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My great-grandmother was born in Spain, about 1878.

Does anyone know whether there were birth certificates in Spain then, and, if so, how I might be able to get a copy of one ?

You could try searching here, its free


https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Spain_Civil_Registration_-_Vital_Records

Spanish BMDs aren´t centralised like they are here. You need to contact the Town Hall of the place where she was born.
I have found birth registrations here since the mid 1700s so I don´t think there will be a problem with the date.
However you will need to contact them in Spanish or Catalan, depending on where you are applying as they don´t do translations & if you apply in English, it´s likely to end up in the bin.
Generally I have found the staff much more helpful than their English counterparts.

care to give details in case someone can find her for you? :-)

Thank you for your replies.

Unfortunately, I have very little information on my great=grandmother. Her maiden name was given as ‘Diana Denis’ on my grandmother’s birth certificate. I suspect her name may well have been ‘Deniz’ or ‘ De Niz’. The 1911 Census gives her age as 34, and her birthplace as ‘Spain’, but it does not say which part of Spain.

She died when my grandmother was very young, and my grandmother knew very little about her mother.

It may be that her name was actually "Diana Denis" and that she was "Born" in Spain but of not of Spanish Heritage...have you tried to find her on earlier Census...?

What was her married name & where was she living in 1911.
What was her husband´s name & the names of any children they had.

This Diana?
1911
MORKHAM, William Ken Head Married M 61 1850 Civil Service Victoria Retired Australia Victoria
MORKHAM, Diana Denniss Wife Married 14 years F 34 1877 Spain
MORKHAM, Horace Son M 10 1901 School At Sea
MORKHAM, Diana Lenon Daughter F 4 1907 Surrey Nunhead
MORKHAM, Cynthia Daughter F 2 1909 Surrey Lingfield
GATTON, John Visitor Single M 34 1877 Crackman East Grinstead Sussex

RG number: RG14 Piece: 4983 Reference: RG14PN4983 RG78PN219 RD75 SD2 ED5 SN56

Registration District: East Grinstead Sub District: East Grinstead Enumeration District: 5 Parish: East Grinstead

Address: Yewhurst Coombe Hill East Grinstead County: Sussex

There are various crossings out, but she looks Spanish by nationality.

Deaths Dec 1913
Morkham William 63 Steyning 2b 304

Great sleuthing, patchem!

Do you know where they (Wm & Diana) married???


That is Wm's death in 1913 - it even made the Australian newspapers!

The Argus, Wednesday 3 December 1913
MORKHAM.-On the 20th November, at Brighton, England, William Morkham, late of Camberwell and Victorian civil service.


Looking at birth notices it appears Wm had a wife prior to Diana...and given the age difference between them as well!


Possibly?

The Argus, Tuesday 8 October 1872
MORKHAM-GOODRICH.-On the 5th inst. by the Rev. James Martin, B A., William, son of William Morkham, of Geelong, to Emily Sophia, eldest daughter of the late John Goodrich.


Getting late here but will check Vic records tomorrow for a marriage to Diana.

Looking at that census, William born Australia and thier oldest child born at sea, so think they may have married outside the UK. Australia looks like the most likely place to start for a marriage I would think.

Interesting!!!

Kalgoorlie Western Argus, Tuesday 30 July 1912
NOTES FROM LONDON
(From our Special Representative.)
London, June 21.
Mystery surrounds the death of Diana Morkham, the wife of William K. Morkham, a former Australian civil servant, now living in Surrey. Deceased, who at one time was a well-known professional singer, was a Spaniard, according to the husband, who told the coroner at the inquest that he thought she was suffering from pneumonia, but did not call in medical aid. She died within a week of falling ill. Deceased's son, who is 11 years old, however, stated that he saw his father walk behind his mother in the garden, and strike her on the back with a poker, causing her to fall. It appears that there were quarrels between the couple, and the police had on occasions been called in. As medical evidence could throw no light on the cause of death, the inquest has been adjourned, and investigations are being made.


How dreadful for the children, especially poor Horace, called on to give evidence! :-( So they were all orphaned very young.

Deaths Sep 1912 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MORKHAM Diana 34 Godstone 2a 224

This is the same reg district as Cynthia's birth, could be her?

Yes - this is my grandmother’s family.

The census states that they were married 14 years. I believe this is untrue. My great-grandfather William Morkham was already married to his first wife in Australia, and they were never divorced. William and Diana certainly never married in either England or Australia. It is possible they were married in Spain, so I would be interested in looking for a Marriage Certificate in Spain.

I would also like to find some record of Diana’s inquest. Are inquest records available on-line ?

Diana’s death certificate gives the cause of her death as ‘Gastritis accelerated by alcoholism’, which seems to contradict the newspaper report.

All inquests are recorded, but not always within the national archives. I have a relative's inquest from a couple of years later than Diana's but it is only found when searchng the local records - think you may need to check Surrey's records office, but not sure if they have online search facilities.

I wonder if this is Wm going to the UK from Victoria (alone)?

MORKHAM W MR 49 AFRIC NOV 1899 LONDON VIA PORTS NOV 1899 001

Is this son Horace's marriage? I wonder if his birth certificate would state exactly where at sea he was born??

Marriages Mar 1923 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grindlay Beatrice A Morkham St.Geo.H.Sq. 1a 786
Morkham Horace F F J Grindlay St.Geo.H.Sq. 1a 786

Of course, it is entirely possible that Wm & Diana never formally married, given his situation.

First wife Emily Sophia GOODRICH.

I guess the children in Australia didn't know about their half-sibs in England?

Reginald Jno Goodrich b. 1875 Hawthorn, d. 1953 Hawthorn aged 78
Edith Ann Mary b. 1876 Hawthorn, d. 1943 aged 65 C'well as Edith Annie SWALES (m. in Singapore)
Percival Creswick b. 1878 Hawthorn, d. 1950 Hawthorn aged 72
Eustace Valentine b. 1880 Hawthorn (killed aged 16)
Rowland Emery [Amery] b. 1883 Hawthorn, m. Louisa Jane Cociardi MILNE 1915 (Qld), d. 28 Mar 1950 Hannaford Qld
Wm Gordon b. 1886 Hawthorn, d. 3 Jan 1949 Brisbane
Muriel Emily b. 1888 Hawthorn

And did son Wm Gordon also lead a double life?!

The Argus, Saturday 8 January 1949
MORKHAM. - At Brisbane, William Gordon, beloved husband of Ella, father of William Amery, youngest son of the late William and Emily Morkham, formerly of Christowell, Camberwell, and brother of Reg, Percy, Roland, Amery, and Muriel Britton, of Reading. England.
MORKHAM.-On January 3, W. G., of Drane street. Clayfield, Brisbane, beloved husband of Isabelle Lena and father of William Allan.

It appears Amery was a family surname (Wm's mother? - deaths of 3 elderly female MORKHAMs in 1940s with father Wm and mother Ann AMERY)

This is a little surprising. I believe William Morkham arrived in London in March 1903 on SS Afric. If he left Australia in November 1899 (on the same ship), that leaves about 3 years of his life unaccounted for, even allowing for the fact that transport was slower then. This would probably have included the time that Horace was born. I cannot find any birth certificate for Horace, and I have no idea where at sea he might have been born.

Unfortunately, Horace was prosecuted for making false statements on his marriage certificates (c. 1956), so I have not much reliable information about him. He was married at least three times, with different names for his father on all three marriage certificates. None of the names was ‘William Morkham’, who appears to have been his real father.

Amery is the maiden name of William Morkham’s mother – she married in Bath, England, 1849, shortly before leaving for Australia. I never knew about this other William Morkham – a lot of my relatives seem to be unreliable.

I can't see Wm on board a ship from Victoria in 1903 to UK - unless he left from another state?

The 1899 one is a good match for him agewise.