Clues, Questions and Theories

When and why did Gertrude come to England?

1. Was she already pregnant when she arrived? If so, why would her family have sent her to England? There is no reason to believe she came from a wealthy family. And there is no evidence that there were any other Schnitzer family members in England to look after a pregnant 16 year old. If she became pregnant in Romania and her family had felt so ashamed that they wished to disown Gertrude, they could surely have sent her away from home, but to a different part of the country.
2. Was she sent to England for a better life, perhaps into domestic service? In this possible scenario, she may have been exploited by an employer.

Why Huntsham Court?

1. There is no evidence to connect Gertrude to Huntsham Court (many Huntsham Court records were destroyed by fire). But it is possible that she worked there as a domestic servant, perhaps moving to Huntsham from London with Jessica on her marriage to Hugh in 1899. It seems most likely that new migrants to England would settle in London, rather than deep in the Devon countryside.
2. EITHER Josephine arrived at Huntsham Court between the ages of 1 and 3 years as a result of a random act of charity by Hugh & Jessica Acland Troyte.
3. OR there was a connection between Josephine and either the Acland Troyte or the Story family (see Huntsham Court page for a reminder of Helen & the connection to the Story family).

Who was Josephine's father?

1. It is possible that Josephine herself never knew his identity.
2. He may have been a Romanian.
3. If Hugh Acland Troyte was her father, it would explain Josephine's presence at Huntsham. Though it is hard to explain the time she spent as a boarder in Halstead, Essex before arriving at Huntsham. Josephine kept a photograph of a man sitting in the library at Huntsham (see right*). She may have kept it for any number of reasons. Could it be a photograph of the man she suspected or knew was her father? It is difficult to establish the identity of the man - the only confirmed photograph of Hugh Acland Troyte is of him in India, wearing a hat, with no moustache (see right).
4. A remarkably pertinent story involving Huntsham Court and Hugh Acland Troyte came to light during the course of researching Josephine's life - it can be seen on the Connections page under the heading Another illegitimate baby ... After having read this story, it is a matter of weighing up the evidence and drawing your own conclusions (whilst also bearing in mind the remarkable coincidence of a connection between the village of Hemyock just 12 miles from Huntsham & Sturry Street, Poplar, East London - also described on the Connections page, under the heading Another Link to 31 Sturry Street).
5. Could Harry Story be Josephine's father? Philip Story and his daughter Vera were living at Huntsham Court at the time of the 1901 census, and probably moved to Devon with Jessica at the time of her marriage to Hugh in 1899. After all, Jessica had been living with them in London, possibly as a surrogate mother to her nephew Harry and niece Vera following the death of their mother, her sister Emily. Could Gertrude have been in service with the Story household?
6. He may have been someone else that Gertrude came across as a vulnerable teenaged girl recently arrived in England.

The Certificates

There are some interesting inconsistencies between the entries for "Father" on Josephine's birth, baptism and marriage certificates.

1. BIRTH (1900): name & occupation of father struck out, "name of mother" - Gertrude Schnitzer.
2. BAPTISM (1917): "parents' surname" - Morris, "profession of father" - school master, but "parents' christian names" - Gertrude.
3. MARRIAGE (1923): "father's name" - W Morris (though initially struck out), "profession of father" - struck out.

The identity of Josephine's father was either genuinely unknown or a taboo subject. Either way, details of a father, W Morris were probably included on her marriage certificate for the sake of respectability. But for whatever reason, the paternal identity seems to have been sketchily & inconsistently recorded on these three certificates.

The surname Morris

It is interesting to speculate about the reasons for and timing of the change of surname from Schnitzer to Morris. The change occurred some time after the 1901 census and before the 1911 cenus. Mother and daughter were living separately by 1901 - but the coordinated change of surname suggests that close links were maintained.

1. An English name would have made it easier to integrate and provoked less prejudice.
2. WHY MORRIS? There was a suggestion that Gertrude had a brother named Moritz/Maurice/Morris. The photograph, left, was kept by Josephine - could it be Morris? Or could it be her father?
3. Researching the Story family, it was noticed, in the 1851 census, that Philip Story was a boarder in Brighton at a school with a headmaster named James Morris.

June Roseveare

The granddaughter of Hugh's eldest sister, Frances, June Roseveare never knew Hugh or Jessica personally. In response to a letter requesting any information she might have she says of the photograph of Josephine sitting on the stone steps with Sammy the dog:

"... the little girl that you mention I have never heard of, but it would seem unlikely that she lived as one of the family at Huntsham - your photo shows her bare footed and I can't imagine that being possible in their house!"

This is an interesting suggestion, but can be rejected on the basis of direct evidence. Her daughter in law, Maureen Lunn, recalls Josephine telling of the challenges she faced running her own household after marriage to Frank Lunn. Josephine related how she would leave her shoes outside her bedroom door for cleaning by servants and was totally unused to carrying out any domestic chores. She had clearly not lived below stairs at Huntsham Court.

Shame of Illegitimacy

Below is an extract from a letter to John Lunn, May 4th 1965. Is Gertrude referring obliquely to the feelings of guilt and shame she harboured over her illegitimate child?

"I owe Frank a letter, but often fail to write, it is hard work, but perhaps it's laziness, though it has not been one of the many sins - I am reading a book called "The Path of the Tempted" - it is instructive but difficult to attain to this standard - I wish I could."

Peter Lunn remembers Gertrude asking him not to continue writing to her, presumably she did not wish others to know about her daughter and grandchildren.

It is very sad to consider that Gertrude's life was blighted by her pregnancy - something that today is considered quite unremarkable.

CONCLUSIONS

The assumption amongst her family, though never discussed by Josephine, was always that Hugh Acland Troyte was her father. The strong possibility that Hugh fathered another illegitimate child (see Another illegitimate baby on the Connections page) reinforces the theory that Josephine was at Huntsham Court because she was Hugh's unacknowledged daughter. It almost seems a more likely conclusion than that Josephine should have made the journey across the country - from East London to Huntsham - and the class divide that existed so strongly then, by sheer chance. But there is no proof ... we can only weigh up the known facts and the circumstantial evidence, and wonder what really happened ...

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T I M E L I N E .....

Jessica Acland Troyte complained that bell ringing gave her a headache

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