Lily Maria Hodges (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Friday, November 04, 2011, 19:37 (4771 days ago) @ paulp

Hi Paul,
it's clear that Lily's children William Jones Hodges born 1909 and Ivy Winifred Hodges born 1913 were both born "out of wedlock", certainly thats the impression from the Baptism Records. I suspect William's father is actually a William Jones, there are several of these on the Dymock PRs. I could be wrong but I don't ever recall seeing the Jones name used as anything other than a surname; my father, his grandfather etc and my son are also William Jones's so I've seen a lot of similar PRs over the last months. (And in case you're wondering no we're NOT from the Dymock area ;-)

Record_ID: 368182
Entry_Number: 253
Year: 1910
Month: Jan
Day: 9
Parents_Surname: HODGES
Child_Forenames: William Jones
Fathers_Forenames:
Mothers_Forenames: Lily Maria
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Blacklands Dymock
Occupation: Domestic Servant
Officiating_Minister: Reginald Horton Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Born 16 Nov 1909
Notes: In this record no father's name listed
Register_Reference: P125 IN 1/26
Page_Number: 32
Parish_Chapel: Dymock
Soundex: H322

As you know Lily's marriage has some clues wrt Thomas's origins:
Record_ID: 23712
Entry_Number: 154
Year: 1914
Month: Jul
Day: 4
Grooms_Surname: MORRIS
Grooms_Forenames: Thomas
Grooms_Age: 24
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation: Railway Porter
Grooms_Residence: Devonport
Grooms_Fathers_Surname: Morris
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames: Thomas
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation: Railway Porter
Brides_Surname: HODGES
Brides_Forenames: Lily Maria
Brides_Age: 25
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Dymock
Brides_Fathers_Surname: Hodges
Brides_Fathers_Forenames: William
Brides_Fathers_Occupation: Farm labourer
Licence_or_Banns: Banns
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: Albert Hodges
Witness_2: Alice Hodges
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: Sidney Marston vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P125 IN 1/28
Page_Number: 77
Parish_Chapel: Dymock
Soundex_Groom: M620
Soundex_Bride: H322

So Thomas born abt 1890, father Thomas.
No Morris witnesses listed, were his family at the wedding ?
Thomas's residence is listed as Devonport, perhaps suggesting he's from a nautical family, despite now being a Railway Porter. Did the couple live there after the marriage ?.
Did Thomas go off to War, perhaps using his Railway skills, if so did he return ?.
Searching the FoD Baptisms theres an awful lot of Thomas Morris', with the Thomas name often being perpetuated thro the generations, so again no great clues there. Looking for his Baptism around 1890 this looks possible although not really the right area,

Record_ID: 146921
Entry_Number: 437
Year: 1890
Month: Feb
Day: 23
Parents_Surname: MORRIS
Child_Forenames: Thomas Henry
Fathers_Forenames: Thomas Henry
Mothers_Forenames: Elizabeth
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Milkwall
Occupation: Clerk in S & W Railway Office
Officiating_Minister: E Jones Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P245 IN 1/12
Page_Number: 55
Parish_Chapel: Parkend
Soundex: M620

How did he meet Lily and where ?. Please advise where Lily is in the 1911 Census Records, any clues there ?. Presuming you have access to the Census's have you looked up Thomas's background at all, is he a Dymock man or ?