Searching for Kitty Smith

Frank

Frank Henry Smith born 1929

Frank never had a birth certificate and has been unable to trace one. His mother, Kitty, told him she couldn’t register Frank in his father’s name as they weren’t married so he was registered in her maiden name, which she told him was Davis (or possibly Davies, or similar). I have been unable to find a birth registered to a Frank Henry, Francis Henry, Henry Francis or Henry Frank Davis/Davies.

I did manage to find various births under similar names, none of which had the correct birth date. Life was made more difficult for Frank without proof of birth. For example, he didn’t get a passport until he was in his late seventies, early eighties, as he couldn’t provide proof of his identity.

Frank’s only proof of identity was his medical card, National Service Number and a statement of his life experiences, including schools, National Service, and employment. I helped him draft and sign an affidavit in order to obtain his UK Passport.

I hoped that my search for Kitty would unearth my father Frank's birth record, and his true name.

Possible birth for Frank Smith

As I had not managed to find a birth registered in 1929 for the name Frank Henry Smith, or in the alternative name Davis, the name my grandmother said she registered Frank under, I began searching under the name Skivington.

I found a birth registered for a Henry Skivington in Kensington, London, in 1929, and ordered the birth certificate. The certificate duly arrived and had the same birth date as my father Frank's birthday. The mother’s name on the certificate was Kathleen Ann Skivington (very similar to Catherine Skivington!) father’s name omitted. Her occupation was waitress, the same occupation that Kitty claimed to have had.

The address where the child was born was 28 Marloes Road. This was the address of the Poor Law Infirmary (renamed St. Mary Abbots Hospital in 1922). The address of the mother was given as 4 Nelson Terrace which is in the same road as 21 Nelson Terrace where, according to the London Electoral Register for Islington, my great-grandfather Henry Jowett Snr. (Harry Smith's father) and his family lived in 1926. Henry Jowett Snr died in that year but his widow, Annie Jowett, was still living at No. 21 in 1929 when Kitty gave birth to her son Frank .

With the same birthdate as my father Frank, and the mother's name being very similar to Catherine Skivington, and the mother's address being very near to my great grandfather's house, there is a strong possibility that my father, Frank Henry Smith, was born Henry Skivington in Kensington, London.

I did a search of the General Record Office for marriage and death certificates and couldn't find any trace of the Henry Skivington named on the birth certificate. I also searched electoral rolls and the 1939 Register but there was no mention of a Henry Skivington, or Kathleen Skivington. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air! I was satisfied that the birth certificate was, indeed, my father Frank's.

I Told my father what I had found and he was very happy to finally have a birth certificate. I now needed to search for his mother's family in Barrow-in-Furness.

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