I am searching for details of my gt grandmother's family who I think were called BOWEN. Her name was Elizabeth and she "married" William Charles Jarvis sometime before ( I hope) the birth of my granny in Aston on 17 May 1879. I can't find their marriage certificate on FreeBMD and I suppose it is possible that they never married officially. The family are living at 55 Staniforth St, Aston, B'ham in 1881 and Elizabeth gives her birthplace as B'ham and from her age would have been born around 1860/1861. By 1891 they have moved to Walsall (her husband's birthplace) and have been joined by her unmarried sister, Laura BOWEN, also born in B'ham, around 1869/1870. Laura's presence is my only clue as to Elizabeth's maiden name. Unfortunately, I have not been able to trace either of the girls in the earlier census returns or to find a birth certificate for them on FreeBMD. I did find an Elizabeth Bowers in the 1861 census but from FreeBMD there was an Elizabeth Bowers born in 1860, so this information on the census is probably not a transcription error. I appreciate that BOWEN is a fairly common name in B'ham but wondered if anyone can help me find the family of Elizabeth and Laura? Best wishes Graham Twickenham

Hi Graham I presume you have your gt grandmother's birth date from family history? Her birth cert will give her mother's name if you're desperate! William Charles Jarvis birth is registered as Dec 1855 6b/495 at Walsall. Laura Bowen appears as an "inmate" of the Walton Rd Major Lester's Girls Home - a scholar - in 1881. She was born in B'ham. according to the census. There is a birth in Coventry June 1867. I wonder if that indicates her mother might have remarried after Elizabeth's birth and before Laura's? More interesting, I think, might be to follow the Laura BOWN shown on the 1881 aged 12. She is shown with a mother Harriet and various siblings. I'd love a look at the original census for this entry as the 3 Boarders are shown as JEVONS. Might that be a corruption of Jarvis? A Look up for the 1871 census for Laura Bowen or Bown born +/-1867 B'ham should be useful as Elizabeth might be shown with the family. You would soon tell if there has been a remarriage! Sometimes you just have to go all around the problem to get the answers! Sorry I don't have the census info! Marlene Graham Stanley wrote: > I am searching for details of my gt grandmother's family who I think were called BOWEN. > Her name was Elizabeth and she "married" William Charles Jarvis sometime before ( I hope) the birth of my granny in Aston on 17 May 1879. I can't find their marriage certificate on FreeBMD and I suppose it is possible that they never married officially. > The family are living at 55 Staniforth St, Aston, B'ham in 1881 and Elizabeth gives her birthplace as B'ham and from her age would have been born around 1860/1861. By 1891 they have moved to Walsall (her husband's birthplace) and have been joined by her unmarried sister, Laura BOWEN, also born in B'ham, around 1869/1870. Laura's presence is my only clue as to Elizabeth's maiden name. > Unfortunately, I have not been able to trace either of the girls in the earlier census returns or to find a birth certificate for them on FreeBMD. I did find an Elizabeth Bowers in the 1861 census but from FreeBMD there was an Elizabeth Bowers born in 1860, so this information on the census is probably not a transcription error. > I appreciate that BOWEN is a fairly common name in B'ham but wondered if anyone can help me find the family of Elizabeth and Laura? > Best wishes > Graham > Twickenham > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

Dear Marlene Thanks for your suggestion. I was desperate. The birth certificate arrived today: the mother's name is given as ALLEN not BOWEN. So I was barking up the wrong tree all this time. I don't know how Laura fits into this but buoyed by my success with the birth certificate, I have sent off for the marriage certificate between William JARVIS and Lizzie ALLEN to see what that can tell me. Thanks for the suggestion: sometimes the obvious course of action gets overlooked. Best wishes Graham ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marlene Shipman" <marlene.s@xtra.co.nz> To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 12:09 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] Elizabeth and Laura BOWEN > Hi Graham > I presume you have your gt grandmother's birth date from family history? > Her birth cert will give her mother's name if you're desperate! > William Charles Jarvis birth is registered as Dec 1855 6b/495 at Walsall. > Laura Bowen appears as an "inmate" of the Walton Rd Major Lester's Girls > Home - a scholar - in 1881. She was born in B'ham. according to the > census. There is a birth in Coventry June 1867. I wonder if that > indicates her mother might have remarried after Elizabeth's birth and > before Laura's? > More interesting, I think, might be to follow the Laura BOWN shown on > the 1881 aged 12. She is shown with a mother Harriet and various > siblings. I'd love a look at the original census for this entry as the > 3 Boarders are shown as JEVONS. Might that be a corruption of Jarvis? > A Look up for the 1871 census for Laura Bowen or Bown born +/-1867 B'ham > should be useful as Elizabeth might be shown with the family. You would > soon tell if there has been a remarriage! > Sometimes you just have to go all around the problem to get the answers! > Sorry I don't have the census info! > Marlene > > > Graham Stanley wrote: >> I am searching for details of my gt grandmother's family who I think were >> called BOWEN. >> Her name was Elizabeth and she "married" William Charles Jarvis sometime >> before ( I hope) the birth of my granny in Aston on 17 May 1879. I can't >> find their marriage certificate on FreeBMD and I suppose it is possible >> that they never married officially. >> The family are living at 55 Staniforth St, Aston, B'ham in 1881 and >> Elizabeth gives her birthplace as B'ham and from her age would have been >> born around 1860/1861. By 1891 they have moved to Walsall (her husband's >> birthplace) and have been joined by her unmarried sister, Laura BOWEN, >> also born in B'ham, around 1869/1870. Laura's presence is my only clue as >> to Elizabeth's maiden name. >> Unfortunately, I have not been able to trace either of the girls in the >> earlier census returns or to find a birth certificate for them on >> FreeBMD. I did find an Elizabeth Bowers in the 1861 census but from >> FreeBMD there was an Elizabeth Bowers born in 1860, so this information >> on the census is probably not a transcription error. >> I appreciate that BOWEN is a fairly common name in B'ham but wondered if >> anyone can help me find the family of Elizabeth and Laura? >> Best wishes >> Graham >> Twickenham >> _____________________________________________ >> Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: >> http://www.bham.de/ >> >> Any problems, please contact the List Admin: >> ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > _____________________________________________ > Tracing Ancestors in Birmingham: > http://www.bham.de/ > > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-WARKS-BIRMINGHAM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >