Genealogy Chat

We all have brick walls that we try to knock down. I know some of you lucky ones have been successful. I just wondered if those of you who have achieved this could share with the rest of us how you managed to 'knock it down' please. Pat (climbing the endless wall)

Hi Patricia, ONE of my brick walls was being unable to find the ref for the birth of my Gt Gt Gt Grandfather James Blears. I knew he was born in 1861 in Salford. After sending for 2 wrong certificates, I took a long shot and sent for a 3rd one, the surname was spelt BLEAISE. This took me about a year, I know it is the right one as the fathers name and occupation were correct! Other variations of the transcription of the name on census returns were...Bearze, Bleaze, Beaze and Blease! So my advise to people is never give up. Gail.

Thanks Gail and Kate you have certainly given me some valuable clues. This game is like a detective mystery. Pat

I couldn't find my great grandfather William Goadby (b1871) and his brother Joseph (b1873) or their mother Ann Goadby (née Bodycote) on the 1881 census. Their sister Sarah Ann (b1868) was with a maternal aunt and her family in Leicester but there was no sign of the boys anywhere. I eventually found them all on the 1891 and 1901. Their mother had married again (possibly twice) and had two other children, Arthur Smith and Annie Riley. In the 1901 Arthur's birth place was given as Leicester, where the family was living. When I transcribed the 1891 entry I also put Leicester for Arthur's birth place. I kept posting on the 'Who are we looking for in Leicester' thread and someone (thanks Mike) posted the 1891 entry correctly. I was so sure that he was wrong that I went back to the original return. He was right. It said that Arthur was born c 1882 in Leeds so I looked in Leeds for the family. I found a family named Chapman with children of the right names, ages and birth place and mother of the right name (although age and birth place were wrong). However they had a visitor on census night who was Ann's four year old niece so I was pretty sure I had at last got the right family. I didn't recognise the name Chapman and wondered if there was another marriage that I had not been told about. I searched the GRO index and found a marriage for Annie Goadby in Leeds in the first quarter of 1881, just before the census. It didn't cross reference with Chapman but with Smith so I sent for the certificate and it is the right one! William Chapman doesn't seem to exist and I do not yet have enough information to identify the right William Smith from all those on offer, but it certainly looks like my great great grandmother moved to Leeds at some point before moving back to Leicester. I've not completely broken down the wall, but I'm getting there and I am v happy about it. To anyone with a brick wall I would say keep trying. Chances are they are there somewhere and I have lots of rellies who are mis-indexed or missed out of the index. If it was all easy it wouldn't be half so much fun! Sheila