Reddington family

Any suggests of where I could look next. During family research I found that according to the 1911 census, my great grandparents [John & Sarah Reddington, nee Payne] had 14 children, two of whom had died. I found 13 of them easily enough since 12 attained pensionable ages and one of those who died at 16 months, Walter Robert Reddington, was on the 1901 census. However, I cannot find the other child and it is bothering me because there seems to be a child, totally forgotten. I have searched on Ancestry and Find My Past and also burials in London Road Cemetery where many of the Reddington family are buried. I have even used wildcard searches since I have previously encountered transcription errors for the Reddington name but to no avail. The nearest I got was an Edith Reddington [1903-1905] who died in Coventry but she appears to be from a family who came from Leicestershire and the parents are different. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Have you tried gro.gov.uk? You can search for births by surname and mother's maiden name, though only for 5 years at a time, and only for male or female not both. Also unfortunately they don't permit wildcards but do support phonetic matching. The mother's maiden name option is not available at other websites such as freebmd.org.uk.

I’ve had great luck with the GRO births and deaths index. You enter the surname and the mother’s maiden name, enter a gender, enter Coventry as the registration district (if you’re sure of it or leave it blank), and search the years between the parents’ marriage and the 1911 census. You can search in four year chunks. If nothing turns up in the first gender you select, repeat the process with the other one. Hope this helps!

Hi Derrick. There is a newspaper article in the Midland Daily Telegraph in 1915 about a Sarah Reddington,of 9 Vauxhall Terrace, before the court for not sending her child to school. She and her 6 children were living on 12s a week. She said she had sent the girl to her sister’s so she would get some food. Her husband was in the asylum. She had an allowance from a soldier son and another who was working. Could this be your missing girl?

Is this some if your family?

Annewiggy. It's not the missing child unfortunately but the story is like something out of a Dickens novel. Sarah had sent Ellen Elizabeth [aka Nellie] to my grandma’s house for food. My grandparents [William & Florrie Oldham, nee Reddington] and both sets of my great grandparents [Oldham & Reddington] all lived in Vauxhall Terrace, between East Street & Days Lane, Hillfields. Vauxhall Terrace only had 10 houses and my ancestors lived in 3 of them. The other item you found certainly is my family. Sarah had 5 sons, a son-in law and the husband of the sister-in-law of my grandmother, who all went to war. Only Sgt John [Jack] Reddington and the husband [Bertie Hutt, brother of Coventry VC recipient Arthur Hutt] failed to return. Sgt Reddington's wife Hannah donated an iconic six-sided bench in his memory to the Herbert Gallery when it opened in 1960. She also left monies in her will for its upkeep. Unfortunately, someone at the Herbert authorised its disposal. Anyway thanks for your input and I will continue my research using the tips provided. Thanks everyone.

So Derrick what is the name of the missing daughter or is it just a count of children that does not agree? There are 2 people with the tree on Ancestry.

Annewiggy. I do not know if it is a boy or girl. It is the count of children that doesn't agree. On the 1911 census that John Reddington filled in he recorded 14 children 2 of which had died. I have identified 13 as William, Mary Ann Beatrice [aka Polly], Arthur, Florrie [my nan], John [aka Jack], Herbert [aka Berty], Alfred [aka Frederick], Ellen Elizabeth [aka Nellie], Walter Robert [1900-1901], Albert, Ada, Victor & Joseph. The missing one is not on the 1891 or 1901 census and is reported dead on the 1911 census so must have been born & died between censuses. John & Sarah were married in 1886 and I have searched between 1885 and 1911 but cannot find a child. John who filled in the 1911 census was not of sound mind and spent 3 periods in Warwick Mental Hospital but I do not believe he would get the fact of a child who had died wrong.

John had also been in court for punching Sarah

A huge family of Reddingtons lived in Yelverton Road. A few still alive, but all moved on. Mostly, if not all, females.

Midland Red. Where did you come across that?

That is correct PhiliPaminCoventry. The youngest member of the Reddington family of 14 was Joseph. Joe & his 2nd wife had 6 daughters and one son [also Joseph] but he died in infancy.

The article about John assaulting his wife that MR mentions was in the Coventry Herald in June 1906. I agree about the count of deaths. I could understand if he lost count of how many children he had though! What would have happened if a child had died at birth. I don’t know what the rules are if the birth and death would be recorded.

According to the Coventry Herald, on 28 May 1902 there was a disturbance between them, and when Sarah re-entered the house, John punched her on the jaw and called her names. He told the court that his wife’s conduct irritated him. He was fined 20s plus costs.

I was thinking last night how well they had done to bring up that many children, several of them strong lads that went into the army. Things could not have been easy for Sarah. Such a shame she only lived until 1917. Have you looked at the records for John in Hatton, they may give you some more clues?