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Disappearing relative!

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Sue

Sue Report 31 Oct 2008 10:33

Hi

Just wondering if anyone else has ever tried to find an ancestor who chose to 'disappear?' If so, how did you start? I have a great uncle who did just this in the 1950's and allegedly went to Canada, but cannot find him there so am wondering if he changed his name etc. I don't hold out much hope of ever finding out what happened to him but before I give up, just thought I would see if anyone else knew anything about these things.

thanks
Sue

Ingrid in Oz

Ingrid in Oz Report 31 Oct 2008 10:38

Hi Sue

I find your thread interesting as my mum had 2 uncles dissappear when WW2 broke out. They just up and left their families and no one has heard from them since. I have tried looking in war records and the like but to no avail.My mum and Aunt would love to know what happened to them.
Am interested to see what others have done.

Cheers

MargaretM

MargaretM Report 31 Oct 2008 13:22

I was able to help someone who lost an ancestor who abandoned his wife and 4 or 5 children and came to Canada and started a new life. It was just a stroke of luck that he ended up in my hometown and my mother-in-law knew the family. I was able to provide the obituary from our local paper where they called him a fine upstanding citizen, not knowing that he'd abandoned wife and children in England.

Researching:
Great grandmother Dorothy Bean nee Abbott (1858-1908)

Janice

Janice Report 1 Nov 2008 16:53

Hi Christine,

You need to start a new thread for this as it won't be seen mixed up with someone else's.

Janice

Hilary

Hilary Report 27 Nov 2008 04:54

Hi Chris, just click on Tips Board then to the right it says Add Topic, click onto that & it will bring up a page that you can add your new topic on.
Good Luck, Hilary

Gwyn in Kent

Gwyn in Kent Report 28 Nov 2008 09:04

Sue
Just recently we have found a missing relative.

OH's maternal grandfather b. 1890 left the family in Scotland while he worked on tug boats off the east coast of Africa and hadn't been seen by his family since 1930s.
We asked a researcher in South Africa to look for his death and we also searched in Scotland....no success.
We didn't look in GRO, but should have done.
The incoming passenger lists showed him returning to UK in 1959 and we searched and found his death in Bristol.

The information would have been available to us years ago, but we hadn't considered he'd be in England
.A chance browsing opened the door to so much information.

Be wide in your searching, hunt any lists and don't dismiss any possibilities.

Gwyn