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Hi, I have been talking to my mother and she has agreed to go with me and my 2 year old daughter to London to Look up James Hawkins and his father Henry Andrew Hawkins. I believe they were from Strood, Kent. do I have to book an appointment and what do I ask to see. Has anyone any advise. Zoe x

What are you looking up ? Them in person ??? or there births etc at the Records Office ? You've lost me babe ..? If your going for the latter, then why do you feel the need to leave home ..... all births, marriages and deaths are indexed and you will NOT get a certificate that day anyway, you still have to order !... and wait for them for days. What years are you taking about ??? pre 1837 ...? Elaine ;-)

If you know where you are going you can probably find a website about it that will say if you need to book. But if you don't know where to go, you may not need to go anywhere, or you may not need to go to London. Whenabouts were these people living and what are you wanting to look up? nell

hI Zoe Assuming your talking about parish records, i think you need to go to the Medway Archives which is actually in Strood. Take a look at their webiste should hopefully tell you everything you need to know. http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/ have fun Jacqui

Hi Guys, I am looking for a James Hawkins, born 14/12/1870 he doesn't sem to be anywhere so I thought if I actually went maybe I would find more. I am so wrong arn't I. Zoe :)

Zoe You haven't said where you've lost him! Have you got birth, marriage, death cert or census info and if not, how do you know about him? nell

Sounds as if you have his birth cert - since you have his actual date of birth ! Or is it his marriage cert with Fathers name on it ? Elaine ;-)

Hi Nell, I have seen him, well his grave he is my G Grandfather. Got his marriage cert and it says his father is Henry aAndrew Hawkins. I also have his marriage cert too. Nothing on there indicates any other rellies though. I lost him on any census and any IGI he is just not there. Thanks for your reply Zoe :)

Hi Elaine, I do have his marriage cert, but the birth date come from my Nan's birthday book. She has it wrote in 'my beloved father James Hawkins 14/12/1870 - 17/11/1947 aged 77 years' Thanks for replying too Elaine. Zoe

Long shot I know !!! 1871 Henry A Hawkins abt 1838 Farnham, Surrey, England Head Headley Hampshire Jane Hawkins abt 1841 Chichester, Sussex, England Wife Headley Hampshire Charles H N Hawkins abt 1870 Alton, Hampshire, England Son Headley Hampshire

Hi Elaine, Yeah I've seen him but Charles was born 1870 and there is no trace of James anywhere. Thanks though Zoe x

No disrespect babe .... but she may have known her dad as James .... doesn't mean his name WAS James. His year of birth might be out by a few years either side as well. I've seen it so many times babe. If he had always been known as James, thats also the name on his marriage cert ! Even the info on the gravestone is only as accurate as the person who gave the details ..... Where do you think he was born and where did he live and die ??? Elaine ;-)

You say you have Henry's marriage cert........what was his wife's name? Where did they marry? How old were they at the time? What was Henry's father's name? And can we have the same details from James's marriage cert..........apart from father's name, of course! Reg

Hi Elaine, He was supposed to have come from Strood Kent, he went to sea at 13 when his dad died (abt 1883) Then he married in 1917 and died in Sheffield. Hi Reg, I only have James marriage cert sorry, and he married a Rosa (aka Rosina) Twyman 1917 in Sheffield. Thanks guys Zoe

Hi Zoe, Does James's marriage cert give his age then ? as 47 or does it just say ' of age' ..... and is he a Batchelor ? Elaine ;-) I can't find any deaths 1880 - 1890 for Henry Hawkins old enough to be dad .... :-(

Zoe, if you are planning to go to the Family Records Centre (1 Myddelton Street, Islington, London, EC1R 1UW) to look for birth and marriage registrations, all you will see is the actual books that have the pages that have been filmed then scanned into 1837 online, Family Relatives, ancestry, etc, and the same pages that you would see on microfiche at your local record office. They won't let you look at the actual certificates there and then; you still have to order them like you do online. The website for the Family Records Centre is http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/frc/ So, I don't think you are likely to find an entry by going there that cannot be found online. But it could be that the information you have been given is wrong somehow, perhaps he was born in a different year or James was his middle name or something. Kate.

Did you ever get that Henry Andrew Hawkins death cert from the registration entry I found? (Although it was the wrong date for the information you have, but of course you could have been told wrong.) This was it: Deaths Sep 1906 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hawkins Henry Andrew 69 Alton 2c 96 Kate.

Or even born in Scotland or Ireland and came over here as a baby ... thinking he was born in Strood because thats where he spent his childhood. Elaine ;-)

Hi Elaine, Yeah on his marriage cert its says batchelor and age 47 years old. But as he was supposed to have gone to sea maybe he never met anyone until then. I don't know though. Hi Kate, Thanks for the info. Would you suggest going to look a parish registers then I am so determined to find this man. I have thought about asking a pro to try and find him by paying them. I am not sure where they could look that we haven't. Many many thanks again Zoe

Zoe - you could certainly go and look at the parish registers for Strood, but again, at least some of them are available online, at the Medway 'Cityark' site: Strood, St. Francis of Assisi baptisms 1941-1967 (P150E) click here (in progress) Strood, St. Mary the Virgin baptisms 1869-1993 and marriages 1869-1955 (P150D) click here Strood, St. Nicholas of Myra CMB 1565-1977 (P150B) click here They don't have name indexes so you just have to plough through them. I don't know if you have already looked through them though? http://cityark.medway.gov.uk Kate.