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Hi I have just found out my gt grandmothers maiden name, elizabeth woodbridge after a long search. I know she lived in rotherham when she was married but i am unsure if she was born here. I would love to find her exact birth date, and details so i can carry on with my search. I am guessing she was born sometime in the 1890s, as she had my gran violet in 1914. If anyone has any information, i would love to hear from you. Regards Vanessa.

Do you have her father's name and occupation from her marraige cert?

Hi k, Im afraid i dont have her fathers name or her marriage certificate. I have only just found out her maiden name after a long search, as someone very kindly found my gran's birth certificate details for me and it was listed on there. I know i dont stand much chance of finding anything further as i dont have any other details on her. Regards Vanessa.

Hi Vanessa

What would her husband's name have been? You never know

Happy Xmas Kay

Hi Kay, Her husband was philip Blackwell but i cant find anything on him anywhere. I know after philip's death she remarried a archie hibbard, but i cant find anything on him either. It seems every time i find a name etc, where i think their could be a lead, i find nothing. Regards vanessa.

Hi Vanessa,

K's suggestion that you follow the father seems a good one. Violet's birth ref gives the maiden name, but the likely marriage is to a Burgin - was this her second marriage?

Marriages Jun 1911 (>99%)
Blackwell Philip Sheffield 9c 893
Burgin Elizabeth W Sheffield 9c 893
Giles Mary Sheffield 9c 893

This Philip seems to have been born 1891 (Eccleshall Bierlow)?

Or is this Elizabeth Woodbridge Burgin (following her mother's remarriage perhaps?)

I am checking the complete marriage records but given Elizabeth living in Rotherham and Phillip's reasonably unusual name I would think this could be him

1901

Name: Phillip Blackwell
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1891
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Sam
Mother's Name: Emily
Gender: Male
Where born: Sheff, Yorkshire, England

Civil Parish: Brightside Bierlow
Ecclesiastical parish: Brightside All Saints
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View Image

Registration district: Sheffield
Sub-registration district: East Brightside
ED, institution, or vessel: 10
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 193
Household Members: Name Age
Emily Blackwell 32
Ernest Blackwell 6
Phillip Blackwell 10
Sam Blackwell 32 Pig iron Labourer in Iron Works b Derbyshire Eyam
Sam Blackwell 3

Everyone but Sam was born in Sheffield

Hi Ivy, I have never heard the name burgin mentioned before.
Her first husband was philip Blackwell, the father to my gran violet, when he died elizabeth was suppose to have married a archie hibbard. On the info you have sent me It says elizabeth burgin, is this her maiden name before she married philip, as the other day someone told me her maiden name was woodbridge, so now i am really confused. Also who is the other name mary giles. Regards vanessa.

This family is from the same area as that Philip:

Name: Elizabeth Burgin
Age: 6
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1895
Relation: Daughter
Father's Name: George
Mother's Name: Elizabeth
Gender: Female
Where born: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Civil Parish: Ecclesall Bierlow
Ecclesiastical parish: St Silas
Town: Sheffield
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England

Registration district: Ecclesall Bierlow
Sub-registration district: Ecclesall Bierlow
ED, institution, or vessel: 10

Household schedule number: 176
Household Members:
Name Age
Elizabeth Burgin 36
Elizabeth Burgin 6
George Burgin 39
George Burgin 15
John W Burgin 13
Charles Holland 17

Sorry, no, discount this one; George Burgin married Elizabeth Holland in 1885. Sorry, going to abandon this one for a while.

Hi Kay,

we're on a similar track - I'm just off though now.


Hi Vanessa, sorry to confuse, I was just thinking aloud really. The Woodbridge appears to come from Free BMD (it's free to look at, no subscription required) transcript of Violet's birth registration.
Free BMD also has very few marriages for Phil*p Blackwell between 1901 and 1916 - the one posted above seems the most likely. Kay has found you that Philip's census details.

However, as you point out, there are two females and one male on that marriage record, and Philip may have married Mary Giles, or Elizabeth Burgin.

I was just speculating that he may have married Elizabeth Burgin, but that she had previously used the name Woodbridge - either from a previous marriage, or if her mother had married first a Woodbridge and then a Burgin.

Hope that's a bit clearer?? Apologies if not. Will check back later

Hi kay and ivy, Thankyou for this, it means so much i have been looking for ages for information on these and have always come up with nothing. It is also really interesting that the blackwells seem to be from eyam in derbyshire, that's great. Also thanks ivy it looks like they have both been brought up in the same area in sheffield and got married. Does this mean the name woodbridge that i have been looking for as Elizabeth's maiden name is totally wrong, this would explain why i could never find her. Thanks again it's really appreciated regards Vanessa.

Hi Vanessa and Ivy

I think the Blackwell line in reasonably OK but can find no link between the Burgin's and a Woodbridge family. I would think the details below as the Burgin's marrriage so wonder where the Woodbridge came in ?

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marriages Jun 1885 (>99%)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brown Emma Sheffield 9c 560
Burgin George Sheffield 9c 560
Holland Elizabeth Sheffield 9c 560
MOSLEY Henry Sheffield 9c 560


Having said the above Eureka from FreeBmd and great work Ivy

Births Sep 1893 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Burgin Elizabeth Woodbridge Sheffield 9c 636



The marriage of Elizabeth and Philip is from the second quarter of 1911 and would confirm this

The Burgin's Ivy listed in 1901 were all born in Sheffield. It looks as though Charles Holland was a son of Elizabeth Holland pre her marraige to George

Hooray, excellent Kay.

I'm just worried that the Holland/Burgin ones are a false trail - I think there are about 11 EB's born around that date on the 1901 census - worth having another look?

(Apologies, actually logging out for a few hours now).

This looks like Sam Blackwell's family in 1871

1871

Name: Sam Blackwell
Age: 2
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Samuel
Mother's Name: Sarah
Gender: Male
Where born: Eyam, Derbyshire, England

Civil Parish: Brightside Bierlow
Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints
County/Island: Yorkshire
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View Image

Registration district: Sheffield
Sub-registration district: Brightside
ED, institution, or vessel: 31
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 54
Household Members: Name Age
Eliza Blackwell 5
John Blackwell 3
Sam Blackwell 2
Samuel Blackwell 31 Mechanics Labourer
Sarah Blackwell 33

All born Eyam Derbyshire

Ivy

You are quite correct about relooking at the census

There is another possible other Elizabeth Burgin but the only way to really confirm it would be through her marraige and birth cert

Digressing to Archie Hibbard - the details below are the only I could see in the 1901 census for his name

Good Luck Vanessa and Happy Xmas to you both
Must cook tea before my husband thinks I have left home

Kay

1901

Name: Archibald Hibbard
Age: 9
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1892
Relation: Son
Mother's Name: Helen
Gender: Male
Where born: Heanor, Derbyshire, England

Civil Parish: Chesterfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Chesterfield St Mary and Calow All Saints
Town: Chesterfield
County/Island: Derbyshire
Country: England

Street address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View Image

Registration district: Chesterfield
Sub-registration district: Chesterfield
ED, institution, or vessel: 6
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 169
Household Members: Name Age
Annie Hibbard 15
Archibald Hibbard 9
Frederick Hibbard 18
Helen Hibbard 52

Hi Kay Ivy and suzi,
I have just logged back on, as i had a relative visit, so had to come off. I see you have still been very busy on my behalf, so thankyou. I know i might sound stupid but can you confirm is my gt grandmother's maiden name woodbridge burgin, i have got a bit confused with all the different names.
Regards Vanessa

Hi Vanessa,

You can never be absolutely certain - there is always the possibility of there being someone else with the same name, however rare it is.

However, the odds look good here, and to get further you will undoubtedly need to buy a certificate.

From a marriage certificate, you are likely to get:
District, Church, Parish, Location,
Date of Marriage, Forename & Surnames, Ages,
Marital Conditions, Professions, Addresses,
Father's Forename & Surname, Father's Occupations, for both parties present.
Witness names, Priest/Vicar's Name,& Signature

The info on the church means that if you have any doubts you may be able to look at an alternative copy of the marriage entry.

From a birth certificate, you may get:

District, Date & Place of Birth,
Child's ForeNames & Surname, Child's Sex,
Father's Name, Fathers Place of Birth, Father's Occupation,
Mother's Name, Mother's Occupation, Mother's Place of Birth, Mother's Usual Address,
Informant's Name, Informants Qualification, Informant's Address, Informant's Signature,
Date of Registration,Registrar's Name & Signature,
Child's Revised Name (if any, after registration).

Buying from GRO can be done online for £7 at this address
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/
Alternatively you can apply to the local register office. Following through the links on Free BMD to details about the Sheffield office, the contact details you need are:

The Register Office, The Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HH.
Tel: 0114 203 9423 or 0114 203 9438.
E-mail: [email protected]

1) Applying online to GRO

They ask if you know the index details - and you do - the FRee BMD site not only gives the transcript of the index entry, it also (if you click on the glasses at the side of the entry, and then scroll down a little) offers you the opportunity to view the image - i.e. the scanned image of the entry in the index.

At the least, you need to give all the details of one party to the marriage. I would be inclined to give the details for Philip Blackwell's marriage:
Year 1911
Qtr April-June
District Sheffield
Volume 9c
Page 893

You can request checking points, for instance that the bride's name is Elizabeth (if it is Mary Giles, it seems unlikely to be the marriage you are looking for). Actually I practically never do - you only get a partial refund, and I understand that it could be something as silly as the bride's name is Elisabeth (although I think someone on here said GRO had rung to ask what she wanted to do when the checking point failed). Also, I'm too curious to be willing to spend money without getting a piece of paper in my hand!

The birth registration that Kay found is:

Year: 1893
Qtr: Jul-Sep
Surname: Burgin
Forenames: Elizabeth Woodbridge
District: Sheffield
Vol: 9c
Page 636

You could order both these certificates, or you could wait until you have the bride's father's details from the marriage certificate before ordering the birth certificate.

2) Applying to the local district

There was a very useful thread on here some time ago about applying for certificates from the local office (including a standard letter, to include your phone number and a request to ring before sending). They are usually very helpful and will agree with you over the phone that it is the certificate that you were after before sending it - and will give a full refund if not. (There are just a couple of local offices that are too busy to do this, but I haven't seen any issues with Sheffield).

I'll see if I can find that thread and nudge it for you.

Meanwhile, I hope this is clear.

All the best

Hi Ivy, Thankyou so much i will definately send for the certificates, now i have all the information you have kindly found for me. It is really kind of you to go to so much trouble, and everything is now crystal clear. Also a big thankyou to kay and suzi, who also helped me in my search.
Merry christmas and happy new year
Vanessa.

Hi Vanessa,

In searching for info about appoaching local register offices, I see that they are excellent for obtaining birth certificates, but many also require the name of the church/registry office where the marriage took place, so you may have to go to GRO for the marriage certificate - apologies for misleading you on this one.

Hope you too have an excellent seven days.

All the best