How Many Ways to Spell Zoe?

In my first week at grammar school, I remember my fountain pen leaking a mass of black ink, taking most of English class to clean up. My calligraphy skills improved however, under the tutelage of Mr. Jones, and with the use of a cartridge pen which seemed less apt to explode in my hands. Ball point pens and subsequently the word processor have all but reduced my handwriting to scrawl. It is comforting to know my scrawl is in good historical company, when I read handwritten entries to parish registers, census returns or the birth index, and find the whole range from beautiful penmanship to illegible scratching. Errors of transcription abound, and I can only make sense of some entries in relation to what I expect to see by looking at others.

And so it was in tracing the origins of Ardeshir Kapadia's wife. The BMD Marriage Index for Mar1886 Lambeth 1d 559 records the marriage of Ardeshir Kapadia to Zoe Davinia HY Hanrott. I could find nothing prior to that. There were the some possibilities: D might be Davinia or Davina, the H might be Halton, the Y possibly Yates. Zoe appears to be a particularly difficult word to transcribe. For example, the 1891 Census had "Loe". Perhaps the database searches came up empty because of mistranscription.

I was hoping to find Zoe hidden among the few families bearing the name Hanrott. The 1851 UK Census has Philip Augustus Hanrott senior, and a large household of grown children and minor grandchildren. Many of the gentlemen were solicitors, perhaps a link with Ardeshir Kapadia the barrister. One of those grandchildren Howard Augustus Hanrott (transcribed as Hansell) shows up on the 1871 UK Census with his wife Mary Ann Dover Hanrott (transcribed Mary Aaron Love Hansell) along with "Lee Devin Heston Young", which, with my eyes half-closed I could convince myself was Zoe Davina Horton Young, age 11, cousin of Howard's wife.

From here I found the 1861 UK Census with "Lan DK Young" age 1 living with mother Charlotte, older step siblings Jemima and James, and brothers Haydon C and Lonsdale D. And then her baptism, and census records associated with her father, James Denoon Young and mother Charlotte. In many records Denoon appears as "Denson". So here are the census returns for the Young family:

1841 Scotland Census at 7 High Street, Perth, Scotland

James DenoonYoung Head Age 30 Ironmonger

Jemima JessieYoung Wife Age 20

JemimaYoung Daur Age 1

Helen Dewar (60) Charlotte Murie (15) are F.S. (family servants?)

Jemima Jessie Young is James's first wife. She died before census time in 1851 since:

1851 England Census for Brompton

James D Young widower Age 40 Iron Founder and Engineer of Scotland

Sarah H Taylor widow Age 50 Accountant of Walbrook, Middlesex

Charlotte Taylor daur (of Sarah) Age 25 of College Hill, Middlesex

Zoe Taylor daur (of Sarah) Age 10 of St. Giles, Middlesex

And 23 December 1851 James Denoon Young, Engineer and Charlotte Taylor were married at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton. No sign of Jemima, the younger in 1851, but she returns to her father's household, along with her younger brother in time for:

1861 England Census for Brixton

Charlotte Young married Age 31

Jemima Young stepdaughter Age 21

James Young stepson Age 16

Haydon C Young son Age 6

Lonsdale D Young son Age 2

Zoe DH Young daur Age 1

(Eliza Shubert 22 and Anna Ling 21 are servants)

Zoe's BMD Birth Index entry is Dec1859 Lambeth 1d 406. I could not find it before because Zoe has been transcribed and alphabetized as "Joe" in the handwritten 19th century copy of the register! She was baptized 15 February 1860 in the parish of St Michael, Stockwell, Surrey; a modern transcriber wrote "Loe". There are also baptismal records for Haydon Charles and Lonsdale Denoon Young.

No sign of James Sr. in 1861. However, James Denoon Young died 19 April 1868 and was buried 25 April; he was 55 years old. I have yet to discover when Charlotte Young died, or how Zoe acquired Hanrott as a surname. But I do have Zoe's full name: Zoe Davina Halton Young Hanrott; and her parents: James Denoon Young and Charlotte Taylor. Charlotte Taylor's parents are William Taylor and Sarah H (could that be Halton?); James Denoon Young's father is James Young and mother possibly Denoon.

Needless to say, this is all written up as a word file alongside new transcriptions and digital copies of as many of the original records as I could find. But I'm thinking I should find an ink calligraphy pen to create a pedigree chart or family tree that would make Mr. Jones proud.