John Fenn (john.fenn @t ntlworld.com) of Bedford wrote trying to find birth details of Florence Louisa Petts - and has provided much relevant information (in some cases from certificates) in an exchange of emails.

The key information is:

• There is no sign of a birth registration with the surname Petts under Florence, Louisa or Rose (see details of her death).
• The family tradition suggests that she came from Hertfordshire. (Such traditions may only indicate where she was brought up, rather than where she was born.)
• There is no evidence for her in the 1891 census, despite extensive searching.
• There is an entry for "Rose Petts" in the 1901 census in Friern Barnet. She was born 1886 at Ware and was in service as a ladies maid. This might be Florence but so many girls started work as domestic servants there must be considerable room for doubt.
• On 25th December 1906 Florence Louisa Petts (age 19, father James Petts. barge man) married Isaac Thomas Farrow at Biscot Parish Church, Bedfordshire. (It would be worth checking the address Florence gave to see who was living there in the 1901 census as there may be a family connection.)
• Widowed in 1911
• On 5th July 1916 Florence Louisa (aged 29) married Alfred Edward Fenn at Bedford.
• Died 3 August 1969 age 82. Registered as Florence Rose Fenn, born 3rd February 1886. Gravestone also gives name as Florence Rose Fenn

The absence of a birth registration could be for any of the following reasons:

• The birth was not registered. Legally it should have been - but a few may have escaped, especially if the family was on the move. (Her father was a barge man - and the family may have lived on the barge.)
• The birth was registered but there is a fault in the indexing (see A Comedy of Errors).
• The birth was registered - but not under the name Petts.

Clearly there are definitely gaps in what is known with any certainty - and waiting until the 1911 census is released in 2009 should provide further information on the birthplace of Florence Louisa Farrow.

In the meantime one can make some guesses and hope something turns up:

The assumptions are:

• Florence Louisa Petts was born before James Petts married his mother - and so was registered under a different surname. (No assumption is made as to whether Florence's mother was unmarried or a widow.)
• The birth date of 3rd February 1886 given when she died is correct.
• Florence Louisa Petts is the Rose Petts found in the 1901 census and was born in Ware.
• James Petts married Florence's mother in Hertfordshire shortly after Florence's birth and adopted the Petts surname. This would legally make James Petts her step father. (There is no assumption as to whether or not James was also her natural father.)

A check on FreeBMD shows two possible marriages:

• October-December 1886 James Petts married Susan Parker or Emily Prior in the Bishops Stortford registration District
• October-December 1886: James Petts married Eliza Anne Day or ???? in the Ware registration district.

It should be noted that two marriages were recorded on each page of the register, and FreeBMD cannot indicate which bride married which groom. In the second case there is an error in the indexes and there is a missing bride index entry.

A search of the 1891 census appears to eliminate the Bishops Stortford marriage as James Petts was living with Emily - and the children did not include Florence.

In the case of the Ware marriage there is only a 50% chance that James's wife was Eliza Anne Day - and a search of the 1891 census reveals nothing. However a search of FreeBMD  came up with the following entry:

• January-March 1886: Louisa Day birth registered in Luton, Beds, registration district.

This could well be your Florence Louisa Petts - and buying the birth certificate should give the name of her mother  if it turns out that she was born on 3rd February. Buying the marriage certificate for the James Petts who married in Ware October/December 1886 should confirm this.

There is one further point.

You have already got the death certificate for a James Petts, who died 23 December 1890 of TB at the General Infirmary, St Andrews, Hertford. He was a Barge Labourer of Ware, the death being registered by Emily Ricks, sister, of Amwell End.  (Emily Recks in 1891 census). Because of his occupation he could well be Florence's father (or step father).

So where was James's wife, who would normally be the person expected to register the death. Had she already died?? If so Florence would have been a four year old orphan, and was probably being looked after by relatives (or in the Workhouse). Once you have worked out more of the family, particularly on her mother's side it would be worth checking the 1891 census to see if any of the relatives' families had an odd 5 year old girl who could be Florence. (In such cases it would be easy for the enumerator to make a mistake and give the child the surname of the head of household.)