Thomas PEEL and Eleanor of Bagley(?)

Are you sure their first child was 1751?

Hordley Register has the following Baptisms

17th April 1747. Thomas, son of Thomas and Eleanor Peel of Bagley Marsh.

3rd February 1748. John, son of Thomas and Eleanor Peel of Bagley Marsh.

Thanks Mark,
In my haste to get an early posting on the Forum, I hadn't noticed the Elizabeth PEEL died in 1851, but I don't have a birth for her, and yes they had Thomas, John, William I, Sarah, William II, Ann & Elinor I & II between 1747 and 1765 so the marriage "should" be c 1846.

Various records exist relating to ladies named Florence Matilda Peel but none jump out (to me) as being an obvious match.

Do you have any other information on Florence - roughly where and when born, where and when died, where and when married (and to whom) (if applicable), any known siblings or other relatives and their details? Also, what sources place Florence at Frankton Grange during WW1?

Steve

There certainly appears to be a Magpie Hall not far from Frankton Grange. The only way I could get a map showing both locations was to get directions between the two places, shown below as flags indicating the postcade locations for both (hope the link works). Flag A is Frankton Grange, Flag B is apparently the location of Magpie Hall (not named on the map, although the nearby Magpie Hall Cottage is).

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=52.86462407898812~-2.8234031796443593&l...

I could not find a birth registration for Gilbert (John) Peel at first so I looked for his death registration. The death of a Gilbert John Peel was registered at Watford (Hertfordshire) in May 2003, date of birth given as 18 Nov 1917 - was this your grandfather? If so, the birth of a Gilbert Peel was registered at Kington in the December quarter of 1917, mother's maiden name Owens. A list of the parishes falling within this registration district (mainly Herefordshire but also Radnorshire) can be found here (see Table 1b covering 1870-1974):

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/districts/kington.html

Steve

I think ordering a copy of the birth certificate would be the next step here. You have the district, year and quarter in my post above, the volume number will be 6a, and the page number is 654 (just checked a scan of the GRO index to make sure that page number is correct). The certificate should in theory show the names of both the father and the mother, though the father's name might not appear if a child was born out of wedlock.

The only Peel / Owens marriages I'm picking up around the time in question are ones involving female Peels, so they don't fit; there are a couple of male Peels marrying quite some time before 1917 but the Owens are also male so again no result there. The GRO index is not 100% complete however, so there may be a marriage that I'm simply not finding. Or, Gilbert's mother (Owens) was not married to Mr Peel but was determined that Gilbert was going to retain his father's surname!

Steve

OK, I think I have the marriage now - I tried Owen instead of Owens and - result!

The marriage of Wallace Peel and Florence M Owen was registered at Atcham, March quarter 1914; volume 6a, page 907. I would guess that was Florence Matilda Owen.

Steve

The 1911 census shows a 17 year old Florence Mathilda Owen living with her parents (Thomas Owen, 58, a coal haulier, born at Ironbridge and Emma Jane Owen, 56, married 30 years, born Birmingham) and two siblings Edward Adderley Owen, 18, collier, and Sidney Perry Owen, 14, ironworker's labourer. All 3 of the children were born at Madeley, which is where the family was living in 1911 at 32 Park Lane.

Of the three men named Wallace Peel on the 1911 census, the only one in Shropshire was Wallace William Peel - aged 12! A more likely candidate is the Wallace Peel living in Stockport, Cheshire, aged 23 and born in Shrewsbury. Although listed as a boarder rather than a son, he was living with a Peel family (father Ernest Victor Peel, 34, a sculptor born in Birmingham; mother not present, children aged from 1 to 14 born in Cheshire in the case of the 4 youngest, and Shrewsbury).

Steve

Good practice would be to start with the birth certificate to confirm the parents are as I suspect they are, and then the marriage certificate for the parents (if I am right about them) to confirm they are the ones I have identified on the 1911 census. From there you can start going backwards (only a genealogist regards a step backwards as progress ...) by looking for the families on earlier censuses, and checking for the parents' marriages on pay sites or on FreeBMD; any available parish records (accessed for example through FamilySearch) can help to confirm these details further back into the 1800s, then prior to the 1841 census and the start of civil registration you're left with parish records plus anything else you can get hold of such as wills.

Steve

Try this for Wallace Peel, I think it answers a lot of questions:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=31565

Steve

Florence on the 1901 census:

Foundry Yard, Madeley, Shropshire.

Head: Thomas Owen, 45, fireman in coal mine, born Ironbridge.

Wife: Emma Owen, 44, born Wednesbury.

Son: Matthew Owen, 15, born Birmingham.

Son: Frank Owen, 12, born Birmingham.

Son: Edward Owen, 8, born Madeley.

Daughter: Florry Owen, 7, born Madeley.

Son: Sidney Owen, 14, born Madeley.

The death of a Florence M Pugh, age 68, was registered at Shrewsbury in the June quarter of 1961; volume 9a, page 192, so the marriage you've found sounds like a distinct possibility.

As you can see from the CWGC record, Wallace most definitely died; the cemetery information suggests that he met his end at the Somme. You can see his details in the form of a memorial certificate here:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=31565

Steve

Sounds like that birth certificate is definitely the starting point. If it shows Wallace as the father we have a bit of a mystery! The dates indicate that it was not Wallace, and could well explain why Gilbert was put up for adoption.

Steve