Researching Family Stories

 Did Aunt Ruth work for the grandson of William Ewart Gladstone Prime Minister ?

Family Photograph in possession of Gary Gadsby, digital copy supplied to Hilary Gadsby

I have wanted to prove this Family Story ever since I was told about it in a letter from her nephew.

Gary Gadsby Mr ([STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]; Wantage, England) to Hilary Gadsby, letter, not dated circa 2003/2004; privately held by Gadsby, [STREET ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE]. Cit. Date: 10 Jul 2016.  

So with the launch of the 1939 Register at Find My Past I started looking for her. I had her exact date of birth from the death registration and knew she had never married.

Ancestry.com., England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry.com (http://.ancestry.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016.

Despite various research strategies I had been unable to find her or anyone faintly resembling her in the indexes.

Even when I was able to view the images I could find no trace so I decided to leave it and come back later.

On 9th July The Surname Society held the first of their hangouts for July and I joined in as Colin Spencer presented on the 1939 register. He pointed out that some of the redacted images had been altered and that due to poor transcribing we may have to do a wider search.

Whilst he was presenting I decided to try and find some of those that had been elusive previously and by using a wildcard I managed to find an entry which could be Aunt Ruth, I also found her missing brother, and both were counties away from their birthplace. But importantly the residence matched what I had been told by her nephew. The birth year had been transcribed as 1910 instead of 1901.

Now to prove that the Stephen (P should have been a D) Gladstone was in fact a grandson of William Ewart Gladstone.

Searching at Find My Past I was able to find several documents to prove my assertion.

He was born too late to have appeared on the 1891 census so I needed to find a birth registration and a 1901 census entry that showed him living with his parents.

 FindMyPast.co.uk, England & Wales births 1837-2006; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016.

FindMyPast.co.uk, 1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

Find My Past also has scanned images of the registers for Hawarden, Flint and I found an entry for Stephen Deiniol Gladstone on 29th December 1891 with a birth date recorded as 9 December 1891.

FindMyPast.co.uk, Flint Baptisms; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

His father was the Parish - Priest and was recording much more than was required. If you look in the margin he has recorded, what appears to be, the maiden name of the mother. This is great news for anyone looking for those common surnames.

So what about the 1911 census, was Stephen who would have been 19, still living with his parents?

I can find no trace of Stephen Deiniol Gladstone in 1911 census for England and Wales. I have however found other records which may add to my knowledge of his life but are not relevant to this research question.

Where was Stephen Edward Gladstone the father? 
He is shown here in 1911 living in Barrowby with numerous servants. 

Here is the 1911 census for Stephen Edward Gladstone,

FindMyPast.co.uk, 1911 Census for England & Wales; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

and below is his burial in Hawarden, Flint.

FindMyPast.co.uk, Flint Burials; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

Did Ruth work for him before his death in 1920?

Barrowby and Gunby, where Ruth was born, are not far apart.

So we know who the parents were the next stage is to find a link to the parents of Stephen Edward Gladstone.

I looked at several census records and found that in 1861 he was a scholar at Eton and not with his family. 

FindMyPast.co.uk, 1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

and on the 1851 census he is listed as nephew of the head of household.

FindMyPast.co.uk, 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016. 

Can I find anything more to help my search?

How about a marriage record.

Ancestry.com., Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry.com (http://.ancestry.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016.

and to complete the puzzle a christening record would be great.

FindMyPast.co.uk, Westminster Baptisms; digital images, FindMyPast, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://.findmypast.co.uk/). Rec. Date: 10 Jul 2016.

We can prove those stories even when they were relatively recent but I would say I am extremely lucky here.

Most, if not all, of these records were not available online when I started my research and many areas have little available on the major websites. 

Even proving a connection to the famous can be difficult.

For anyone who is interested here are a couple of Wikipedia pages about the Gladstone Family.
Gladstone Baronets
William Ewart Gladstone