Whether the name Ada was ever used as a pet name or variant of the name Alice is very important to me just now and this is the tale behind it all. The following link makes me wonder if it could have been used. http://www.whatsinaname.net/php/search.php?action=search2&search_name=Alice My husband's grandmother, Ada Reeves was orphaned when her mother died. Ada told her daughter that her father, Robert Reeves who was a seaman in the merchant service had earlier been lost at sea and that she had an older brother also called Robert with whom she lost touch when their mother died. Ada was brought up in a home being trained for domestic service. Repeated searching of the GRO indexes over the last 15 years has so far failed to produce a record of her birth. Census records show her in a Certified Training Home in Ealing in 1891, as a kitchen maid in Chelsea in 1901 and by 1911 she was married and living in Manchester. I have even researched the background of the lady running the training home. Late last year I happened to find on the new Familysearch website and also on www.TheGenealogist.co.uk evidence of the death at sea of a Robert Reeve on or about 24th October 1882 when the fishing ketch on which he was mate was lost with all hands. He was from Lowestoft and in 1881 is with his wife Alice Jane nee Hall, son Robert William (c1879) and Alice's mother, sister and brother. On 18th March 1882 their daughter Alice Maud was born and both Robert William and Alice Maud were baptised on 4th May 1882 at St Margaret's, Lowestoft. The mother, Alice Jane died of heart disease on 8th August 1890 in Lowestoft. I have followed the progress of the son Robert William through 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses but have failed so far to find his sister Alice Maud. So much of this family's story fits with that of my husband's grandmother but it is a big leap of faith to believe that Alice Maud Reeve is the same person as Ada Reeves by 1891. It has now become the proverbial itch that will not go away. I have to find out what happened to Alice Maud following her mother's death and also what individual or agency was instrumental in placing Ada in the home in Ealing. Somewhere there may be a link either in records in Suffolk or in London. Any ideas anyone? Margaret North. Preston, Lancashire (Living in hope)

Margaret, What name and place of birth is on Ada's record of Marriage and Death? Also what is Ada's date and place of birth? Does the date match with GRO Birth Reg. of Alice Maud? Something to check into. Gail