Emily Eliza Patrick (my distant relative) married Harry/Henry Newman in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, in 1892. He was a fisherman and Navy reservist; I've found his service record which gives a birthdate (11 Feb 1872) and place (Manchester). I haven't found corresponding birth registration or 1881/1891 census returns though.
Henry was discharged from the Navy in 1903 but vanished from records after that. He may have died, though I haven't found a death index entry.
In 1907 Emily and her children emigrated under the surname Maddocks to the USA to join "husband James Maddocks" in Richmond, PA. I haven't found a Newman/Maddocks marriage in England. In 1910 the family were in Philadelphia with no sign of James (or Henry).
In 1915 a John James Maddocks applied for a passport in Philadelphia so he could visit his sick parents in England – he gave his birthdate as 11 Feb 1873 and said he was born in Manchester. This seems a bit of a coincidence.
I wondered if Henry had done something bad in Grimsby which meant the family had to change their names and leave the country (!) but didn't find anything at the moment on the British Newspaper Archive.
Does anyone have access to any records which I haven't looked at yet? (eg. maybe immigration documents from when James/Henry arrived in the US c1906)
I have a DNA match who's related to a descendant of Henry Newman and Emily Eliza Patrick, though that doesn't really help work out whether Henry = James...
Sources and research notes are on Henry's profile: https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Newman-9334#Research_notes
Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
