Scard Barr Annie Burgess

They are unusual names. Are you sure she was given those names at birth?  Have you found her baptism?

I searched for her birth registration between 1864-1875 on Irish Genealogy.ie under various name combinations. I even tried Barbara.  Registrations for Anne Burgess included registration districts of Armagh, Lurgan and Belfast but none in Londonderry. Omitting forenames and searching for Burgess births didn't find any likely ones in Londonderry. I thought that Scard and Barr may have been family surnames. No Scard anywhere in Ireland. There was 1 family called Scart in County Cork. Much better results for surname Barr - over 600 births registered in Ireland in a decade, 65 of them in Londonderry. They included:  Rose Ann Barr registered 1873, Londonderry, father Alexander ;  Nancy Barr, registered 1871, Ballymena, father John.     https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en 

Burgess might have been Burke or Burgh.

Where did the information about her father come from? 

There is a tree on Ancestry which has an extra name, Sarah. It has her birth as 11th December 1871 and her mother as Essie McKey.

Have you searched for her on an English census before her marriage? Was she on a census after marriage?

What names was her death registered under?

Postscript to the mother named as Essie McKey on Ancestry tree. The name Essie Burgess is listed in Calendar of Wills  in National Archives of Ireland. County Londonderry, date of death 14th Nov. 1900. I don't see a death registration for her.

Ger fathers name, John Burgess is registered on her marriage certificate alon with her full unusual name .She passed the Scard name onto her daughter as a muddle name .Im pretty sure her mother was Esther Mackay who was married to John Burgess and if this is the case I think Scard/Annie and Esther appear on the 1891 English census as visitors in London.The unusual names also appear on a passenger list to Canada and on her death register so I’m pretty sure these are her real names all the other information you have provided is the info I have already gathered and put on ancestry but anything else anyone can add would be interesting .

Apologise for spellings ,writing very quickly .Scard appears on the 1901 census in Holborn ,London and the only reason I think she is born in Londonderry is because this is her stated birth place on this census,also my grandfather always said his mother was Irish.

Her stated age at death in 1924 was 40. This may have been an estimation by hospital staff or it may have been the age she said if asked. Names on death registration are Anna Scard Murray. Registered on day of death. Have you come across an obituary or death notice in a newspaper?

People can call themselves whatever they like and say they wish to be known by those names in future, as long as the purpose isn't fraudulent. Some people change names officially by deed-poll, some place a notice in a newspaper, others simply use the preferred name. E.g. singer Cliff Richard was born Harry Webb. He adopted the name Cliff Richard at the age of 18 when he began in show-business. Cliff Richard is now on his passport. Real name of actor Matthew McNulty is Michael McNulty (he's of Mayo stock). Scard/Barr/Annie/Sarah/Burgess may have re-arranged the order of her names or added or subtracted some. Something to consider is that Burgess may have been surname of her stepfather.

Information about fathers on marriage certificates wasn't always accurate.

The term "gentleman" was fluid in 19th century Britain. Two of my ancestors, father and son, were styled "gentleman" in 1830s after selling the family business and living on proceeds. The son returned to working for a living a few years later so ceased to be a gentleman.

Interesting that they took a trip to Canada. That may be why the son had Strathcona as a middle name. Original Strathcona is Scottish. 

Hi Maggie the idea about rearranging names is quite pertinent in the family as my grandfather,the one with Strathcona in it was known as plain old Tom Murray so we always knew we where really Sykes but became the Murray family.The Sykes side is from Yorkshire and relatively easy to follow as they where solicitors .I have found some record of a John Burgess in Londonderry also married to Esther Mackay but still having problems pin pointing Scards birth ,surprising as it is so unusual.I also believe Esther was her mother because she gives her daughter Sweetbriar (my great aunt) Esther as a middle name along with Scard .They went to Canada to emigrate but returned not long after,I was wondering if they where trying to continue their acting careers as her husband George came from an acting family who had toured America before.

I even tried searching for a birth registration for Scard as a forename without a surname on Irish Genealogy.ie but it came up with "No results".  If it was one of her names registered at birth, it may have been incorrectly transcribed. Have you thought of searching for a birth registration in Scotland or elsewhere in the British Isles (including Isle of Man) or abroad?

Another possibility to consider is that Esther McKay was her mother and John Burgess was her stepfather. What date was the record of the John Burgess with wife Esther McKay in Londondery and what type of record was it?  Did the record mention his occupation? Have you checked for John Burgess wills in Ireland or Britain.

The tree on Ancestry has date of birth 11th Dec. 1871. What's the source for that date?  If it's correct, her birth should have been registered in December 1871 or January 1872 (or possibly February 1872). There is a way of navigating through consecutive pages of an Irish civil register by finding an entry you know happened around same time in that place and then working forwards and backwards. I've known people do it for marriages but a marriage register is easier because a marriage was registered soon after it happened. I can't explain how to do it. If she was my ancestor I would be on the lookout for any combination of names, including Ann and Sarah as forenames and Barr, Scard, Burgess and McKay as surnames, or McKay as mother's maiden surname, a birthdate November-December 1871, somewhere in County Londonderry. Sean Wilson's website about Irish family history has lists of registration districts and maps.