Genealogy Chat

hello i am looking for some advice of someone please my granddad was born in 1897 in sunderland, i no where he was born cos i have his birth certificate and i looked on multie map site and the address is still there because we havent any older relatives living we have noone to ask i would like to no is is there anyway i can find out where he went to school and if the school if still there also do they keep school records from early 1900s where could i access them thanks

Hi I haven't used them myself but I recently bought a little book by Stuart Raymond called Tracing your 20th Century Ancestors. In it he says school records are likely to be deposited at the local record office. So I would first of all contact the one relevent to where your ancestor lived and see what they can tell you. Hope you have some luck Diane

thanks for ur reply i will contact sunderland office when they open after holidays i just had a look on friends reunited and found there were 83 schools in sunderland lol and cos i dont no the area itll be like looking for a needle in a haystack lol

Good luck. You never know you may hit the jackpot!! Diane

thanks i think im gonna need it lol

Hi, Other things to consider which may add to your knowledge of your grandfather are: 1. Find him on the 1901 census and identify any siblings. 2. Check the Historical Directories website and see if they have any directories for the area covering the period 1900 - 1920. You may find the family listed but will certainly find details of which schools were in operation at that time. 3. Did he see service in either war? WW1 Medal cards, CWGC for dead siblings. 4. Check the GENUKI website (when it's working, it's down today) and see if there are any relevant links to school history etc on the Sunderland page. http://www.genuki.org.uk 5. If you find the names of any schools which served the area at the right time you can serach the A2A database and see if any archived records exist. http://www.a2a.org.uk/ Well that should keep you busy until the record office reopens! Happy New Year Pete

thanks for that pete i have them in 1901 census so i better get cracking with the others on ur list lol

Just to add, unlikely as I thought it would be, some time back I searched for one ancestors name on a2a and found a school certificate of good attendance for her!

Hi Dotty, i have been trying to do the same thing and i have found out that most church schools keep records but state schools don't seem to, probably due to space. Gill

What street did he live in? If it was Westburn Terrace or Roker Baths Road then there is a chance it was Redby School on Fulwell Road. Thats where my Grandad and his siblings attended.

he was born at 27 byron street southwick sunderland in 1897 the family was there in 1901 on the census