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I am Trying to find my Mothers Relations,Ethel Charlton) The names I have in my family tree are Ethel Charlton born 1914, George Thomas Lowe (Husband) born 1912,Elizabeth Charlton(sister) c1910, William Charlton(brother) c1905. Michael Charlton(brother) c1912,Esther Charlton(Sister) c1908 Other names related are Donald Charlton c 1931, Mavis Charlton 1940,Thomas Crowe c 1908, Albert Crowe c 1931 Ronald Crowe c 1933 Ivor Crowe c 1937

I hate to be the bearer of potential bad news, but of course given their ages it is likely that some of the people you name have died.

I wonder whether these might be two of them (I did a quick search of the post-1984 death index for a couple of the more unusual names):


Name: Ivor Crowe
Birth Date: 11 Mar 1936
Death Registration Month/Year: Dec 2001
Age at death (estimated): 65
Registration district: Sunderland
Inferred County: Durham
Register number: E63E
Entry Number: 155


Name: Donald Charlton
Birth Date: 13 Apr 1932
Death Registration Month/Year: Feb 2005
Age at death (estimated): 72
Registration district: Sunderland
Inferred County: Durham
Register number: D72E
Entry Number: 152


If you think so, the death certificates might provide you with information for finding their family members, or you might be able to find published obituaries in newspaper archives on microfilm at a public library.

Before someone else does, I'll ask whether you've remembered to search trees here at GR for those names. ;)

Thanks Kathryn, it is a start, I understand that My Mothers (my Grandmother) was called Smith(Maiden) Name I have no idea what her first name was, or anything about my Grandfather Charlton.Somebody on GRU gave me Ethel Charlton Jan-March 1914 Houghton-Le-Spring Ref 10A 1152 Mothers Name Smith, I have no other information after that,I would like to find out more to trace my ancestors in the Charlton Family in County Durham.I am new to computors,so I am finding it difficult,Thank you for your help up to now, and hopefully I can find out more.

William George Lowe 1935

Hi Christine, I have put the References Houghton Le-Spring 10A 1152 Mothers maiden name Smith into durhamrecordsonline.com,but have come up with no matches. My Mother Ethel Charltons birthdate was definetly 1914 born Washington County Durham. Being new to computors has not helped, I do not know my Grandmothers first name or my Grandfathers, only that my Grandfather was called Charlton

Many Thanks

William George Lowe 1935

Alrighty then, this has to be your mum's birth:


Name: Ethel Charlton
Year of Registration: 1914
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Mother's Maiden Name: Smith
District: Houghton Le Spring
County: Durham
Volume: 10a
Page: 1152


Looking at Google maps, I see that Washington is maybe 6 miles from Houghton-Le-Spring. It doesn't seem to be part of Houghton-Le-Spring registry district -- but she may have been born in hospital or at a relative's house that was in that district, or just grew up in Washington and understood that's where she was born.

There ain't no other Ethel Charlton who fits the specs.

So what you do, quickest and easiest, is you go here:

www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate

to order that certificate. It's a good thing to create yourself an account -- that way, next time you want to order something, you don't have to type your name and address and credit card info every time.

The information above there is the exact info you will have to put on the application form for the certificate. (I checked the actual image for you, and the info there is all correct.)

It will tell you her parents names. Bingo, just like that.

Meanwhile, we see whether we can see a marriage that looks like them. So I searched at FreeBMD for a marriage between Charlton and Smith anytime from 1900 to 1915, in Houghton-Le-Spring, and this is the only one I got:


Name: James C Charlton + Bertha Smith
Year of Registration: 1913
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
Spouse's Surname: Smith
District: Houghton Le Spring
County: Durham
Volume: 10a
Page: 935


It's a pretty good bet that those are Ethel's parents.

Whoa, you have Charlton births before 1913. Could that have been a second marriage for the father?

And there are scads of Charlton-Smith marriages before 1910.

Who can tell me what registration district Washington is in??

... Here we are. Chester-Le-Street. But the names you have don't seem to have been registered in that district.

You know what the best first step would be? Get your mother's marriage certificate. It will have her father's name on it. Then we go from there, with a piece of definite info -- we look for his marriage.

You might be stuck with a bit of trial and error, unfortunately. You'll have to get a birth certificate and hope it matches up with the father's name on the marriage certificate. If it does, you're in business, and it will also give you the mother's birth surname, and then we look for their marriage.

Do you know your mother's and father's date of marriage? We can get you the info you need, for ordering their marriage certificate, in a jiffy, if you do.

I'm just going to put your names in a list so they're much easier to refer to.


Ethel Charlton born 1914,
George Thomas Lowe (Husband) born 1912,

Elizabeth Charlton(sister) c1910,
William Charlton(brother) c1905.
Michael Charlton(brother) c1912,
Esther Charlton(Sister) c1908

Other names related are
Donald Charlton c 1931,
Mavis Charlton 1940,
Thomas Crowe c 1908,
Albert Crowe c 1931
Ronald Crowe c 1933
Ivor Crowe c 1937


Now, how are those names related? The Charltons in the second list must be children of a brother or sister of Ethel. Are the Crowes children of one of her sisters?

And are you most interested in tracing your ancestry, or finding those people / their children today?

i have a william thomas nixon charlton on my tree born 20/08/1905..he was my grandad but ive never been able to trace any of his brothers or sisters.i had to drive to sunderland to buy his b/c so i was also able to add his parents..anthony charlton 1878 ...sarah ross 1880...could it be the same william..if not any help welcome