Family Tree Search

[quark1]

Mrsc2b - thanks v.much for the offer.

Since putting up the original thread - some of the kind peeps here have reminded me of sites that I have visited in the past and have since been updated with extra stuff. Particulary the freebmd which relies on volunteer transcribers.

I have unearthed the birth of the g/g/parents on the female side, their marriage and records of 2 older sibling daughters!

I have also now tried a different interrogation technique - a classic case of less is more - and uncovered the death records of the g/parents. I now have to find the daughter of this marriage to complete the search.

I will PM you the details and hope that you may enjoy greater access or know better ways of getting at the info.

I will send for the death cert of the female g/parent and I'm pretty sure there will be enough info therein to confirm I have the right people.

Thanks.

[jackie j]

I would like to trace my mothers side of the family but we dont even have a name for her father as my nan never married. I found out a couple of years before mum died that she had been in a fire when she was between five and seven years old. I had always known she had been brought up in an orphanage from that age and had a brother and sister both younger, found out that she was probably one of five or seven children one of whom she thinks died in the fire.
She was born in London in May 1912 I dont even know which orphanage she was in. She went into service when she was old enough then the wrens, met my dad and married in 1948. We wish we had asked more questions when my nan was alive as she came to live with us until her death in the 70's.
My BIL traced my dads side back to the 1700 and we could be related to somebody high up but on the wrong side of the sheets as it were !!!!

[Mikey]

My BIL traced my dads side back to the 1700 and we could be related to somebody high up but on the wrong side of the sheets as it were !!!!

Isn't it always the case, my OH's family have a small farm which was offered as a gift for a certain mistake made by the lord of the manor, many years ago!!

[jackie j]

MY nee name was Churchill and my gran was know as grannie Welling cos she married twice (dads side )

[quark1]

Jackie J - does your story mean you may have missing uncles and aunts - siblings of your mum - who have perhaps lost contact each with the other? Perhaps being separated after the fire?

I would have thought a trawl through some local archives from the time of the fire might steer to find the possible orphange/s. Bad news seems to be popular and I'm sure not just today. I'm sure such a tragic event would have been recorded somewhere within the local community at the time.

With so much loss of a personal paper trail - you may well be very lucky to get further.

If you haven't already tried the sites mentioned above - do give it a go. I imagine you already have if BIL has researched that well he may already have tried for you.

There is another free site which preads the net far and wide

Missing You - UK missing persons - FREE help to locate lost friends, relatives, forces pals, etc - also genealogy and family history research

might be worth a punt if you've not tried it before.

Good Luck.

[snuffer]

Tracing long lost relatives. Iv'e got some relatives that I wish would get lost. Sorry that was of no help at all but it did allow me a very tiny rant. Mother in law (or as we like to call her, the Haga Baga) problems.

[jackie j]

Quark1 yes we probably have got missing relatives on mum's side one of my cousins has tried to trace them but with no names to go on not even christian names or dates of birth he drew blanks. the only name mum could remember was Jimmy but she wasnt sure if that was right or if he died in the fire which would have been around 1917 -1919 ish somewhere in London's east end.
As I said she had one brother and one sister who are both deceased, that we were in touch with, and are still in touch with her sister's children but not her brother's son , her brother had a farm somewhere in Cornwall I visited it once but wouldnt know where exactly.
Thanks for the info one day I may try again.

[quark1]

Just noticed I started this thread off in July and I have some news for you.

After trying various methods of contacting people I thought might be part of the family I'm after, I made contact with someone in Scotland who has proved to be most useful. She spoke to an aunt who insisted that I should continue the search in Derbyshire - not Scotland.

I became quite dependant on this lady digging out what she could from a rather elderly relative who was not in the best of health at the time, but hopefully feeling much better now. I then came across a link via a search engine which has allowed me 'free-ish' access to one of the better-known sites for looking at indexes etc. I'm using it until it fails - which it almost certainly will once its discovered - until then....!

I sent for a key D.Cert and made contact with a lady (informant of event) who the elderly relative of my Scottish contact had alluded to. In the last week my search turned to even more southerly parts with Colchester being named.

Sadly, with this info, I very quickly found the target of my search had passed away in 2003 and this was confirmed when I spoke to her husband this last weekend. A shattering blow but I'm so glad this person I sought found who I believe to be a truly gentle-man.

There have been many people here who have kindly offered to assist where they can - either by practical lookups and/or advice and those individuals know more of the detail. I canot say which surname out of those mentioned was the target in public - the name has anyway been changed by marriage. I have written to the husband of the woman I have located who is my natural mother and like so many before her, including her own mother so I understand!, made the selfless act of giving her child into adoption in an era so different to today, where the decision was most likely forced upon her by society/family.

It is of course sad that I shall never have the opportunity, this side of heaven (should I be so lucky - which I doubt!) - so say thankyou to this woman for giving me the chances and opportunities she thought she couldn't provide herself.

May I respectfully give this advice to anyone looking for similar things. If there is any annoyance/anger at the discovery let it pass before you start your search - let the waters calm and look at it from the other person's point of view and the choices they had. Don't necessarily go looking for answers - they may or may not come in time - everyone deserves their privacy -even for their mistakes. Don't leave it too late as I did. If any of you are in your 40's I would suggest you waste no time and act now - I'm a bit older than that so you can do your own sums. Expect the worst - hope for the best. I have discovered at least one 'monster' black-sheep of quite disgusting status who married 'into' the family - so thankfully no blood relation! Even for normal family searches ask the living while you can - I know that sounds indelicate but oh so true - even the elderly 'maiden aunt' that perhaps is a figure of fun for being a tad eccentric may well have little gems of vital info stored in those ramblings and reminiscences! My adoptive mother gave me the key many years ago to unlocking my history in that she knew my 'original' name.

Finally - I shall be looking into even more of my family history as a result of this - I'm hooked on the subject and want to discover everything I can about my very complicated family network. I shall also be happy to try and do any lookups for anyone on this site so long as I keep the access I have found - mainly for Eng/Wal with limited Scot records - if it helps in searches of a similar nature.

PM only - no specific names in the public arena!

[coomber]

Hi Quark1

I have started to look for my mums birth mother, i think i have found her marriage certificate and cannot find a record of her death, but i've had no luck trying to find her where abouts now. Do you have any good web sites or tips, any ideas would be greatly appeciated

[quark1]

coomber - if you PM me with the details of what you have and what you want I'll see if I can help.

Cheers Q!

[quark1]

Got the PM - will take a long'er' hard look at it. Same era as me ('54) so don't expect a great outcome when the time comes. Can you let me have the names of 2 siblings by PM (approx dob if poss) and more may be gained by that route.

Have electoral roll from 2005 (don't ask!) - no immediate help in area suggested - need to pin down probably via extended family.

[jackie j]

I so wish I had asked my mum more about her family. Too late now but my bil has found some stuff.