It is common practice when venturing on the path that is genealogical research that a skeleton or three is likely to fall out of the cupboard and no it can’t be put back once it’s been let out. Now said skeleton doesn’t necessarily present itself straightaway, sometimes it can be found in the smallest detail.
When learning all those years ago that the maiden name of my great-great grandmother Letitia Elizabeth Cobain was Brown I confess it did give a sense of dread given that the surname is so common and it can make researching very difficult. However there was a benefit in that her mother’s (my 3x great-grandmother) maiden name was Nesbitt.
On the 1911 census Letitia (27) was living at 31 Regent Street, Belfast with her husband John (28,Labourer), son Robert Henry (and her daughter Mary Jane. The household also consisted of Letitia’s father Robert Henry Brown (68, Mechanic), sisters Anna Bella (42) and Eveline (23, Book Folder) as well as a nephew Allen NesbittBrown (20).
Ten years earlier in 1901,Letitia (17) is living at 38 Townsend Street with her father Robert (57), Anna Bella (32), Eveline (13) and Allen (10). The record also revealed anothersister called Mary Jane (Smoother, 32) and an aunt Isabella Quaite (55,formerly Nesbitt).
Further research revealed that Letitia was one of 11 children born to Robert Henry Brown and Mary Jane Nesbitt over a 16 year period from 1868-1884. Sadly only five would live to be adults. There was just one small problem, there was no birth record for what appeared to be their twelfth child Eveline who was born circa 1887 according to the census records. Despite using every method there was no birth record for a child of that name born to those parents.
There was only one birth record presenting itself for an Eveline Brown dated 30th April 1887,the mother was listed as Mary Jane Brown (Smoother) who was residing at 27 Cumberland Street, Belfast. Now you might recall that the Mary Jane Brown on the 1901 census record was a Smoother but it didn’t feel enough to confirm that this was the Eveline Brown I was looking for.
It wasn’t until I examined the birth record of the youngest child Henrietta Brown (born 26th August1884) did I noticed that she was listed as having been born at 27 Cumberland Street. It was this small detail that gave me enough certainty to say that Eveline Brown was in fact the granddaughter of Robert Henry Brown and not his daughter as stated on the census records.
Eveline went on to marry a Michael Coleman on 11th February 1923 and she passed away on the25th August 1939. What I noticed on the obituary was the funeral would take place “from her sister’s residence at 53 Cavour Street”. It is an address that has become well known to me throughout my research as this was the home for my great-great grandparents Letita and John Cobain. Eveline appears to have never known that the people she grew up with believing them to be her siblings were in fact her uncle/aunts.
Such was the stigma of woman having children outside of marriage that if said woman belonged to a big family then the child in question could be passed off as belonging to her parents. As I said at the start it can be the smallest detail which lets the skeleton out of the cupboard!
