"An Unexpected Hint Unveils...What?" Continued

In my post "An Unexpected Hint Unveils...What?" I looked at the curious circumstance of William John Gunnee and his second family in Australia while back in England it appeared that he had left his first family. So what happened to his first wife Maud Louisa Mansfield?

But first a quick recap concerning William and Maud.

On 8 May 1904 William John Gunnee married Maud Louisa Mansfield, the daughter of Harry Mansfield, a lighterman.

"London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jul 2012), William John Gunnee and Maud Louisa Mansfield, married 8 May 1904; citing London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Michael And All Angels, Bromley, Register of marriages, P88/MIC, Item 024.

On 6 Jan 1906, Maud gave birth to a son, Harold Sheil Gunnee, at 19 Lake Street, Ratcliff in London.

England and Wales, birth certificate for Harold Shiel Gunnee, born 6 Jan 1906; citing 1c/375/201, Mar quarter 1906, Stepney registration district, Shadwell and Ratchiff sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Sometime between early 1905 and early 1907 he departed England and arrived in Australia where he met and wed Ethel May Millen on 17 Feb 1907.

What about his wife Maud Louisa (nee Mansfield) and his son Harold Sheil Gunnee back in England? What happened to them? This is where it continues to stay interesting. At least from a genealogy and family history perspective.

After 1905 in the record searches I first came across her and her son living in the household of Henry George Pocock in the 1911 census of England that took place on 2 Apr 1911. In that enumeration a Blanche Maud Pocock was also included and it looked like she was the daughter of Henry George Pocock but the relationship column was a bit confusing with pencil and ink notations.

1911 census of England, London, 8 Woollett Street, Poplar, Household of Henry George Pocock; digital images, Ancestry,com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jul 2012); citing RG 78 PN 60, RG 14 PN 1718, registration district (RD) 22, sub district (SD) 3, enumeration district (ED) 2, schedule number (SN) 66.

Possibly Blanche was the daughter of Henry's first wife since his marital status was "widower". So a few pounds and days later I had a PDF of her birth registration from the General Register Office of England and Wales.

England and Wales, birth certificate for Blanche Maude Pocock, born 22 Sep 1909; citing 1c/540/428, Dec quarter 1909, Poplar registration district; General Register Office, Southport.

Hmmm, it seems that Maud Louisa has taken the "Pocock" name as her own when she registered the 22 Sep 1909 birth of her daughter Blanche. That means I should be looking for a marriage of Maud Louisa Mansfield/Gunnee sometime between 1905 and 1909. I did find several possible marriages using the FreeBMD indexes but none to a Popock or variation of that name. I reversed the search to find any marriages for a Henry George Pocock in the same time frame. Still no good matches found. So I expanded the time frame to include up to 1912. Lo and behold a marriage for Henry G Pocock and Maud L Gunner appeared in the index for marriages registered in the fourth quarter of 1911.

Screen capture of Marriages Dec 1911 results for a search for Henry Pocock in the FreeBMD index.

I've seen "Gunner" as a transcription error before and the registration district, Poplar, is the same as their daughter Blanche. Even looking at the image of the index page it said "Gunner" but I took a gamble, paid even more pounds, and waited three weeks to get the marriage registration send to me by postal mail.

England and Wales, marriage certificate for Henry Pocock and Maud Louisa Gunnee, married 17 Oct 1911; citing 1c/1108/85, Dec quarter 1911, Poplar registration district; General Register Office, Southport.

This definitely appears to be "Gunnee" on the registration and her maiden surname is Mansfield. All the information I know about her matches what is on this document. The address for both Henry George Pocock and Maud Louisa Gunnee matches that recorded for their daughter Blanche's birth. From the document Henry and Maud were married 17 Oct 1911, several months after the 1911 census, and it took place at the Register Office (not included in the image posted) and not in a church. Maud again states that she was a widow and Henry is recorded as a bachelor (not a widower!). That 1911 census enumeration really is an interesting mishmash of confusing details.

They had at least one other child, Gladys Ellen Rose Pocock¹ born on 6 Jun 1913 in Barking, Essex, England. Henry, Maud, and Gladys could even be found in the 1939 Register of England and Wales in Barking, Essex. The red stroke through Maud's entry referred to a heavily redacted page providing the exact same information.

1939 Register, Essex, England, RG 101, piece 1057A, image 15, 82 Wedderburn Road, Barking, Essex, household of Henry G Pocock.

What about William John Gunnee and Maud Louisa Manfields' son Harold Shiel Gunnee? From the various records it appears that Harold kept the Gunnee name in his name but used the "Pocock" surname from his step-father. This can be seen in the Principal Probate Registry for the Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England.

Ancestry.com, "National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995," database on-line, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Jul 2019), entry for Harold Shiel Gunnee Pocock, died 23 Jan 1978.

Based on the marriage index and also the 1939 Register of England and Wales it appears that Harold married Rosalind Ellen Tyler in 1929 and they had at least four children.

I think a few lessons can be taken from this little bit of exploration into this branch of my family:

• Census enumerations and other documents can't be taken as gospel, people don't necessarily tell the truth.
• Always try to corroborate the facts found in the records you find.
• If there have been corrections or edits to document then following up on the changes can sometimes highlight something "interesting".
• Always expand your search if you can't find the event in the expected time frame. You might be surprised at what you come across.

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1. England and Wales, birth certificate for Gladys Ellen Rose Pocock, born 6 Jun 1913; citing 4a/1168/267, Sep quarter 1913, Romford registration district; General Register Office, Southport.