A really helpful result from the new London Electoral Registers on Ancestry. I have found the correct name and birth for the sister of my aunt’s husband.
It works like this: the extra name Mary Louise O’Brien first appears alongside his parents living at Compton Crescent, Tottenham in 1932, and she is unlikely to be the grandmother as the forenames derive from the mother. So, as women could now vote age 21, she must have been born in 1911, after the census was taken on 2nd April (she doesn’t appear with her parents) but before mothers maiden names start appearing on the birth register listing in July (as there aren’t any matches). Gives only one possible entry (although Ancestry somehow have it recorded as 1915 – FreeBMD saves the day again).
Mary Louise O’Brien is still rather a common name, but the best fit for a wedding is to George Austen in Edmonton district, 1937. Assuming Mary didn’t make her centenary year, it is still possible I can find some descendants.
Update
Most likely contenders for offspring of Mary Louise O’Brien and George Austen are Peter, Patricia and David, all born Watford in the 1940s. Please do get in touch if you know/knew these people.
Mary’s death registration, as Mary Louise Austen, was recorded in Weymouth, 1976, age 65. And from the 1939 register, her parents are in the same house in Watford as Mary and George, so no doubts about that wedding.
Also see: O’Brien/Farrall page.
Have something to add?