Liverpool & South West Lancashire FHS - Forum

I am doing some research regarding May Worthington born in Wavertree, Liverpool on 6th May 1908 and baptised on 11th June 1908 at St. Mary's Wavertree. Her parents were Elizabeth & David Worthington who had two other children Janet (born 1906) and Hilda (born 1910).

In 1930 she married Arthur Charles Smith and had a child - Charles Arthur (born on 5th December 1930). When the child was approximately six weeks old she left the child with a watchman and simply disappeared and never returned to our knowledge.

Can anyone shed any light on this lady and what became of her. She would be my wife's grandmother and although she isn't alive, it would be nice to trace any descendants and learn her history.

Hi and welcome to the forum. I've moved your post into the Liverpool area as I don't think it would have anything to do with the Military, which board you posted on.

There is a May Worthington giving a date of birth as 30 May 1908 and married, living at 12 Park Grove, Birkenhead in the 1939 register. There is additionally a closed record for somebody in the same household.

I don't see a death to match between then and 1983.

Thank you for moving my post - I hadn't realised it was in the wrong place.

What does a closed record mean? If she is married then her name wouldn't be Worthington (having been a maiden name of Worthington and married to Smith)

billh35 wrote:Thank you for moving my post - I hadn't realised it was in the wrong place.

What does a closed record mean? If she is married then her name wouldn't be Worthington (having been a maiden name of Worthington and married to Smith)

Closed records,
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/frequently- ... lly-closed

Thanks Bert.....I am new to all this.

I've done a lot of research in Ireland where the census information is free and easily accessible. Research for Belfast is also easy because of the comprehensive street directories so you can track people easily.

billh35 wrote:If she is married then her name wouldn't be Worthington (having been a maiden name of Worthington and married to Smith)

If she walked away from her married life, she may have reverted to her birth name. It would be unusual, but by no means unheard of. For example, you do sometimes see separated women listing as 'Widow' on census records. Sometimes people are desperate for a 'fresh start'.

Do you think that May had a connection with Belfast?

I don't think there is any connection to Belfast - I just happen to be from there so have researched my own family extensively simply because it is much easier to do thanks to the 1901 and 1911 census being on-line and an extensive range of Belfast Street Directories which I have access to.

The story always was that May left her baby at night with a watchman and simply disappeared. She hadn't been married that long so it seems odd that she left her old life and her new baby and vanished. Today perhaps it would be seen that she had post natal depression but she never returned. I thought that maybe her actions at night may have been because she was about to board a ship sailing from the port.

On the other hand, as you say, perhaps she may have stayed in Liverpool under another name. Her son never saw her again. At the time the family searched for her and searched for bodies at the mortuaries etc. but found nothing.

Her married name had been Smith and Worthington was her maiden name.

I would think there would be a report in the local papers for an abandoned child. Worth checking.

https://www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/ ... on#p122127

When I saw the name May Worthington I thought it looked familiar. Could be connected or not. She is from Wavertree as well. Coincidence perhaps?

Explaining my meaning behind looking for May Worthington is that trying to search for a May Smith could be like looking for a needle in a haystack, however as we had an exact date of birth, the entry I found for Birkenhead is geographically a good place for somebody who left Liverpool, mistakes on the 1939 Register were often made with dates of birth, that one was only a few days out, saying she was Married covered her if she appeared with a child, she may have had another child - possibly not her husband's - who might be the entry we can't see as it would have been born later than 1915.

Obviously it's not a certainty but worth I think keeping on file.

Kathy I looked at that post too as the name was ringing bells, but

May Worthington who was born around 1919 to 1921 in Liverpool

I think the dates are out.

I am aware that there were two May Worthingtons born in Wavertree around the time but the one who is linked to Richard Jones is not the same person. We have been able to back-track on the correct May Worthington's parents who were David Worthington (born 1884) and Elizabeth D Worthington (nee Hunter) born 1886.

I totally agree that searching for May Smith would be almost impossible so I would expect to find her living as a Worthington somewhere and I suspect that because she never returned, it could be somewhere very far away.

Since my last posting here I have continued to search for May Smith (nee Worthington) and have drawn a complete blank. I can go backwards four generations of her family back into the mid-1820's but May, her sisters - Janet (born 1906) & Hilda (born 1910) along with her parents David (born 1884) and Elizabeth (born 1886) simply vanish! The last reference to the family is when her father David's brother Albert dies in 1940. I cannot find any reference to the family - no marriages or deaths at all. Five people simply disappear - so did they perhaps emigrate? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Bill,

Have you checked out the marriage of Janet Worthington/Thomas A Jones, 1935, Liverpool N, 8b 880?

If they show on the 39 register, Janet's birth, 1 Aug, 1906.

Hilda's birth, 6 Aug, 1910

If she married in Liverpool, only one marriage would show in the 39 register,

Hilda Worthington/William J P Edwards Liverpool N 8b 1020, 1937.

Has Hilda been checked out, either as being single or in that marriage, 39 reg?

Possible death for David Worthington from FreeBMD:

Deaths Dec 1968
WORTHINGTON David
Age 85
Prescot
Vol 10F, Page 229

These are indeed the right birth dates.

1939 - 3 Pretoria Road , Liverpool
Edwards William JP M 17 Aug 09 M Motor Driver Heavy Lorry
Edwards Hilda F 20 Aug 10 M Unpaid Domestic Duties

MaryA wrote:1939 - 3 Pretoria Road , Liverpool
Edwards William JP M 17 Aug 09 M Motor Driver Heavy Lorry
Edwards Hilda F 20 Aug 10 M Unpaid Domestic Duties

Thanks for looking, Mary.

Please forgive my ignorance but what is the 1939 Register?