General Chat

I always find just as I hit a brick wall, a miricle happens and I head off in a different direction. Everyone on these pages are supportive and helpful and great at listening to moans about anything. Rebecca

Not so bad, is it? (Says she, who's been sulking because she came to a brick wall). It's so rewarding when you find leads - which lead to another - and another - and you know the rest, lol. Well done Pam, and good luck. x

Thanks to everyone who has been so helpful. I now have leads on both my parents and possibly, fingers crosssed grandparents, I realise now what a hard slog this will be as I did not before, but am looking forward to when I can show my soon to be born grand-daughter my family tree, as her paternal tree is well documented. Now I know why you all say persevere,things do turn up, thanks again for your support. Pam

Pamela, had a terrible time trying to find my grand mother. I knew and loved her, but could find nothing. I even went down the wrong name lane! I did not know where to find her, because she was not where I expected her to be. SOMEONE on this site helped me so much. I stared with my dad, and worked my way back from there, with the help of my new found friend. I'm doing really well now, although 'We' have hit a brick wall at the moment. So I've gone another route trying to find the path back! Just ask for help, everyone is so eager to help if they can. Those who can not help, will know someone who can. Good luck Pamela, and keep trying, with any little piece you have. Deanna

I also had a similar situation to Davo so try to look at the wider picture when searching and always consider all leads. I knew little of my Maternal grandmothers line (neither did my mom so I've shown her a lot!) all I had was my Gt Granny's death cert 1966 stating she was the widow of George Thomas Henry Hooper, and that the death was informed by my Gt granny's son. Well after much hunting through 1837.com I narrowed it down to one possibility, who had an incorrect name! Well I bit the bullet and paid for the certificate. Guess what ..... when it arrived it stated that dear old Gt.grandaddy was in fact George Earnest Hooper, as informed by his dear widow. This discovery enabled me to trace their marriage cert.and work backwards from there. So it seems even his son got his name wrong at the crucial point of registration. Best of luck with your search XX Sioux

Pamela The members on this site are the mostfantastic people you will come across. Lots of times I have thought that I have tried everything to solve a brick wall but sometimes I think you can be to near the problem as the saying goes 'can't see the wood for the trees'. The help I have got on here as put me in the right direction again everyone gives unstintingly of their time and I for one will be eternally grateful to them. Good luck with your search. Just a point I came across I uncle who stated on his marriage cert that his father was George he was illegitamate but was too ashamed to say. It was a big stigma in those days. Don't know if that makes the marriage illegal though. Pat

Hi Pam Since you asked, it is possible to have the fathers' name incorrect on the certificate. In fact on my grandparents marriage cert, 1908, the first names of both parents are reversed. James for Henry and Henry for James, also one of the witness names seems to be incorrect. I don't want to put you off by this, but if the name is incorrect, you could be looking for the wrong person. I already had their birth certs so I new the fathers' names of both. Also ages on marriage certs can be incorrect, especially women marrying younger men, also my ggfather gave his age as 21 when he was 23, although his wife was 24. I have been greatly helped by folk on this site doing lookups and finding seemingly invisible relations, for which I am extremely grateful. I wish you success with your searching. David

OK, just so I have got this,although I do not know where my parents were born, if I have the dates I can apply for birth certs, from where? Thanks to one of you I do have a birth certificate for a Francis Christopher Lawrence Poole (31.05.01) but the date, fathers name and occupation are not the same as on the marriage cert dated 30.12.1939 Vera Oakes may have been born in Wales 30.05.11 or not as the case may be. My fathers names are an unusual combination, but would he really have got his own fathers name and occupation wrong on his marriage cert? Someone is following a lead with their family tree for me, so I obviously posted my original message in a fit of depression, however keep on trying for me. Thanks Pam

If you apply to the local Register Office for your certificates stating that you only want them if father is Joe Bloggs etc, they will not charge you at all if the given facts don't tie up. Chrissie

There .... not impossible after all. It's going well! :-) Joy

Pamela Took so long two finger typing my reply yours beat me too it, Right your parents marriage cert will give their ages on marriage so this will give you a time frame to search for their births. If they are later than .think its 1910then the birth record will be cross referenced with the mothers maiden name. You will have to buy certs to verify ,& you will find sometimes you get the wrong one.but there is a checking system when you order,that if you have a known name ,for instance you know the dads name ,then if you put that in ,the cert will be checked before its copied & if it doesnt tie up then you will get a refund of £4. It can take a lot of searching &sometimes you will hit brickwalls,but its so satisfying to unravel the family history Shirley

Pam, Can you give us their full names and ages. Someone with access to 1837 could check for siblings for your parents. Were your granddads alive in 1901 possibly? Once the sniffer dogs are aroused on here there's no keeping us down!!! Hope we can help. We love a mystery when we're fed up with our own brickwalls! Janice

Pamela If you have .or get ,you own birth cert then that will give you your parents names from which to start searching, The marriaige cert will give you their names & the names of their fathers. so you can go back again. If you havent got back to the 1901 census then you can trace their birth certs which will give their parents,& so forth. On this site you can start to assemble your family tree,surnames of which can be viewed by orther members ,& you may get someone who is researching the same surnames & will email you.. If you get stuck then there are SOOO many helpful people here who will be willing to help. I,ve found two distant relations on here just by having my family tree on the site,. One has a gran who is a sister to my paternal gran.And another is decended from the brother of my maternal gran, Good luck in your searching. Shirley

I have my birth cert and my parents marriage cert, but do not know for sure where either of them were born or the names, for certain of all of their parents, so just maybe you can see how difficult this all is. The surnames are Oakes and Poole. Pam

Hi Pamela Please go to the tips board - there is tonnes of info on how to start - even with no immediate info. Ask on there and the lovely peeps will try to help you. Do you have your birth certificate? That should have at least your mums name, then you can try to locate a marriage cert. Give us what info you do have (possible names, navy years, et) and we will try. Dont give up yet hun, we really are here to help you. Vikki xx

Pamela, What information does your full birth certificate have that should give you some facts to start off with surely!! Good luck sweetie, call on us all again if you need any help Susie xx

Hi Pamela, Search the GRO indexes of births marriages and deaths for your parents' marriage and buy the certificate. That will give you the names of your grandfathers who you may be able to find on census. Gwynne

I know that people will help if they can and the comments were not directed at you lovely people, but about the sight, which I find confusing and not really very helpful, also difficult to navigate, possibly that's just me. No I am not adopted, but do not have any information about my parents that can be verified, as I have only 2 other known living relatives apart from my siblings and their children and my own children. Anything else pretty well apart from the possible names of my grandfathers is shrouded in history. I do know my father had a naval background and guess that is the more logical place to start. Yes I have put info on the trying to find board, but with very limited success. I will post a TTF message today. Thanks for your encouragement Pam

Pamela try again people will help you if they can. Do not give up! Kindest Regards Pam

Hi Pamela, presumably you've put threads on the Records Boards and Tips Boards, and had no help. Come on, tell us what the problem is .........