killer of women following childbirth prior to antibiotics. In the 1881 census by which time William and Eliza are married, there are 5 children recorded, plus Oliver the 'boarder'. The children are William, Harriet, John, Wilson (may be wrong name - difficult to read)and Henry. The latter two seem to be the same age, so may be twins. There is no mention of Edith. Perhaps she died?

Many thanks again.
Helene Scott