Hi John, I like the idea. That's one of the reasons I was trying to find the marriage of Eliza to find her maiden name but I hadn't thought of a illegitimate birth before marriage. However, I have now looked at all the births of Elizabeth Edith ? and nothing matches, all the E. BENSON's and nothing sticks out but there is a birth of an Elizabeth Emma COURT in Q1 1860 which would fit with the age on the census even if not quite the right name. So either that is E.E. COURT or there is another one not on FreeBMD. I seem to be finding more apparently missing records searching for this than I have ever found before. Thanks for the idea. Christine -----Original Message----- From: J. Townsend Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 8:31 PM To: LONDON@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LON] BENSON mystery If Elizabeth Edith COURT was the daughter of David Thomas COURT (1829) and Eliza (1841), have you considered that this Eliza could have been Eliza BENSON, a daughter of William BENSON? Perhaps Elizabeth Edith was born BENSON, but her mother afterwards married David Thomas COURT, and she became Elizabeth Edith COURT? Stranger things have been known ... Best wishes, John Townsend Antiquarian Bookseller/Genealogist http://www.johntownsend.demon.co.uk ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christine Benson" <christinebenson313@btinternet.com> To: "London Mailing List" <LONDON@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 8:03 PM Subject: [LON] BENSON mystery > Hi All, > > William BENSON was born c 1806 Carlisle, Cumberland and by 1851 he was > living in Marylebone as a stationer's assistant with a wife Elizabeth b c > 1801 Wasing, Berkshire. He died in 1893. His probate is to Elizabeth Edith > WHITE (wife of Charles Ernest WHITE) and the death certificate says E.E. > WHITE Granddaughter was present at the death. > > Tying the two together is the mystery. The censuses show no children born > to > William and Elizabeth and Elizabeth died between the 1861 and 1871 > censuses. > In 1891 William is a boarder in Hammersmith and the next entry on the > census > is Elizabeth E BENSON aged 30 (1861) also a boarder born London City. She > looks like a likely candidate for the granddaughter. (As they are both > boarders no relationship is shown.) > > A lookup of a marriage of Elizabeth E BENSON led me to a marriage of > Elizabeth Eliza BENSON in 1891 to either Frederick John FULLER or William > Job LONG. A lookup for Elizabeth married to one of those in 1901 got no > results and anyway I want a marriage to a WHITE. > > A lookup of a marriage of Charles Ernest WHITE led me to a marriage in > 1893, > Lambeth to an Elizabeth Edith COURT. But E. E. COURT appears to be the > daughter of David Thomas COURT (1829) and Eliza (1841). I cannot find > their > marriage. (There is a marriage to an Elizabeth in 1851 but Eliza would > only > be 10.) > > So I cannot see how Elizabeth E. WHITE got to be William's granddaughter. > > Trying to follow this Elizabeth E BENSON back through the censuses led me > to > a birth of Elizabeth Eliza BENSON, a few years out, but the only likely > looking one and the birth certificate for her says she was born in 1865 in > Lambeth, the daughter of Caroline BENSON, no father given although William > has been written in and crossed out. This Elizabeth in 1871 was living > with > William and Caroline DUCE and she is the niece! That makes no sense, > perhaps > they meant step-daughter. There is a tree on the DUCE family, but not > Elizabeth, and the owner says his BENSON's are all London based. I suspect > this Elizabeth is a red herring. > > I can find a Chas Ernest WHITE in 1901 b Newington 1872 with Elizabeth b > 1862 London City (that sounds promising) living with Stephen and Hannah > White (parents) but trying to follow him back he seems to change his name. > > So at this stage my head is going round in circles. There is nothing above > that leads me to believe a certificate of that event would shed any light > on > the matter. I don't know where to look next. I have got the Will on order > but I doubt it will solve the above. > > If anyone can unknot this mess I would be extremely grateful. > > Christine