Louisa Thorpe

I am not sure if I have missed the blindingly obvious, but I cannot figure out the life of Louisa Thorpe.

Louisa was born in Stratton Audley 1857 (bap.11/10/1857) d/o Alfred Thorpe and Elizabeth [Knibbs]. The 5th child, of 7, and second daughter of the family.
1861, 1871 census she is at home in Stratton Audley with her family.
In 1881, RG11/3325/43/26 Shipley Hall, Shipley Derbyshire she is listed as L Thorpe kitchen maid, in amongst the many servants is one J Levatino a married man born Milan. Joseph Victor (or Victor Joseph Levatino and variations) is married to Louisa's sister Hannah. They have 3 children and that family are all sorted. In 1881 Hannah is visiting her father in Stratton Audley.

Jumping forward to 1911 Louisa is in Torquay running a boarding house RG14 PN12768 SN53, she claims to be single.
Living with her is her 'nephew' Laurence Lemmy b 1888 Didcot Berkshire. Initially I thought this must have been a Levatino child with the surname mangled, but Hannah only had 1 daughter and 2 sons, double checked with her 1911 census entry.

Back 10 years to 1901 RG13/2059/127/35 in Torquay Louisa (1852) is a boarding house keeper and again Lawrence 'Lemming' nephew is with her. A big jump from a kitchen maid to a boarding house keeper.
Luckily there are not many Lemmy's about, so finding the right family in 1891 was not difficult. RG12/1033/172/43 in Chiswick, Edward and Sarah (Mayhew) Lemmy + 5 of their children and one Laurence Thorpe age 3 b 1888 Didcot.

There is a birth reg for a Lawrence John Thorpe Sept qtr 1887 Wallingford Berks, but the mmn is listed as Chapman, so my theory of Lawrence being Louisa's illegitimate son are thwarted. None of her brothers married a Chapman and I cannot find a Chapman/Thorpe marriage

So who is Lawrence Thorpe, who seems to have adopted the surname of the family that appears to have raised him? He keeps Lemmy as his surname, and from the 1939 reg is still in Torquay b13/6/1877 which ties in with the Sept. reg.
Louisa died in 1926, in Torquay, but I cannot find any probate/will.

If you are not lost already, I looked at the Lemmy family in 1901 (Lawrence is now with Louisa).
Edward and Sarah are still in Chiswick with their children, and one Louisa Agnes Thorpe b1889 Teddington Middlesex. RG13/1198/53/31
GRO has a birth reg for Louisa Agnes Thorpe no mmn March qtr 1891 Kingston upon Thames 2a 371, (this is the b/c that came on Sunday).
To my astonishment, this is not an illegitimate child of Louisa, but the daughter of Louisa (maiden name Thorpe) and John Thorpe a medical attendant.
b31/10/1890 Coburn Rd, Teddington.
Needless to say I cannot find a Thorpe/Thorpe marriage for a John and Louisa, John registered the birth and made his mark.

Even more frustrating, I cannot find John and/or Louisa Thorpe in 1891, nor baby Louisa Agnes. They are not in Coburn Road, nor anywhere else that I can see.

Louisa Agnes is with the Lemmy's in 1911, retaining her surname of Thorpe, she married in 1920, and I have her through to her death. The 1939 reg. confirms the dob with the b/c that I now have.

So how does my Louisa Thorpe fit in with these 2 children? Why are the Lemmy's bringing these children up? I cannot find a Thorpe in their family names, they are both from London, whereas my Thorpes are from Oxfordshire. I will get the Lawrence
Thorpe b/c if I have to, if only to try and solve this confusing conundrum.

If anyone has managed to stay with this, and can make any suggestions, please do.

 

Did you see the marriage of Lawrence Thorpe-Lemmey to Mary Btrittain 1918 in Aston Warwickshire?

 

No, I hadn't looked for his marriage, he (from what I can see without buying the census) is with Mary in 1921 in Torquay, and Mary is his wife in 1939.
I knew I would have missed something Thanks.

They are using Lemmy as the surname 1921 & 1939

 

Lawrence Lemmy death in Devon in 1965 age 78

 

Of course it is possible that John Thorpe was a made up name for her father. Louisa Agnes could quite well be illegitimate. As with Lawrence, Chapman might also be a figment.

 

Lawrence's father? Hmmm!!!

 

What is strange is that John Thorpe registers the birth, give an occupation and makes his mark. Louisa doesn't have a brother John, who just might have been part of a cover up, so would she have gone to so much subterfuge to cover an illegitimate birth, or was it just a complete misunderstanding when a John went
to register the birth and got the answers to the questions wrong?
Baby's name? Louisa Agnes Thorpe
Your name? John - registrar writes John Thorpe etc etc
As he could not write I doubt he would have been able to read what was written either.
Or he is really John Thorpe

 

Perhaps it was the REAL father who signed it as John Thorpe......
And they added the JOHN after Lawrence to make it look above board.

 

John Thorpe was on Louisa Agnes's b/c. I have just ordered Lawrences, so once here I will let you know what it reveals (if anything).

I wondered why Lawrence has John as a second name (he was registered as Lawrence John), it is not a family name for Louisa Thorpe's siblings, there are hardly any John's in the Thorpe line.

 

I found a Chapman connection. Sarah Lemmy ( nee Mayhew with father John) had a sister Alice who married a William John Chapman. need to follow this up.

 

they had two sons, William who died before 1911 and Sidney.

 

Thanks, I will work on this and see what else is revealed.

 

there was a John Thorpe in Stratton Audley baptised in the same year to a William and Sarah Thorpe wonder if they knew each other

they are on next image in 1861 census

 

I’m certain I spotted Sidney Lemmy on WW1 records. Not meaning to get off on another tangent.

 

William was Louisa's uncle. I think all the Thorp[e]s in Stratton Audley
are from one root family, George b1791c (I have never found a baptism, so whether he was from Stratton Audley or elsewhere, I cannot determine), so all of them are connected in some way or other.

 

He is one of the children of Edward and Sarah Lemmy of Chiswick.

 

I think I have exhausted every angle with William John (he was an only child, so no brother John to be the mystery John Thorpe), and cannot see anything that would suggest he was in any way involved with Louisa Thorpe. He marries and remains in London throughout the censuses. Similarly, her cousin John Thorpe never seems to leave Stratton Audley.
The 1891 census for Louisa still remains unfound
I now have Lawrence's b/c, and that poses even more questions. This time
Louisa is the informant, and she has gained Agnes as a middle name. John Thorpe however remain consistent with an occupation of attending an elderly man, a nursing attendant on Louisa Agnes's b/c.


Another little quandary, how can Louisa, a kitchen maid in 1881 afford a
boarding house in Torquay by 1901? In 1911, she is in a different house, and the electoral roles shows she remains there until her death with Lawrence and his wife (it is still a guest house today).
As ever, if anyone can add anything or make further suggestions then please do as this one is really driving me nuts

 

In case I have missed something, this is Louisa Agnes's b/c

 

I may have solved this one, the houses were rented not owned (probably why there was no will when Louisa died). I found a newspaper add for the sale of the house (1929, after Louisa's death) and it mentions that it has been rented to Mr Lemmy for £40 per annum.