John Ralph & Hannah Bennett in Suffolk
John Ralph was born in Leiston, Suffolk around 1787. In 1793, his wife, Hannah Bennett, was born in Benhall where they married in 1816. John's parents might be Thomas Ralph & Eizabeth Lynd, and hsi grandparents, Thomas Ralph & Sarah Purley
John Ralph's son George (gamekeeper, thatcher, labourer, sawyer & carpenter) married Grace Whigham Chalmers in Hunstanton in 1850. They had three children (in Hunstanton, Heveningham and 'Suffolk') before Eliza Baker in 1857 or 1858 in Lowestoft (later reported in censuses to also have been Halesworth, Yarmouth and 'Norfolk'). They then had three more children in Chediston, Walpole and St Pancras.
Eliza Baker Norman (before marriage, Eliza Ralph & Eliza Baker Ralph, 1857-1925)
There is mystery regarding Eliza's birth. Why was she given the middle name Baker. Was it because of a family relative? Was it because the next door neighbour's lodger's surname was Baker? Why was Eliza's birth not registered? Was the lodger William Baker her biological father? Did her father George believe that William was the biological father while in fact he George was? Will DNA enable us to at least determine her paternity?
In the 1861 census Eliza Ralph apears aged 3 born Lowestoft, Suffolk with no middle name. In the 1871 census (before her mother has died) she appears as Eliza B Ralph aged 14 born Suffolk.
In 1878 she marries William Norman under the name Eliza Baker Ralph giving her father as George Ralph, labourer.