Genealogy Chat

sometimes I have found details of where people were living and sometimes their occupations on street or trade directories. Some are online and some are at the local record offices. My local record office has the directories on microfilm. You can sometimes search by address, by surname and sometimes by occupation.

You could try writing to the local newspapers for both areas asking if anybody remembers him. He must have had neighbours and somebody might provide an address, maybe an employer.

Just a small thought; my g gran died in childbirth and we know absolutely nothing about her other than what we had been told. she died out of her area - anuway eventually found her, ordered the cert and found she died in a maternity hospital in 1928. I have written to the local archives as they hold the patient records for further info??

~it's a long shot, and I don't know whether nursing homes are under the same regulations to maintain records, though I would presume that there would be some obligation. You could also contact companies house to find out more information it could be that the home was bought up and then closed by a bigger chain.

Or even see if you can contact a previous owner to see if they know what happened to the records.
Jx

www.waremuseum.org.uk/

www.hertsdirect.org/libsleisure/heritage1/HALS/

One of the above should be able to help you.

Chris :)

You could see if there is a Family History Society which has records of Ware, they have collections of all sorts of things. As may a local library.

Has anyone tried tracing a lost relative that died in living memory.I.e by going to that area and asking at a local records office??
Would records from the Deerfields Residential Home in Ware be kept somewhere even though it's now gone.
Any tips on where to start would be good.

he probably could have served in WW2

........... my uncle was born in 1894, served in WW1 (was injured), and was liable for call-up in WW2, until my dad got him a job in Reserved Occupation.

However, I believe that to get service records from WW2, you need to have proof of the person's death (ie, certificate) AND proof that you are indeed the next living kin




sylvia

The electoral roll might help, but it will be in address order, so if you don't know the address it will be nigh impossible (but not totally impossible).

You might be able to find WW2 service records, if indeed he was involved, but it might mean a trawl of all forces, including Dad's Army and other volunteer groups.

Might he have had a sibling who remained in touch with him?

HI Dave
Thanks for those suggestions, I actually have all the early years detail. My GF's birth and his siblings etc.
It's what happens after he left my father from about 1936 onward that I have no detail. Where did he go, how did he end up in Ware, did he have a life/family after 1936, did he avoid the draft in 1939 Aged 36....lots of questions but how do I get the answers?
Does the electoral role hold the answers do you think?

You could look on freeBMD for your dads birth about 1932, that gives you your gran's maiden name if you don't have it already.
While there put in Bennett then * for Christian name then gran's maiden name go 1932 +/- 10 years to find your dad's siblings.
Still on freeBMD take the earliest birth and start about 5 years before looking for the marriage.
Now using the age given on the death certificate look on the 1911 indexes (assuming he was born before that ). You could get lucky and find your grandfather's family. Check the place names. If you have Ware for births, marriage and death you are on the right track.

I'm not sure, just thinking off the top of my head, but a few years later War broke out so there may be service records for him. (with your update- I'm not sure whether he would have been too old - did they only call up younger men?)

He was born in 1903 so would have been 74 when he died. A lot will have happened in the intervening 40 years.

Presume the informant on the death cert isnt a family member?
Its possible he may have remarried .I would look for a marriage and get the cert (hopefully his name wont throw up too many possibilties).You haven't said how old he was at death so i would look for further children being born, It will be a slow process and mean some cert buying to try and match this man to your family

I need help with some ideas,
My grandfather left my father in a childrens home at the age of 4 in or around the Burton on Trent area in around 1936 (after the death of my grandmother).
A man sharing the same birthdate and name died in Ware in Herts in 1977. I think this chap was probably my Grandfather William Bennett. I have the death certificate.
I believe he lived in a Residential Home by the name of Deerfields which is long since closed.
I need to fill in all the intervening years and confirm that the man is was definately my GF but I'm not sure where to begin.I will visit Ware when i get the chance, any ideas/tips from seasoned posters would be appreciated.