The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 50 No.1 | June 2023

Searchers

grandmother’s family all came from Suffolk and she did not move to Portsmouth until she married my grandfather in 1920 which narrows the likely 3 x GGFs to just 4 couples from my grandfather’s family all of whom lived in the vicinity of Portsmouth in 1800. Also, I discovered that in the 1851 census, Robert LOOSEMORE had, in addition to his seven children, a further “daughter” living with him and his wife. This individual, Caroline HAWKINS , was described as a servant, aged 19 and so born in 1832. Could this be another illegitimate child? In which

case he has form for extra-marital affairs? Clearly, if either or both Thomas and Robert were at sea or abroad for long periods of time, this could account for the gaps between the birth of each of the four “Compton” children and it is more than possible that Merrender could have concealed an extra-marital affair if her husband was away for substantial period. As usual, if any readers, have any ideas, I would love to hear them!

Ronnie Munday (Member #15386) ronjoan.munday@btinternet.com

Harold Fielding HALL

This year, I spent the night of 4th/5th May at the Bell Inn, Brook, in search of ghosts. Harold Fielding HALL died there on May 5th 1917. His death was announced in the Hampshire

Independent a week later in a short article which repeated almost word for word one which had appeared in The Times the day before. Both stated, wrongly, that he had been a coffee planter in Burma. Neither mentioned

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