Leonard Sturgess has always been a mystery to me.

What started me off on a quest to find out more about Leonard was a Funeral 
Card, found amongst a bunch of other cards that had been passed down to me by 
my grandparents.

The card mentioned that Leonard was the husband of Rachel and that he had been 
interred in Haseley Churchyard near Hatton in Warwickshire.  I knew that my 
paternal grandfather's family lived in Hatton from the 1860s until their deaths 
in the 1920s.  

I also came across a postcard to 'Gran' - Mrs T Harris of Hatton from R Sturgess 
so I naturally assumed that I had a familial link with either Rachel or Leonard...

This link, I haven't yet found.

Rachel certainly isn't related to my family (as this site shows) so I can only 
attempt to delve into Leonard's side.  

I had originally assumed Leonard was orphaned; his marriage certificate gives 
no father's name, plus he resided in a workhouse as a 3 year old at the 1891 
Census and in the column indicating Place of Birth, it is recorded as 'cannot 
tell'.  At the 1901 census, Leonard is recorded as a boarder with the 'Dainty' 
family.

Leonard's birth certificate was hastily obtained, as was his parents marriage 
certificate... what happened to his parents, I'm not sure.  His father does 
appear on the 1901 Census in Derbyshire but no subsequent records can be found 
for Leonard's mother.  It's puzzling to wonder why the families of Leonard's parents 
did not take him in?...  The quest continues.

Leonard died in 1918 - one of the many Commonwealth War Dead.  Rachel never remarried
and died childless some time later...