Jean Peggotty Harbord (ATS)

I am new to this site amd joined because I was so impressed by the wealth of knowledge members have. My Dad was divorced by his first wife in 1943/4 (It took a long time in those days) and he subsequently married my Mum. His first wife, Jean Peggotty Harbord (nee Thomson) was living in Dunstable at the time of the divorce. Dad always said they divorced "because she ran off with a GI". Icannot find any evidence of what happened to "Peggy" (as my Dad called her) after the divorce other thn a record in a London newspaper suppliment mentioning her promotion.

If anyone know anything I would be grateful to hear from them.

I also have among my late parents posessions some photographs, including one which has written on the back "217 searchlight battery WWII". The picture is of 10 ladies in a field with sundry men in the background. I do not recognise any of the people in the photograph, but am happy to scan and post it if anyone thinks it would be of interest.

Richard

 

Hello Richard and welcome
please upload any photos or docs and i am sure forum members will try to assist you


regards
Clive

 

Would this be the marriage in question??

Geoffrey R Harboard
[Geoffrey R Harbord]
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1932
Registration district: Wirral
Inferred County: Cheshire
Spouse: Jean P Thompson
Volume Number: 8a
Page Number: 844

If so I note her surname has a 'p' in it

TD

edited to add:
Richard - some of the family trees show your father marrying his second wife in Feb 1932, if the above is correct I think some of the tree originators need a word in their ear.

 

I can tell you that her father has WW1 service records and she is mentioned on them:

Name: Charles Thompson
Gender: Male
Birth Date: abt 1877
Enlistment Age: 38
Marriage Date: 10 Jul 1905
Marriage Place: H?? Trinity Church Chester
Document Year: 1915
Residence Place: 67 Watergate, Chester ??
Regimental Number: 6199
Regiment Name: General Service
Number of Images: 26
Form Title: Short Service Attestation
Other Records: Search for 'Charles Thompson' in other WWI collections
Family Members:
Name Relation to Soldier
Charles Thompson Self (Head)
Georgina Matilda Coventry Spouse
Jean Pegoth Thompson Thompson Child
John Derrick Thompson Thompson Child

TD

 

So this is the person you are chasing:

Jean Peggotty Thompson
1907–
BIRTH 03 FEB 1907 • liverpool

Would you also tell us how many other forums you have requested this information from - and I hope any responses from them will be posted here as well to stop duplication of effort.

TD

 

Well, that's impressive! Only joined and posted this morning and already so many replies. Thank you all.
I will try and answer in sequence.

Tricky Dicky - This is the only forum I have posted this on. I understood that it's bad form to post on several forums

Yes, that's her; born 1907, and it was my mistake to miss out the "p" - sorry.

Thanks for the detail of her father - I see she had a brother too. All interesting stuff.

My Dad married my Mum in 1944 - about 2 weeks after the decree absolute - I was born 18 months later, so was not the reason for the rush! The trees that have it wrong are a problem. Are they Ancestry trees? I'm registered with Ancestry, so I can contact them and put them right. If it's "Find My Past", I don't know if they'll let me contact them.

Clive - Will upload pictures when I am back on the main computer - I have others that are Ack-Ack etc, so should I upload them to other forums? There are women in them too. I'm not sure how this site works re. distribution.

Thanks again
Richard

 

Sorry TD - I had thought those forums were closed - so answered incorrectly - I have not posted on other forums on this site.
Richard

 

Richard, find out from the National Archives where the original divorce papers are held. If infidelity was the cause of the divorce then maybe the GIs name is mentioned in court.

 

Amberdog45,

I already have my Dad's copy of the divorce papers and no other name is mentioned. In those days, a gentleman always allowed the lady to divorce him as a man who strayed was a bit of a dog - nudge nudge; wink wink. But a wife who committed adultery was considered a harlot and not accepted in any form of society. So Mum and Dad pent the night in a hotel (playing cards all night - or so they said) and Dad tipped the doorman £5 (which was a huge tip in those days) to make sure that when called as a witness in court the doorman would remember them. It backfired to the extent that the doorman was so impressed with the tip, he lied about ever seeing them before! Apparently the lawyers asked for a recess to take him outside and explain what he was supposed to do!

I am not sure I fully believe the GI story as my Dad was always a one for the ladies and I have found pictures in his army book of two clearly different women.

Richard

 

One of the first problems here is we have no idea what name she used after the divorce. If she did marry a GI was that in UK or USA, and if she flew to the USA then there are no records, except if you start searching through GI brides web sites. Also if you are a member of Ancestry extend your membership to include USA and see if she is noted in their system as arriving, or in marriage details. If you can find the GI's name - and it may not be the one she married, if she married one at all - then obviously tracing in the USA will be easier.

None of the family trees on Ancestry that have her birth and marriage (to your father) details have any indication if she stayed in the UK or emigrated. Unfortunately sometimes either people do not want to be found or the system misses them completely for whatever reason, perhaps they wanted to start a new life and 'adjusted' (e.g Harbord to Harboard) their surname enough to make tracing very difficult or nigh on impossible.

TD

 

The only other documentary evidence I can find is her birth details:

Name: Jean Peggotty Thompson
Registration Year: 1907
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration district: Wirral
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Cheshire
Volume: 8a
Page: 448

TD

 

I used Jean peggotty only in findmypast, year of birth 1907, and a Jean Peggotty Scivier died in Portsmouth in 1991. Could this be her TD?

 

Indeed it could - well found

Name: Jean Peggotty Scivier
Birth Date: 23 Feb 1907
Date of Registration: Apr 1991
Age at Death: 84
Registration district: Portsmouth
Inferred County: Hampshire
Volume: 20
Page: 879

The forenames match and the DoB is very very close - perhaps someone needs to obtain a copy and see what else is on the cert -


Also checking marriage certs for Scivier to a Jean P - came across:

Name: Jean P Scivier
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1972
Registration district: Horsham
Inferred County: Sussex
Spouse: Jack Scivier
Volume Number: 5h
Page Number: 1243

Again a copy may be interesting to see as I do not believe her 'maiden name' is Scivier as well, that smells of a cover up to me

TD

 

Another interesting turn up

All London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 results for Jean P Scivier

The address of 89 The Greenway, Uxbridge

Jean P Scivier
1947 Uxbridge Uxbridge East 89

Jean P Scivier
1948 Uxbridge Uxbridge East 89

Jean P Scivier
1949 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jean P Scivier
1949 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jean P Scivier
1950 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jean P Scivier
1951 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jean P Scivier
1953 Uxbridge Uxbridge North

Jean P Scivier
1955 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

So taking the marriage details for 1972 - I checked the All London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 results for Jack Scivier and guess what turned up


Jack Scivier
1947 Uxbridge Uxbridge East 89

Jack Scivier
1948 Uxbridge Uxbridge East 89

Jack Scivier
1949 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jack Scivier
1949 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jack Scivier
1950 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jack Scivier
1951 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

Jack Scivier
1953 Uxbridge Uxbridge North

Jack Scivier
1955 Uxbridge Uxbridge North 89

So the possibility here is that Jean moved in with Jack in 194?, lived in Uxbridge, then sometime before 1972 moved to Horsham area, married in 1972 after living together for nearly 30 years, then she moved to Portsmouth area after Jack died in 1974 -


Name: Jack Scivier
Birth Date: 22 Dec 1912
Date of Registration: Sep 1974
Age at Death: 61
Registration district: Horsham
Inferred County: Sussex, West Sussex
Volume: 18
Page: 1829


Not sure how much of this is correct, but it gives Richard somewhere to start

TD

 

Thanks very much to both TD and Amberdog45 for their efforts - this could be the breakthrough I've been searching for! Re. the GI brides thing; I did search through all the areas I could think of - there are lists of thousands of women going to the USA; Canada and some to Australia, but I found nothing.

I had thought that perhaps if the GI thing was true, that he may have been one of the casualties of D-Day and that is why there were no records. If what you have found is her; the late marriage gives weight to that possibility.

I will let you know how I get on.

Many thanks

Richard

Richard

 

Just bringing you up to date with my investigations. I entered Jack into Ancestry, and found some information confirming what you had already found, but no more. I have ordered a marriage cert. because, although she called herself "Scivier" as her maiden name, her father's name should be on it and that should be Thompson. A note of interest, I could not order from GOV.ORG at £9.75 as they require an exact date of marriage. Ancestry charge £23.99 but can get the cert. from the index information. If you find the actual Registry Office (Horsham in this case) and order from them, they allow you to tick a box saying the marriage date is approximate, but they charge £25 + VAT!

Will post again when I get the certificate.

Richard

 

I have today received the marriage certificate for the Sciviers and it "my" Jean Peggotty! Both her and Jack's marriage status is described as "previous marriage dissolved" and gives her father as Charles Thompson (deceased), so thank you all for helping me get the answers.
Richard

 

I forgot to mention in the last post - Jean's name is given as "Jean Peggotty Scivier (name changed by deed poll)". Hence her name before the marriage being Scivier. Does anyone know if deed poll name changes are available to researchers?

Many thanks again
Richard

 

Hi Richard

Glad it has worked out for you - re name changes, there is not database on Ancestry to search through, I guess if you go to - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/changes-of-name/ there may be something there to answer your question OR use this link - https://deedpolloffice.com/research

TD