Research summary of the ANTHONY line

Edward and Maud were alive in living memory and their details were given to me by relatives. I have verified some of the information from GRO indexes and certificates, and with census returns in 1901 and 1911. The facts fit together and I am certain of their descendants, their marriage and their birth and parentage.

Working back from Edward, his birth certificate confirms Henry and Maria as Edwin's parents, with Maria's maiden name and other information such as occupation and location. Supporting evidence for their being his parents is from his marriage certificate and census schedules.

With Maria's maiden name and a likely date for their marriage from the ages of their children, there is a clear identification of their marriage from the GRO index, and the certificate fits with details like thair ages. There is good information on them from the census. I am certain I have them as a couple with children in 1891, 1901 and 1911 (this schedule second-hand from David Anthony)

After considerable work I am also confident I have Henry as a child - his 1881 census appearance is the only one in London matching him for name, age and birthplace, and the father's name tallies with Henry's marriage certificate. Although Henry appears as Moses in 1871, other family members match up quite closely so I am also sure I have him there. This 1871 census ties to his birth certificate by age and first name as well as mother's first name, and birth certificates for some of Henry's siblings feature Henry's birth surname of BENDON as a mother's maiden name, and are registered to Henry's (step)father Edwin ANTHONY as well as his mother Mary Ann.

Note to self - I could make this bit more watertight by repeating and recording searches for all the family members (start with Henry and Isedore (and sp variants), because these negative findings are in fact crucial planks of the solution). Note how well the parents, ages and younger siblings match. Note the problem of the names

Before discovering the issues with Henry's paternity, I had taken the age and birthplace for Edwin from 1871 and 81 and gone straight to censuses in Devon in mid-century. There is only one match for Edwin, which gives us his parentage and information on his childhood.

THe census evidence for Edwin's childhood makes it clear that his parents were Charles and Sarah ANTHONY, and gives us enough evidence about them, such as ages, birthplaces and occupations, that we can potentially fill out their life stories - I have begun to do so (though suspended this work because they may not be natural ancestors).