Albert Charles Beckett is a very frustrating person. He has been my brick wall for over a decade. As mentioned in my previous post, my 2x great granny Helen had two apparently illegitimate children with Albert Charles Beckett. The birth certificates say he was a corporal in the Royal Engineers in 1898 and 1902. The problem is, there wasn't a Corporal Albert Charles Beckett in the Royal Engineers at this time.
Recently, I've managed to possibly narrow him down to one of two people. Both of them went on to marry and have other families, so it's a little sensitive. One of them is the only man I can find in the birth records who has the correct name and is the right age to have been the father. I can't find him on the 1901 census, which means he could possibly have been serving abroad at the time the census was taken. However, there is no record of him in the Royal Engineers. The other has a different middle name (still with a C), but was a Corporal in the Royal Engineers at the right time. Could she just have got his middle name wrong?
I'm erring towards the second man, but obviously I have no proof he's the correct Albert. There is a photograph of him online and I was staring at it today looking for family resemblance. He certainly could be the right man, his colouring and a couple of his features look right, but there's no obvious "he's the spitting image!" moment. There are no photos of the other Albert to look at.
Previously, I'd always dismissed the Albert with the wrong middle name, but I think it's time to start investigating him and see if I can find his service record. Was he in Chatham or Gillingham around the right dates for the births? I don't think I'll ever be able to state categorically that he was the man, which brings me to a frustrating dead end on that line. Whatever happened between Helen and Albert that led to two children but no marriage will have to remain a mystery.
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