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I believe that my g-grandfather Thomas Sowerby, (married to Sarah Jane Robson) was actually born Thomas Mordue and that that he and his sister, (Mary Jane Mordue) were either adopted by the elder Thomas Sowerby, or adopted the use of his surname. I now believe that John Robert Mordue and possibly even the eldest brother, (Joseph Mordue) also fall into this category.
1. We know when Thomas Sowerby, (age 21) married Sarah Jane Robson in 1899, that he stated his father was named Thomas Sowerby. And that the grooms place of residence was 20 dbl row, Cowpen.
2. We know that during the 1901 census, a Thomas Sowerby, (age 56) was living at 20 dbl row, Cowpen. This elder Thomas Sowerby was undoubtably the father named on the marriage certificate of the younger Thomas Sowerby. The census also indicates that the wife of Thomas Sowerby was Eleanor Davison. We also know that Thomas Sowerby was born circa 1845 and that Eleanor Davison was born circa 1860.
3. The index of marriages indicates that Thomas Sowerby and Eleanor Davison were married during the 1st quarter of 1887. This was too late for Eleanor to be the mother of the younger Thomas Sowerby, (born circa 1878) or even for her to be the mother of William Sowerby (born 1884) who was living in the 1901 household of the elder Thomas Sowerby.
4. Figuring that the elder Thomas Sowerby must have been previiously married, I searched the indexes and found a possible marriage to a woman named Ann Mordue. The birth of Ann Mordue is indexed for the 2nd quarter of 1853 at Tynemouth. I found an index for the death of an Ann Sowerby also born in 1853. She died during the 2nd quarter of 1884. Since William was born in 1884, she could have been his mother. The marriage was indexed for the last quarter of 1881, too late for the elder Thomas Sowerby and Ann Mordue to be the parents of the younger Thomas Sowerby.
5. Figuring that one of them must have already been the parent of the younger Thomas Sowerby. I looked to see if either parent had been previously married, and could find nothing.
6. Since the 1881 census occured 2 years after the birth of the younger Thomas Sowerby, I figured that I should find him in the same household as his actual parent. A Thomas Sowerby (born circa 1845) was living in his fathers household at Cowpen. He is the right age to be the elder Thomas Sowerby. He was listed as unmarried, (note the distinction to the term wid, that would have been applied, if he had a previous wife that was deceased). There were no children documented in this household.
7. The 1881 census showed that Ann Mordue, (born circa 1853) was the head of her own household at Cowpen. She is the right age to be the woman that married the elder Thomas Sowerby. She was listed as unmarried, (note the distinction to the term wid, that would have been applied, if she had a previous husband that was deceased). She had the following children in her household. Joseph Mordue, John Robert Mordue, Thomas Mordue, and a twin sister Mary Jane Mordue. The relevance of the names of these children is described as follows:
a). Joseph Mordue, (born circa 1871): I have found no record of birth, marriage or death for this individual indicating the use of either surname, (Mordue or Sowerby). Note that the internet based indexes are not complete at this time. I will tie him into the adoption of the Sowerby surname a little later.
b). John Robert Mordue, (born circa 1877): There is a record of his birth indexed to the 1st quarter of 1877. There is a record of the death of John Robert Mordue, (born 1877) during the 1st quarter of 1892, at Tynemouth, age 15. There is a record for the death of John Robert Sowerby, (born 1877) during the 1st quarter of 1892, at Tynemouth, age 15. Though it hasn't always been so, these days a person is frequently registered in more than one name so that all previous names would be shown. Since these 2 individuals are indexed to the same registration page, in Tynemouth and there are only a total of 4 males listed on this page, it is likely that this is what has occured in this instance. John Robert Sowerby is likey the namesake of his brothers, (Thomas (Mordue) Sowerby) son.
c). Thomas Mordue, (born circa 1878): I have found no record of birth, for either Thomas Mordue, or the younger Thomas Sowerby in 1878. Note that the internet based indexes are not complete at this time. But Thomas Sowerby is documented on his marriage certificate and the 1901 census as being born circa 1878. He had a son named John Robert, and Thomas Mordue had a brother by that same name.
d). Mary Jane Mordue, (born circa 1878): I have found no record of birth, for either Mary Jane Mordue, or Mary Jane Sowerby in 1878. Note that the internet based indexes are not complete at this time. Mary Jane Sowerby is not documented in the 1901 household of the elder Thomas Sowerby, but there is a record for the marriage of a Mary Jane Sowerby, in 1901. I don't know for sure the name of the groom, but since only 2 marriages are registered on each page of the of the registration book, she either married William Fairhurst or James Smith. Due to the probable ages of the grooms though, I believe that she married James Smith. A Mary Jane Sowerby signed as a witness to the marriage of the younger Thomas Sowerby.
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