Ancestors of Edward Roberts Baker 1869-1954

My maternal great grandfather Edward Roberts was born in England in 1869 and arrived in Australia in 1910 with his wife Abigail Ann ‘Maud’ Courtney and two sons Edward and James.

Edward Roberts was born in England in 1869 and mostly lived Gloucestershire, Kent but always said at one time he was a boy soldier in India – this is yet to be confirmed. It had long been thought Edwards parents were Edward Roberts b1841 and Ann Laundon. His mothers family is said to have come originally from France, known as ‘de’ Laundon, but most of their documented ancestry is in Leicestershire, England.

Edwards birth certificate was finally found in 2021 after many years searching, registered under the name Edward Roberts Baker, with his mothers first husband, Thomas Baker, named as his father.

From at least age 3, Edward was known by the surname of Roberts and Edward Roberts 1841 clearly undertook the role of step father throughout his life. However, through extensive DNA research for over a decade, it has been established that Edward had a different father. It was neither of his mother’s two husbands (Edward Roberts 1841 or Thomas Baker), but a man named Edmund Dye from Westerham, Kent.

Edward had a number of half siblings, children of his mother and her first husband Thomas Baker. One of them (Thomas/Arthur Baker) is believed to have emigrated to Canada and Edward went to visit him (via Montreal) in about 1906. Edward wanted to emigrate from England to Canada, but his wife Abigail thought Australia would have better prospects for her children.

Edward and Abigail had three children in all, Edward (Ted), James (Jimmy) and a daughter Elsie who died as a child in England before they emigrated to Australia. After Abigails death in 1928, Edward married for the second time to Julia Negus, but had no further children.

Edward died in Australia in 1954. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Rookwood Cemetery alongside his first wife Abigail. A headstone was erected by his grandchildren in 2009. Unfortunately the birthdate on the headstone is now incorrect, it had been thought he was born on 6th August 1868, but the certificate finally located in 2021 indicates it was 7th August 1869.

embeddable family tree updated live from WikiTree

For more information:

For more detail on Abigails life, see her biography at Wikitree;
Click on the links in the pedigree shown above to go directly to each ancestors biography page at Wikitree;
To view a tree showing up to 254 ancestors, including locations, click here;
Access a list of Edward’s ancestral surnames here;
If you have a subscription, you can also view the tree at Ancestry;
DNA analysis has now confirmed that both his parents and all four of his grandparents have been correctly identified ;
You can read more about my research and DNA discoveries in the projects and blogposts listed below.