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My mother is nearing her 80th birthday and I am trying to trace her mothers family.
Violet Smith was born Jun 1903 (from 1939 register). No idea where. On her marriage at Bishops Waltham, Hants in 1923, aged 23years, her father noted as William Smith deceased. Violet married Frank Gritt. Violet died in 1957 and is buried at Fawley, Hants.
My mother Margaret is the last living child of Frank and Violet . She said her mum said she had no family. There was talk from older aunts about a brother of Violets called David and the area of Park Gate, Hants.

Park Gate is a locality in the Borough of Fareham[1] in Hampshire

Discrepancy in ages between 1939 and marriage cert will cause problems

Have you done anything about looking for birth info and/or 1911 census?

Smith is a very difficult name to research.

There were a number of Violet Smiths registered about that time. Do you know if Violet had a second Christian name?

If the family moved around a lot it is possible they did not register births and possibly avoided the census collectors in 1911.
There is a family history society for this group www.rtfhs.org.uk

For INFO

Name: Violet Gritt
Death Age: 53
Birth Date: abt 1904
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun 1957
Registration District: New Forest
Inferred County: Hampshire
Volume: 6b
Page: 344

Frank had a large family in 1911

Name: Frank Gritt
Age in 1911: 45
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1866
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Selborne
Country: England
Street Address: Hogmoor Lane, Bordon Lamp
Occupation: Hawker
Registration District Number: 108
Sub-registration District: Alton
ED, institution, or vessel: 12
Piece: 6217
Household Members:
Name Age
Frank Gritt 45
Helen Gritt 45
Henry Gritt 21
Harriet Gritt 19
Edward Gritt 16
Edith Gritt 13
Frank Gritt 10
George Gritt 8
May Gritt 3

Violet Smith
England and Wales Census, 1911
Name:
Violet Smith
Event Type:
Census
Event Date:
1911
Event Place:
Croydon, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
County:
Surrey
Parish:
Croydon
Sub-District:
North Croydon
Sub-District Number:
4
District Number:
39
Enumeration District:
38
Registration District:
Croydon
Sex:
Female
Age:
7
Occupation:
SCHOOL ORPHANAGE
Institution:
THE CONVENT OF THE FAITHFUL VIRGIN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Birth Year (Estimated):
1904
Birthplace:
Aldershot, Hampshire
Relationship to Head of Household:
Scholar
Schedule Type:
9999
Page Number:
12
Registration Number:
RG14
Piece/Folio:
36
Affiliate Record Identifier:
GBC/1911/RG14/03404/0036/22

David Christopher Smith
England and Wales Census, 1911
Name:
David Christopher Smith
Event Type:
Census
Event Date:
1911
Event Place:
Surrey, England, United Kingdom
County:
Surrey
Parish:
Aldershot
Sub-District:
Aldershot
Sub-District Number:
2
District Number:
34
Enumeration District:
1
Registration District:
Farnham
Sex:
Male
Age:
7
Marital Status:
Single
Marital Status (Original):
SINGLE
Occupation:
SCHOOL
Number in Family:
4
Birth Year (Estimated):
1904
Birthplace:
Aldershot, Hampshire
Relationship to Head of Household:
Son
Schedule Type:
136
Page Number:
1
Registration Number:
RG14
Piece/Folio:
281
Affiliate Record Identifier:
GBC/1911/RG14/03110/0281/5
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
James Henry Smith Head Male 46 London, London
Ellen Smith Wife Female 41 Wales
Ellen Salmon Smith Daughter Female 9 Aldershot, Hampshire
Annie Elizabeth Smith Daughter Female 8 Aldershot, Hampshire
David Christopher Smith Son Male 7 Aldershot, Hampshire

You could try having a look at Elizabeth's thread re Romany Gypsy look ups -

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1342925

Last used in 2019 when Elizabeth said she was still doing look ups - may just be that no-one knows about it so no requests more recently?

Re the 1911 census entries posted by Malyon above.

The parents of David Christopher Smith, namely James Henry Smith and wife Ellen DID have a daughter named Violet born in Aldershot, but she was born in AUGUST 1905.

Also, the father named on Violet's marriage register was William.

First name(s) Violet Edith<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Last name Smith
Birth year 1905
Birth date 04 Aug 1905<<<<<<<<<<<<
Baptism year 1905
Baptism date 06 Sep 1905
Residence 16 Cambridge Road Aldershot
Place Aldershot, Holy Trinity
Father's first name(s) James Henry<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Father's occupation Carman
Mother's first name(s) Ellen<<<<<<<<<<
County Hampshire
Country England
Archive Surrey History Centre
Archive reference ALDHT/1/5
Register type Baptisms
Year range 1901-1905
Page 98
Record set Hampshire Baptisms


First name(s) David Christer Thomas
Last name Smith
Birth year 1903
Birth date 27 Dec 1903
Baptism year 1904
Baptism date 27 Apr 1904
Residence 16 Cumbridge Rd Aldershot
Place Aldershot, Holy Trinity
Father's first name(s) James Henry
Father's occupation Caster
Mother's first name(s) Ellen
County Hampshire
Country England
Archive Surrey History Centre
Archive reference ALDHT/1/5
Register type Baptisms
Year range 1901-1905
Page 67
Record set Hampshire Baptisms

Many thanks for your replies.
Violet married Frank Gritt 1923 Bishops Waltham aged 23. Her father William Smith, deceased a labourer Corhampton Downs.
On her death certificate aged 53. Died 12 June 1957 at Fawley, Hants.
1939 Register born Jun 1903.
I wonder if a look at Corhampton registers to see if there is any William Smith, or Smith families there. Any suggestions of routes to take would be much appreciated.
I would just love to give my mum some information before it’s to late.

Mandy posted on Elizabeth's thread re Romany lookups at 19:19, where I replied, not realising there was this other thread.

Link to Elizabeth's thread posted above by Greyghost.

Not that I was able to find anything useful.

On that thread she said that Violet and David had possibly been "adopted or given away".

This is the thread ArgyllGran was referring to:
https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1342925

This quote changes things "An elderly aunt spoke of a brother David and they were both adopted or given away. Mention of family Dobey/Doby in Park Gate"

Not specific to this family, but a bit of background in view of where children seem to have been born and area near where Violet died.

https://newforestguide.uk/history/new-forest-gypsies/

Thank you for the link. I am very interested in new forest gypsies. My mum told me that her father lived in Blackfield, Hants in a bungalow, tin type construction before being housed by the council in Fawley. He appears in census in different gypsy camps.

if violet smith married frank gritt then she could not have been adopted her name would have changed if violet was 23yrs old in 1923 she was born in 1900 not 1903

It may be that Violet wasn't too sure about her birthday, ( the 1939 register doesn't give a birth day, just a month and year.)
Alternatively, her age could have been 'adjusted' a bit at marriage to lessen the huge gap in her age and Frank's.
If the 1939 register is correct, he was born in 1868

His first family is shown above!

Further quote from one of Mandy's posts on Elizabeth's thread:

"My mother said her mother Violet Smith never had any family, talk from elderly aunt that she had a brother David. They were sold or adopted family in Park Gate called Dobey/Doby. How true I do not know."

(Mandy - please just stick to this thread. It's confusing to have bits on different threads.)

so -
now adding "Sold" to "adopted" and "given away".

I expect any of those options would mean an informal arrangement, so she may well have kept her birth name.
Or possibly Smith was not her birth name,.
Or even if it was, she may have invented William Smith as her father for the sake of putting something on her marriage cert, if she didn't know who her father was.

Posted due to referral to this thread from another thread
https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/genealogy_chat/thread/1342925?page=9

Maybe the 1921 census will shed some light on things. Due out early-ish 2022, it will initially be free to search for basic results and then pay to view full results for Find My Past members only. (Several threads on the various boards about it)