Morser Family History

The Varney Families

For a long time, the only information we had about the Varney families was that Vera Victoria Varney (1901), married George Champion (1897) in 1921. And that Vera's Father was Henry Edward Varney.

Vera just "missed" the 1901 census, being born a month after the census was taken !

In March 2008 I noticed a topic on the www.RootsChat.com discussion forum about Varneys in London. When I looked at it, it turned out that these Varneys were from St. Pancras (as was Vera) and that one of the children, born 1855, was called Henry E. Varney. Could this be Vera's father ??

I added a query to the topic and it turned out that Henry E. was indeed Henry Edward. Our "Varney contact" verified that the children on the 1901 census were indeed his aunt's and uncles, so we had a match !!


The RootsChat searcher was looking for Edward Varney:

And there is a marriage record for a James Varney to a Catherine Evetts in 1852.

In 1851 Edward wasn't at home .. he was visiting the Brown family ..

---

When I saw the 1861 census, I started getting interested;
Could this Henry E. Varney be 'our' Henry Edward ??
Here he is in 1881 ....


And then someone found a possible marriage: Henry Edward Varney and Eliza Thornally in 1880 ...
So it's looking better and better ...

^(*) There is a christening on the IGI for a Constance Violet Varney in in St Pancras, 1883

The 1901 census was the clincher ! I sent the details to my Varney relation and he recognised the names (aunts and uncles) and thereby confirmed, that it is indeed his mother's family.
His mother isn't on the census as she was born a few weeks later - Roll On 2011, when the 1911 census becomes available !


He also sent me a family tree of the Verneys from 1216 to the end of the 17th. century, that his mother had found when she was researching the family name, with the comment, that the Verneys changed their name to Varney at some time.

---

Here are a few other Varney details:

Henry Varney had a brother Walter (b. 1860). In 1891 he was visiting Henry, but in 1901 he was at home:


Walter is suddenly 10 years younger ??.
And it looks like his mother is living with them. There is a death cert. for an Edward Varney in Hendon in 1899

---

There is a marriage registered for a Kate Ann Varney in St Pancras in 1885.
This could be Sister Kate A. If so, she married a Willy Bishop.

---

A cautionary note:
Much of this is speculative. The data fits well with the known facts (names and places), and the chronological sequences are plausible, but a proper study would mean confirming the data with the appropriate birth and marriage certificates or entries in parish registers.