Walter Thomas D'Alton

Alandal · Post by **Alandal** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:14 pm

Walter Thomas D’Alton is a bit of an enigma. Born in 1861 (and we think after the 1861 census) in Edinburgh, Scotland (according to the 1911 census) he first appears in English records in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1887 where he married Adeline Mackie (whose great grandfather also came from Scotland – but that is another story) from Guernsey who was living in Blackheath, London at the time.

The family (including four children with ‘Scottish’ sounding names : Horace Gordon, Reta Gladys, Cyril Stuart & Donald Mackie) moved to Wimbledon, Surrey where they remained until his death in 1914.

As well as his Marriage Licence, Certificate & Birth Certificates for his children, he has been found in the 1891, 1901 & 1911 Census’ with his wife and children. There is also a possible sighting in the 1881 Census in Ealing, London shown as a boarder in the house of a retired chemist (but ten years older and shown as born in England – which we assume might have been guessed by the houseowner !).

His records show that Walter worked as a dispensing chemist including working for hospitals and he also dabbled in dentistry and a bit of surgery in the earlier years!

(nb. Please note there is another WTD (without the apostrophe) born in Longfield, Kent in 1858, but have followed him through later census’s with his own wife and children, so he is not our man)

Sadly his father is shown as ‘deceased’ when Walter married and no records have been found to date of either his birth or of training for his chosen profession.

Can anyone give us a clue of who is parents/ siblings were ?

Many thanks,

Al & Al

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:26 pm

Hi Al & Al
..and welcome to Talking Scot.

To save any duplication of effort, folks should be made aware that there are a number of posts on various forums concerning this elusive gentleman e.g.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.ph ... ic=21375.0

I see you've been searching for quite some time. He seems like a difficult chap to tie down...

Best wishes
Lesley

Alandal · Post by **Alandal** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:42 pm

Lesley,

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the link to our other postings.

You are correct that he has been an elusive character to date, but hope that experts on this site may be able to give us a few leads.

Regards,

Al & Al

(and thanks also to David Mitchell on WDYTYA, for the introduction to your site !)

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Hi Al & Al

Can you give us a run down of his given ages in the records you have?
- Age in 1887 at the time of his marriage, ages and places of birth given in the census years you have found. Unless he is deliberately hiding (which you probably think he is..!) at least some of the info given is likely to be near the truth, surely?

Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:01 pm

Is this the possible 1881 entry?

2 Milford Vila, Ealing, Middlesex, England
Philip Trueman HEYS Head M Male 60 Heaton Norris, Lancashire, England Retired Chemist
Mary Veronique HEYS Wife M Female 40 Cheetum, Lancashire, England
Alice Eliza Annie HEYS Daughter U Female 15 Islington, Middlesex, England Scholar
Walter DALTON Boarder U Male 30 England Medical Profession Dentist

Alandal · Post by **Alandal** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:11 pm

Lesley,

As requested, we have the following years for his birth :

Possible 1881 Census – born 1851
1887 Marriage – born 1861
1891 Census – born 1861
1901 Census – born 1861
1911 Census – born 1861
1914 Death – born 1857, but corrected at later date to read 1861

A late great aunt also had a birth date for WTD pencilled on one her papers of 25th October - but without a year.

.... and yes, you have found the same 1881 census that we feel may be him but other than the retired chemist possibly giving him some triaing , it does noyt appear to give many other clues.

Reagrds,

Al & Al

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:22 pm

A couple of thougths, but I'm sure you will have thought about these before:
Firstly, it seems possible that his surname is going to turn up as Dalton and/or D'Alton - I wonder if his branch of the family, or he himself decided that D'Alton looked a bit more distinctive for his profession?

Secondly, although the children's names do contain some Scots references such as Gordon, Stuart & Mackie, Horace & Cyril are very atylpical of Scots names! But if they lived in England, as they did, there was a tendancy to give the children names which fitted with the location - I have Scots families who go south and the naming patterns change with fashionable names being used instead of the family names.

And - Is it possible that he later added his middle name perhaps? I mention this because I spent a long time trying to find the birth of a man around 1892, and it only transpired after much effort, cost and frustration, after two years concentrated searching that the blighter had clearly not thought his given name quite dashing enough, and on every piece of documentation I had- his marriage, his death, electoral rolls etc, he had lengthened his first name and added a distinctive middle name. Searching for his birth under this name resulted in zero results of course!! (Until I got wise to him!

)

What I'm trying to say, I think, is we may find we are searching for a plain old Walter Dalton.

Or, and I'm being devil's advocate here....what if his parents were not married at the time of his birth? He may even be using a surname with which he was not registered....

Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:24 pm

Possible 1881 Census – born 1851, states born England
1887 Marriage – born 1861 - place?
1891 Census – born 1861 ?
1901 Census – born 1861 ?
1911 Census – born 1861 ?

Alandal · Post by **Alandal** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:31 pm

LesleyB wrote:Possible 1881 Census – born 1851, states born England
1887 Marriage – born 1861 - place?
1891 Census – born 1861 ?
1901 Census – born 1861 ?
1911 Census – born 1861 ?

1887 Marriage – born 1861 - place ? - Married in Eastbourne Sussex, but Cert does not give Birth location
1891 Census – born 1861 ? in Scotland
1901 Census – born 1861 ? in Scotland
1911 Census – born 1861 ? in Edinburgh, Scotland

Thanks,

Al & Al

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:33 pm

OK, thanks, so the current score is Scotland-3, England-1 !