General Chat

la..la conga....dont let me be on the end ...pleasssse

And on behalf of GR members Derek, Andy, Colin, Gary, Sheila, and myself; we're all looking for Jeremiah Markham's parents! Im sure an ag lab pauper who died in the workhouse would be flattered to know he's now so sought after and featured on many genealogy boards,lol.

la la la la la conga.....

What a good post. Yes, my Welsh line has come to a standstill, after never really getting started in the first place lol. Percy Price is such a common name in the valleys that I can only trace him thru marriage, as I don't know his parents names. Yet he married a Gentina Roberts and the marriage is not to be found! Have even written to the Bridgend paper, and Percy & Gentila's last known address. Doesnt help that Gentila's birth and death dont seem to be anywhere lol. Am starting to think 1) she was adopted, so had a different surname at birth 2)poss married under that surname 3) she was born in another country 4) Gentila was only her middle name 5) she was a gypsy! God alone knows.

My father inlaw and his family not that far back 1908-1911 but a solid brick wall, may be this year .happy new year and happy hunting all. cheers Annabel

I have a few stucky branches. 1) 2Ggrandfather - Charles Wyatt went missing on the censuses so I decided on a long shot and look for his son who we thought was born after 1901 - turned out the boy was born in 1898 and Charles was really Absolam, so why did he change his name I ask my self ~ I guess he wanted to confuse me!!! 2) Ggrandfather John Graham married and registered his 1st son's birth in the name Jack William Graham, on both younger children's birth certs and his death cert he is John Graham - and guess what, no birth cert for him as he was Irish and we have no idea what his mother was called so he could be called Billy-Joe for all I know!! 3) Ggrandmother's birth (c.1900)was never registered or so she said. Well truth is it wasn't (but all siblings were registered) or at least she's not registered as Hilda Kathleen King (the name by which she grew up with) and she's missing from the 1901 census. so I have the following options: a) her father was the idiot she said he was, b) she's alot younger than she thought or c) she was adopted! oh well just 5 more years to be patient and I guess I might find out!! Best of luck with the sticky branches in 2007, and happy hunting!!

My grandmother Constance Ruby Douglas 1889 Stanhope. I have her birth cert. Father Charles Douglas occ photographer. Mother Maria Smedley. Maria registered the birth I have her marriage cert father Charles Douglas occ photographer. HOWEVER on the 1891 census she is a nursechild. On the 1901 census a lodger as Douglass with the same family as in 1891. Cant find a marriage for her parents. Cant find them on the census. Possible Scotland link from what I remember my father saying about Scottish grandfather. All his other grandparents are accounted for. Difficult without ages or places of birth. Margaret

Melvyn... Have you considered that they might have emigrated? Jean x.

I have spent 10 years trying to find out where my gt Grandfather was in 1871, that's bad enough, but his parents another story, apparently they never existed, where never born, married or died!! Aliens! Kim

Never got any further than my Granny. I found her marriage cert very quickly and on it she named her father and the village where he lived. Found him, but no trace anywhere of her in his rather large families ( married twice ). did find her on 1881 census in a catholic convent as a penitent but thats it until her marriage in 1885. Her background will be forever a mystery... damn

Oh Yes.. very frustrating isn'y it. My maternal Grandmother was born out of wedlock. I have her birth certificate which does not name the father. My great grandmother married the year after my Grandmother was born. I have her marrirage certifiacte. (But there is no proof that this man was the father of my grandmother. The other problem is that I cannot trace either my great grandmother or her husband following the marriage. I cannot find them on any census or any subsequnt deaths. The only clue I have is a person appearing on the 1901 Census who might fit the bill but the place of enumeration is a county prison. He was a private in the Army at the time of the marriage and it could well be that he ended up in prison for desertion or some other mesdemeanour. I have visited the national archives to try and get his military records but could not find him. It's a mystery I think I will never solve. It's shame because I have managed to get back quite a long way on other sections of my family tree but this branch (or root) has come to a dead end.

We have a copper bedpan that belonged to Mary Fisher.....but who she is I have no idea. I see several Mary's that married into the family, get the certs, and they turn out not to be Fishers! There is also an Elizabeth Tyler, I have a photo of her I think, but have yet to find out who she is too. The family Bible has them both mentioned, but does not say who they are, not a date or anything to help me, yet my GGGrandfather was meticulous in his record keeping, except for those two.

Stuck on my great, great, great grandfather. I have the baptism of my great, great grandfather Daniel Durant in 1824 in Bromley by Bow. Parents are shown as Charles Durant and Maria. Can't find a marriage anywhere for them. The 1841 census for Bromley by Bow is missing. My ggg grandfather died in 1843. Another of his sons, Thomas Durant, was in Mile End Workhouse before he died in 1890 and his entry form states settlement order in 1821 and you've guessed it they no longer exist. This whole line has been a struggle and every little find has been like pulling teeth but I really have no idea where to look now. Jean x.

Yes Lesley.....blinkin Joshua John Butt......born 1821 died 1880 or thereabouts......cannot find him from 1821 to 1871........reputed to have a son John, who left his nieces and nephews a nice legacy......but can only find his other two children...... Never mind.......something will turn up sometimes.....meanwhile he bugs me.....

One of mine is my paternal grandmother, known as Hannah Jane Harris born c1871 but no record of her birth is to found. There was a Harris family (Charles & Jane) at 4 Middle Street, Shoreditch for about 40 years (1851-1891 censuses). Handed down is a birth certificate for a Jane Macey born in November 1871 at that address. Her mother was Elizabeth Macey formerly Crawley. Jane Harris's maiden name was Crawley. The certificate was obtained in 1936, when Jane Macey would have been 65. So maybe for a pension or insurance? Charles and Elizabeth Macey seem to have come out of thin air and gone the same way. I surmise that Jane Macey was brought up by the Harrises as their child, taking the name Hannah Jane Harris, but how to prove it ?

Don't give up. After searching and searching for the death of OH's great grandmother I was ready to accept defeat. Received one of her daughter's second marriage certificate and found she was still alive in 1923 so that narrowed it down. Searched up to 1945 and still no luck. A cousin suggested she may have remarried after great grandfather's death. Sure enough, the old dear remarried at the ripe old age of 75 and died three years later. Bless her!! Susan

MINE IS ME G GRANDFATHER , HE APPEARS TO HAVE GONE AWOL, AT THE BIRTH OF MY GRANDAD, THINK I HAVE A NAME SO JUST A PROCESS OF ILLIMANATION OF THE OTHER 40 ODD THOUSAND WITH THE SAME NAME LOL. BUT I WONT GIVE UP

Ladies - don't give up. I spent nearly 20 yrears looking for 'Aunt Martha'. She was the sister of my gt.grandmother so I didn't really need to find her for my tree but more for her reputation. Apparently her sister and husband parted and for whatever reason the two younger boys went to live with her. She had children of her own whom I presume she treated ok, BUT she treated the two boys belonging to her sister rather badly (one of whom was my grandfather). The profound effect her awful treatment had on him lasted all his life and even in adulthood he used to say 'I hope she rots in Hell !!' Because of this I was determined to find her and only succeeded in doing so 12 months ago. The good side of this was that I 'met/contacted' a genes member who is a descendent of her first husband and I learned from him that her husbands family didn't want her to marry him. He died after 1 yr of marriage. She then went on to husband No. 2 who also only lasted 1 year !!!! When I eventually traced her in 1901 census she was with husband No. 3 in an entirely different county.. By this time my grandfather and his brother had managed to break away from her and both were working. They were lodging with another family member more their own age. So you see....... frustrating though it may be, there is hope of unravelling your own particular mysteries.

im stuck on my grandmother she has uncommon name but not sure if its her right name as shes nowere to be found such apain but you never no i might get lucky one day all the very best to you all for 2007 joyce from hollandxx

Oh there's quite a few reasons why I cannot find people, however, some are more frustrating than others. Some people I just cannot seem to kill off (ie find their death certificate) as their names are very common and they live in a big city. Some I can take a step further with all the reasons I've mentioned above but also went away to sea so don't know where they died. Also don't know which decade they died in as they survived 1901 census and my nan cannot remember them. Trish - snap! Some people I cannot find before 1841 as they were born in Ireland (no area listed) and then moved to Glasgow, then Liverpool, then?. The surname is quite common and changes its spelling. Cannot find them after 1851 on the census or any of the relatives (apart from the daughter who is my ancestor). Don't know where to go from there. Some people just disappear off the 1901 census although you know they died in a workhouse in 1902. I've been lucky with some people (or at least know why I cannot find them) I have one family who seemed to disappear one census year. I found half of the family at the beginning of a page and a big tear on the corner of the page to suggest it was a loose page. I think the first page has got lost. However, there are people you just cannot find no matter how many variations you've tried. (mind you with some ancestry interpretations I've found on the 3 free day trial - I'm surprised I've found them at all) There's also one ancestor who I think was widowed (cannot find husband's death yet but it was a common name) 3 of the children seem to tie in on the 1861 census as living with her (same names & ages). However, she seems to have changed her place of birth from Liverpool to Wales. Previous census records say Liverpool. So cannot be sure if it is her or not. Some people you think you will NEVER find and give up and something unexpectedly pops up out the blue that solves the mystery.