Next session
Tuesday 14th September at 9pm
Thanks again to Anthony and everyone who joined in on the sessions so far - details
are below.
Next 20 Questions/Answers
|
| Dawn Brown - 17/08/2010 21:28:34 |
| Hi Anthony - My Great Grandmother Mabel Felton was born in Kensington in 1877, on her Birth Certificate her mother is listed as Elizabeth Felton and her Father George Browne Felton - I thought it was unusual for them to both have the same 2nd name. I know Elizabeth married again in 1882 but I cannot find any trace of George, neither a birth, marriage or death certificate. I have recently located a Baptism record which gives the same information as the birth certificate. Mabel was baptised in St Philips in Kensington on April 11th 1880. I am assuming George died between April 1880 and Oct 1882 (when Elizabeth re-married). In the 1881 census Mabel is 3 years old and recorded as a "visitor" - I haven't found either of her parents in this census year either. I am wondering whether St Philips would have any records, my thinking is, if George had died then maybe he is buried in the church. Any help you can offer would be appreciated. Many thanks |
| Yes, you could seek George's burial - a good idea, and also seek him in the censuses. Of course, he may have died any time after Mabel's conception. The odd circumstances you describe hint at another possibility - that Elizabeth was actually unmarried, and simply made George up (but don't take that as gospel!). Was it he, though, or she, who informed the registrar of Mabel's birth? |
|
| Charles Hills - 17/08/2010 21:22:20 |
| Dear Anthony,
My father, Arthur Ernest Hills, was ostensibly an Englishman, the son of another man of the same name and a woman called Mary Brown. But after my mother´s death I visited an old friend of hers who had known my parents at the time of their marriage, and she suddenly told me that my mother had told her that her husband´s father was Polish. Two other old women have since confirmed that my mother said this, one of them thought it might be Polish or German.
For this story to be true, it of course means that my father's birth certificate is a falsification. How common do you think this would have been? My father was ostensibly born in Sheerness on January 6th 1925 and registered there. My father's family traditionally had very little to do with each other, and I myself had no contact with my father for the last twenty of his life, and I have met no possible relations although I have tried hard with Genes Reunited, so I wonder how, if at all, one could go about trying to check this strange story.
Yours with kind regards,
Charles Albert Reis Hills |
| Unless you have really good reason to doubt it, you can presumably accept the 1925 birth record from what was then the quite busy maritime dock-town of Sheerness as correct. However, the parents may well, and without any subterfuge other than the normal, normal desire to fit in, have adopted English names in place of foreign ones. See if they married under their English names, or if they used deeds poll (which could be in the Times or local newspapers) to alter their names, or if Arthur senior was naturalised (this may be under the new name and refer back to the old). You may get stuck, but at least you are forewarned. Find out what the German and Polish words for 'hills' are, as oe of these may be the original name, maybe. |
|
| Vickory Ellison - 17/08/2010 21:19:40 |
| Hi Anthony, My brick wall is a Great Grandfather, William Henry Ellison, for who I can find no B,D,M, records. Gaol records have conflicting year & place of birth info, ranging from 1857 to 1865, places mentioned being Sydney,Melbourne & overseas. He fathered 2 children that I know of, their birth & baptism certificates give only his name, age & address at the time, no parents details. The ages stated would give a birth year of 1860 or 1862. He is not mentioned in any other family certs or events. A family photo includes him in 1920 & he is remembered by family members who were young children in early 1930's. He & Great Grandmother were never legally married so there are no Church records to pursue. I have found him on only 1 directory that is 100% sure to be him as the address is the same as where a child was born, Australia doesn't have Census records to assist & I can't confirm any William ELLISON's on ER's are him. Any suggestions please as to how I can proceed in my search for him? |
| I cannot suggest much, as it all depends on where he was actually living - I assume in Australia. You really need to focus on the available birth and/or baptism records for Sydney and Melbourne, but you can also see what families of Ellison may have been living there about the mid-1800s and of course use the records of convicts and incoming free settlers to see how many Ellisons arrived before the mid 1850s (gold rush time, I think) who may have been William's father. |
|
| Susan Francis-Sutton - 17/08/2010 21:18:57 |
| Hi Anthony, I am trying to trace my husbands great grandparents. They are named on his grandfather,
Frederick Day's birth certificate as Frank Day and Emily Day nee Miller. His grandfather was born in 1904 in Camberwell. I also have Fredericks Marriage certificate in 1929 and his father was named as Frank again, but deceased at this time. I am unable to find a marriage certificate for Frank and Emily and also not able to find them on any census. Helllppp! It's driving me crazy. thanks Sue |
| You should be able to find them all in the 1911 census, and to help perhaps you could try variants of the first names - Fred and Francis, rather than Frederick and Frank. The missing marriage may be under Francis too, not Frank, but also look in the Army Marriages - Frank may have been a solider before 1904, as so many young men were at that time - in the Boer War, perhaps. |
|
| Kate Stockdale - 17/08/2010 21:12:34 |
| Hi Anthony
Later this month I am hoping to visit the village my where ggrandparents lived. I cannot trace my ggrandmothers roots as there is not father given on her marriage certificate. Nor can I find a reliable entry in BMD for where she died. I wonder is you could advise me as to which places would be the best to visit where I may find a few clues.
She died after 1911 and I intend to visit the two churches in the village where she lived in 1911. a) Would I be able to peruse church records? b) There is a possibility she could have been in the workhouse as a child, How could I find out more facts about children without parents in a workhouse.
Hopefully Kate |
| A very, very good and sensible plan. All genealogists should do this as much as possible. However, the records are more likely to be in the relevant county record office, not in the villages. Workhouse registers may well shed some light on her early life, and may identify siblings: they're not likely to say who the father was - something it is not always possible to find out in such cases, I'm afraid. But, try the baptism registers, which might, possibly, name a father; it's a bit late for a bastardy bond in the parish chest, but worth asking. |
|
| Michael Franklin - 17/08/2010 21:10:41 |
| Hi Anthony, I'm trying to trace some more details about my great great great great grandfather Samuel Franklin who was born around 1786. I have discovered he and some of my family moved to New Zealand. Is there a way I can found out more details about when he may have moved there? I'd love to know more about his parents but I'm not sure how to get access to information from this far back. Thanks, Michael |
| Now, at least you're after a bit of both. For the migrants to New Zealand, you need to establish roughly who these might have been - you could see, for example, who was not here when the censuses started to be taken. Franklin is a good, distinctive name and there were of course relatively few people in New Zealand in the early 1800s, so picking them up in the early records there should not be too hard. To go further back than 1786, you first need to find Samuel's baptism, that is a question of looking in the church registers for where he lived, or nearby, or if not found using indexes such as the International Genealogical Index (www.familysearch.org) to pick up likely baptisms for him further afield, that you can explore in more detail in the original records. |
|
| Susannah Barton-Rossall - 17/08/2010 21:10:29 |
| Hello Anthony,
I have 2 questions - the first about my husband's gt.grandad. He was a British citizen born in the USA abt 1876,as stated on the 1901 census. He came into the UK between 1891 & 1901.He was called John Charles Carswell;his dad was James Carswell. How do I find out when & where in the US he was born.?Are registration rules different for British citizens born abroad?
2nd - My gt.uncle Albert G Reeve,b 1885,is shown in the 1911 census as a stoker,resident in the Royal Naval dockyard at Sheerness. I haven't been able to trace him any further.Can't find any trace of him in the seamans'data at TNA. Any ideas,please? would he necessarily have been in the Royal Navy,or could he have been a civilian?
Thanking you in anticipation.....
Susannah, Blackpool,Lancashire. |
| 1. If a British Citizen, then he may appear in the General Register Office's records of consular births, or else maybe you will find him being naturalised - naturalisation records are at The National Archives in class HO 1.
2. Yes - another to do with tracing forward! Are all genealogists suddenly changing direction? I suggest looking in General Registration for Albert marrying, or for him dying, either in this country or, indeed, in deaths at sea. For records of stokers at Deptford, two good places to look for records would be The National Archives and the National Maritime Museum. Good luck! |
|
| Anne Boyden - 17/08/2010 21:06:27 |
| I am trying to trace my Grandfather Thomas Aitcheson Graham, born approx 1880, we think in Scotland. I have no further details other than he was a marine surveyor and was also employed by the Technological Institute of Great Britain until about 1926. I believe he may have a spent a short time in HMP Walton in the late '20's. After that I have no idea what became of him.
Have you any ideas how I can procede? Thank you. |
| Another question in the same vein as the last, but in this case more possibilities present themselves - deaths in this country (Scotland, England or Wales): the deaths at sea, or deaths registered with British consuls abroad - all can be searched on this site. He may of course have ended up anywhere, but if he left a will behind here, which was proved, it will be in the Principal Probate Registry (First Avenue House), and the probate clause will say where he actually died. Does the Technological Institute of Great Britain have surviving archives? They might help too. |
|
| Jean Johnson - 17/08/2010 21:05:47 |
| Hi Anthony - My grandmother Rose(ie) louise Holt (nee Smith) was born in 1892. She married my grandad , Albert holt in April 1911, and they had three boys. In about 1919 / 1920 she left her family and `didappeared `. My grandad ( who died in 1929 ) and her three sons never saw her again. My dad died never knowing what happened to his mother , and I am doing this research in his memory. Any ideas, please Anthony. Thanx, Jean. |
| This is one of many family mysteries that modern family historians are now hoping they can solve, and I wish you the very best of luck. All depends really on how much Rose wanted to disappear: if she decided to adopt a false name and identity, I'm afraid no agency on earth could ever find her. However, if she went to a different town and used her own identity, trusting to lack of communications as her shield, and, say, married again, or simply died under the names under which you know her, searches in the General Registration indexes (on this site) may reveal her. It may also be worth trying to trace living relatives of her siblings: they may have stories of where she went and what happened to her.
|
|
| Ian Stacey - 17/08/2010 21:01:29 |
| The French connection
Hello Anthony,
I am researching ancestry which originates in France. Jean Louis Elie BOURREL was born in the Royal Mews, Hampton Court in September 1901 and died in Carshalton 1962. His parents, Francois Bourrel and Ellen Copping, were married in 1906 in St. Pancras. Their marriage cert. gives Francois’ father as Jean, a blacksmith (deceased). All references to Francois show him as domestic chef, French (resident) with no clue as to his birthplace or D.o.B. apart from Census ages of 29 in 1901, 38 in 1911, Mar. cert. 33 and 70 on his death cert. (son-in-law as informant). The 1911 census shows him married for 10 years (possibly because of two pre-marriage children?). Jean Louis’ birth cert. shows Ellen’s surname as Bourrel, formerly Coppin (sic).
How can I find more about Francois without knowing where in France he was born?
|
| There are several ways to crack 'the French connection', but the one I'd suggest trying before all others is to see if Francois was ever naturalised. He may not have been by 1911, but that may well have changed due to the Great War, and indeed his realisation that he was probably going to remain here for good. You could also see if he left a will, in which he may have mentioned relatives (such as siblings) back in France, specifying where they were. Bon chance! |
|
| Rod Horton - 27/07/2010 21:56:48 |
| Hi Anthony,
I have another question you may be able to help me with please.
Verbal information handed down to me from my father is that some of our ancestors came from Germany to Coventry. Their surname apparently was Bunn. Whether or not this was an anglicized version of the German name I do not know.
They came from Germany, so the information goes, in order to help out with the making fast of the ‘Coventry Blue’ dye, a skill that had been lost. Coventry of course had a resurgence of work with the silk industry, Stephengraphs and etc roughly two to three centuries ago. An aunt of mine, now deceased, wrote down information for me about her Mother, my Grandmother, saying to her whilst walking through a street in Coventry, ‘a bun for a Bunn’ and pointing out where the ancestors used to work. There are a number of places in Coventry where silk dyeing took place, one of them being a ‘William and Henry Browett’. According to old maps of the city this factory was the only dye-house situated close to the area where my Grandmother was speaking to my Aunt, so I have assumed that was the location where they worked. I have attempted to find records of immigration of Germans to Coventry and records of employees of ‘William and Henry Browett’, but to no avail.
Have you any idea where I go next in the search for this information please?
Regards,
Rod Horton.
|
| |
