Mary Mary quite contrary!

All Families have skeletons in the closet !

It's not uncommon to watch a mystery documentary or movie and inevitably some one has a family skeleton that is revealed from their past.  Sometimes the family secrets are shared or eventually come out but then there are times when the truth is twisted or whitewashed to make the situation less embarrassing for the time period that it took place.
So is the case in our family.  The characters in this story are Ann Fletcher Pott better known as Aunt Ann, Mary Ellen Dawson - my Grandmother and Unknown Child and a old newspaper obit for a Fanny Dawson (infant). 



Ann (Fletcher) Pott wife of
Francis Pott brother to Thomas.

Mary Ellen (Dawson) Pott
Circa: 1910

The story has it that my grandmother came to Canada in 1910 to be the caregiver for her Aunt Ann that had come to Canada a few years earlier and was now widowed. For over a hundred years no one questioned the story, and why would we?

As hinted at earlier, the whitewash fades and at some point inquiring minds will ask the question why would a young single British girl come to a wild and strange country like Canada? My Mom had once told me that her mother had been ready to marry a man and she was expecting a child with this man out of wedlock. The child died at birth and the marriage was called off and she came to Canada.
So I asked a distant cousin , who still lives in England, if there was any truth to this story? She told me that there was once  a story shared by her mother also that my Grandmother had been ready to marry a man whom she was expecting a child  but when the child passed the marriage was called off and Mary left for Canada.

I can only imagine how hard Mary found it to leave all her family behind never to see them again except in photo's as she never returned to England to visit.
The only connection that she had to family when she came to Canada was through Ann (Fletcher) Pott the wife of Georges uncle, Frank Pott. Ann was a half sister to Mary Ellen's grandmother, (Mary Ellen's mom's mom) so one could say she was a Great Aunt and through Mary's marriage to George Pott, Ann became her aunt.
Are you confused don't worry so was I? Lets just say she was related. The point of this was to point out that Ann was the only person remotely close to family for Mary Ellen when she came to Canada. 

The white wash portion or unclear part of the story indicated that the child was born and passed  away shortly after birth and then the marriage was called off and my Grandmothers parents sent her to Canada to get her away from the embarrassment and the pain of loosing this child.

Seems all logical and made sense for the time period that we were dealing with but some things still didn't add up. First off, what was the child's name, when was it born, who was the father, and when did it pass away. Obviously this all happened prior to my grandmother coming to Canada, so the story went, so off I went to dig for the answers.
Now no one else had heard this story except myself and one other cousin (at least that would admit they were told) so there really was nothing to substantiate the story or give us a lead.
First puzzle piece- Grandmother had come to Canada in 1910 but was that days, weeks or months after the child had been born and passed.
A quick search of the BMD files for Derbyshire presented an answer with a potential birth of a child with the same mothers name as my grandmother.
Second puzzle piece was to find a death registration from the time the child was born to the time Marry Ellen left for Canada.
Sounds pretty easy I thought. I searched the BMD files for Derbyshire once again and WHAT?
There were no records to be found, so I searched surrounding counties thinking perhaps that she was staying with family at the time the child passed away. Still no record. Now what?
Well first I thought that since we did not know the whole truth maybe the child did not die and was left behind with family. Again, seems logical!

Next step, search the 1911 Census records for a child that would be no more than a year old living with Mary's family. No luck, along with several on line chatters we were not able to find the child.
My first thought was that the child had passed away prior to the census but one of my fellow researchers indicated that if the child was born out of wed lock that he/she may not have been included by the family on the census reporting.

Ok, expand the search from 1911 thru to 1916. Bingo found a child that correlated with the time line of the birth. So maybe she was not included on the census in 1911 but was this the child or did she die before 1911 and the registration is missing.

Only one way to get more info and that was to send away for the actual copies of the birth record and the possible death record of the child that matches the time line of our story.
Tick- Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock!!
Well a couple months later the first certificate comes. Its the birth record and yes it clearly is a perfect match. Mary Ellen Dawson listed as mother to a child by the name of Fanny Dawson born September 29, 1909, no father listed.
Fanny Elizabeth Dawson born 29, September, 1909 to Mary Ellen Dawson (Verified with certificate)- Domestic servant (Unwed) living at 14 Trent St.  Alvaston Derby.
The Address matched the address where Mary's parents were living in the 1901 census and the 1911 census. So the child must have died prior to 1911 or why would the child not be listed with Mary's parents?

The waiting continues and finally the second envelope arrives with the death record of the mystery child. The record is a match, the child is Fanny Elizabeth Dawson passed away on 7 August, 1912 (Verified with certificate) witness to event is listed a Maria Jordan "Grandmother" living at Field lane, Alvaston, Derby.

Now we have a match for the newspaper clipping for the mystery Fanny Elizabeth Dawson death announcement that I found among the papers my mom had kept belonging to her mom Mary Ellen!

This explains why the child was not listed on the 1911 census with Mary's parents but why was the child with this family at the time of death and not listed on the census with them?

Now the plot has thickened and I call on my online Roots Chat Group for assistance.
Here is what I posted on line:

"Here is all I have:"

Fanny Elizabeth Dawson born 29, September, 1909 to Mary Ellen Dawson
- Domestic servant (Unwed) living at 14 Trent S.t Alvaston Derby
- Birth certificate verifies this.

Mary Ellen Dawson came to Canada in  1910 and left the child behind.
(at this point I'm thinking with the father and his family)

Fanny Elizabeth Dawson passed away on 7 August, 1912 (Verified with certificate) witness to event is listed a Maria Jordan Grandmother living at Field lane, Alvaston, Derby.

My grandmother kept a obit announcement for this Child and we never new who it was. Now we do!

Here is the response I got from the Chatters!

"Found a newspaper article from Derby telegraph Feb 8, 1910 listing a Derby Borough court date for a Mary Ellen Dawson and a James Jordan-a laborer -Eden St."

Aha!! Bingo....
Derby Daily Telegraph 8 Feb 1910
Police News
Derby Borough Court
Maintenance - James Jordan, labourer, Eden Street, appeared on a warrant for non-payment of £3 3s being 18 weeks arrears under an affiliation order made Nov 30 to Mary Ellen Dawson. The case was adjourned for 4 weeks so that they might come to some arrangement. 

Derby Daily Telegraph 13 August 1910
Derby Borough Court
To Gail for a Month
Thomas Jordan labourer Eden St was charged on a warrant of being 26 weeks in arrears of a maintenance order of 3s 6d a week on behalf of his illegitimate child, his full indebtedness being £4 11s. It was stated that the man had made no payment since the order was granted and he was sent to prison for a month his excuse being that he had been ill and out of work.

This means the maintenance order was granted in Feb 1910 some months after Fanny was born. But the maintenance order may have been the 'arrangement' come to in Feb 1910 after the previous court case.

This case against Thomas must have been shortly before Mary Ellen Dawson emigrated. I wonder if the address of the person who brought the case might give a clue as to where Fanny was in 1911? I wonder if the Derby Court records are available?

Posting this as the address is 7 Field Lane Alveston
Thomas' sister Sarah Ellen Jordan was married to Harry Roe

Harry Roe Enlistment Age:   30
Marriage Date:   15 Jun 1907 Boulton Church Boulton
Document Year:   1914
Residence Place:   7 Field Lane, Alveston Derby
Regimental Number:   55342 Regiment Name:   Royal Engineers
Number of Images:   29
Form Title:   Short Service Attestation
Next of Kin Sarah Ellen address 7 Field Lane Alveston
Children Lily born 31 Oct 1907
Violet Maria 25 Jun 1910
Marry 10 March 1913

Baptism of Thomas Jordan

Name	Thomas Jordan
Event Type	Christening
Event Date	18 Jul 1886
Event Place	St James, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
Gender	Male
Father's Name	William Jordan
Mother's Name	Maria

ADDED: and possibly his death from BMD records
Jun 1913 
Jordan    Thomas    age 27    Shardlow    7b   541

Now we have a much clearer picture of the events and time line of the birth and death of this child that Mary Ellen left behind with her parents and or the fathers parents. We can assume that Thomas was the child's father but we will never know for sure nor will we know who the child was living with after Mary came to Canada in 1910.