I’ve been wondering whether the birth of baby Theodore (1911 census b Liverpool) was registered on the mainland. You’d expect that a child listed as age 3 months in early April 1901 would have had his birth registered in Mar Q 1901. But there are only 4 listings of children named Theodore in Liverpool or West Derby in that quarter, and all are accounted for in the 1901 census.

It’s possible that either the birth wasn’t registered on the mainland, or that a different name was used for the registration (so untraceable).

The next questions would be in relation to the mother of the baby. Did she die at or soon after the birth ? Or did she make the sea crossing with a newborn baby and if so, where was she in April 1901 ? Who was feeding the baby, or was formula milk available back then ?

The strange baptism entry for 3 yr old Theodore in Ramsey in 1904 also raises questions. Why was there no mother’s name and why was the father’s name entered as Wood (no Christian name) with the word “vague” written in the margin, as though the details given by the adults who had brought the baby to the church didn’t know the answer (or were being evasive ) ?

Did Theodore know that he was adopted ? He gave James Holroyd as his father’s name at his marriage.

In the 1901 census, James and Charlotte Holroyd (both from Marsden, W Yorks) lived a few pages along from a Wood couple who were from Slaithwaite and Wakefield. So 2 couples who all came from a small geographical area may have been close friends.

The next bit is pure speculation. What if the 22 yr old son of Mr and Mrs Wood had fathered a child with a woman deemed to be “unsuitable as a wife” by the Wood family who wanted the child brought up in a good trustworthy adoptive family who lived nearby, so they arranged for the birth to take place on the mainland and the baby brought back to the island, the mother being paid to disappear out of the child’s life ?

Do you possess any photos of Theodore ?

Jean C