Genealogy Chat

Hi all, and thanks.

Yep, I know Fred's father - long deceased ships' steward and no record of a marriage for him.
However, it is any offspring that I'm looking for - there is only one possible left but I don't know if there were any. It is either the child born in Bristol, or none at all.
My cousin 1R was the only child of a pretty well off farmer so I doubt that she would have gone into service. But dad was a witness at the wedding so there wasn't a rift I guess.
Counting my pennies.
Ta.
B

It would seem that you have the marriage certificate for Fred...who was his father and was was the occupation?
It might be possible to find the correct Fred with family in 1911 and find his birthplace that way.

Gwyn

Hi Bernithatwas,
You say they married in 1915, and she was at home in Devon in 1911 - that gives 4 years for her to go into 'service' in another area and meet her beau! Even in those days, daughters wanted to get away from the restraints of thier parents,

My g grandmother was born in Suffolk - as had generations before her.
G grandfather was born in London. They married in Southampton.
Found them both in 1901 census in Boscombe (now Dorset). Why were they both there - so far away from their birthplace?

I found a young girl living with my g grandmother's parents in Suffolk - birth cert. confirmed it was g grandmother's - good enough reason (in those days) to move away.
It transpires g grandfather had left a wife in London. My g grandparents didn't marry until they had had 9 of their 10 children - when g grandfather's first wife died!
However, all the offspring had g grandfather's surname on their birth certs, and g grandmother called herself 'Mrs'.

Thanks Julie,
He married my cousin once removed so it's any children that I'm interested in finding and the Bristol birth is the only choice left. Shall I spend more dosh or try and keep breathing until 1921 census is released?
Good question.
B

If you post his name and DOB we can try and find him on Census'. Can look in the Kelly's street directories for Eastleigh Hants if its that Eastleigh which I feel it probably is. Would have been part of the London and South WEst Railway Co. Easy to get to Devon for a holiday perhaps as a through line from nearby Salisbury to Exeter in Devon.

Thanks mate,
If he didn't lie about his age, then the best bet is that he was born in South Stoneham which is, of course, near Eastleigh. But then I ask how did he meet the farmer's daughter who was at home in Devon in 1911?
Quite possible!
But there is a WWI death for a single man of exactly the same name from the same area.
I'll sleep on it.
Thanks again.
B

The 'Big Four' companies weren't formed until 1923, as a result of the Railways Act of 1921, full nationalisation took place in 1947 with the formation of British Railways

So for the period you are interested in there would still have been dozens of smaller companies in existence. There was a company called the South Devon Railway which operated from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay. Bristol was very much the province of the Great Western Railway, but the SDR could have been represented there.

Have you found him on the 1901 and 1911 census? That should help confirm his place of birth.

Hi those who know!
I understand that the English rail system was run by private companies at some stage - had they been nationalised by 1914?
Query - When Fred married in Belstone, Devon in 1915 he was a railway clerk living in Eastleigh. I presume this was East Leigh, Devon rather than Eastliegh, Hampshire but I can't find anything on the former place on Google regarding railways there.
Last chance at a birth is in Bristol - so would the Devon railway have had an office there that he may have transferred to?

I've taken 2 guesses at possible births in the area and been wrong so I'm being canny.

Any ideas welcomed. and as it's 8 pm here I will not be back very often tonight.
Thanks
B