Genealogy Chat

Some weeks ago the Community was kind enough to locate for me the death of a supposed relative - Ada Elizabeth A. Robb at Waltham Forest, London in one of the quarters of 1988. They gave me a Document reference 15/549 which I sent to Kew hoping to obtain a copy of the certificate. Kew replied that no such document corresponding to those details exists.

Have I got something wrong?

To clarify, my relatives maiden name was Elizabeth Alexandra Yakovleff born in Samara Russia in 1916. She Married James Wallace Robb in Shanghai just before the War and they were interned there for the duration returning to the U.K. in the 1960's. The death above fits perfectly for age (she was 72 in 1988) and the adoption of the name ADA is odd but not unlikely.

Can anyone help me to discover if there is a correct reference for this document?

Thanks. Malcolm.

Here's the previous thread:

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/ancestors/thread/1301583

Rose

Wisechild posted this, but omitted the month.

Could this be her?
Ada Elizabeth A Robb
B 1916 D 1988 Waltham Forest London 15/549

Rose

The birth was registered in the month of October.

Best to try the GRO when ordering certs, not sure how it works for Kew.

Rose

I wouldn't worry about ordering that cert. It's probably this woman:

Births Jun 1916
Dowling Ada E A Boorer Southwark 1d 106

She married a Robb.

Rose

Malcolm Kew dont supply certs .its the GRO at www.gro.gov.uk who supply them using the GRO refs given

Only the GRO can supply using those refs as they are their filing system

I didn't know that Kew held BMD's

And, even if they do, the GRO refs are no applicable except when ordering from the GRO

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp

You say the 'returned to the UK'..... to which part of the UK did they return?

Name: James Wallace Robb
Birth Date: abt 1906
Age: 44
Port of Departure: Mauritius
Arrival Date: 25 Sep 1950
Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
Ports of Voyage: Mombasa
Ship Name: Empire Ken
Search Ship Database: Search the 'Empire Ken' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: Ministry of Transport
Official Number: 180773

Travelling with Elizabeth Alexandra Robb.........aged 32

destination: ABERDEEN

Name: James Wallace Robb
Birth Date: 13 Dec 1905
Age: 54
Port of Departure: Beira, Mozambique
Arrival Date: 19 Apr 1960
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: Beira
[Dar-es-Salaam]
[Zanzibar]
[Mombasa]
Ship Name: Kenya
Search Ship Database: View the 'Kenya' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd
Official Number: 4944/01

Married...travelling alone

England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2006 about James Wallace Robb
Name: James Wallace Robb
Birth Date: 13 Dec 1905
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1979
Age at Death: 73
Registration district: Aylesbury
Inferred County: Buckinghamshire
Volume: 19
Page: 0902

Name: James Wallace Robb
Birth Date: abt 1906
Age: 48
Port of Departure: Beira, Mozambique
Arrival Date: 9 Dec 1954
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: Beira
[Dar-es-Salaam]
[Zanzibar]
[Mombasa]
Ship Name: Uganda
Search Ship Database: View the 'Uganda' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd
Official Number: 184658




Name: James W Robb
Birth Date: abt 1906
Age: 42
Port of Departure: Port Said, Egypt
Arrival Date: 3 Sep 1948
Port of Arrival: Liverpool, England
Ship Name: Empire Halladale
Search Ship Database: Search the 'Empire Halladale' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: Anchor Line
Official Number: 180914

Travelling With Elizabeth

Contact address: National Bank of SCOTLAND

Name: Mr James Robb
Birth Date: abt 1906
Age: 33
Port of Departure: Kobe, Japan
Arrival Date: 5 Apr 1939
Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
Ports of Voyage: Kobe
[Shanghai]
[Manila]
Ship Name: Scharnhorst
Search Ship Database: View the 'Scharnhorst' in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping Line: Norddeutscher Lloyd
Official Number: 2737

travelling with Elizabeth

Address in UK: Burntisland, FIFE

I would advise looking in SCOTLAND for Elizabeth's death.....

You could obtain James's death cert from the GRO, to find out whether he was widowed.

Thanks for all this: Firstly I said "Kew" but I did mean GRO. I applied for the document online. Im not very experienced with anything outside Sotlands People as you can see!

Secondly: I start to wonder if that "Ada E. A. Boorer who married a Robb" is the woman in the D.C. i'm looking for. In this case she is NOT my relative.

Someone at some point said that the document i'm looking for states that the birth place is Russia, so I was pretty confident. Now i'm not so sure.

Thirdly: The couple returned to the U.K. separately in the 1960's. He had been working in the British Consulate in Uganda - hence all the ship movements from East Africa, and I understand that they separated, but did not divorce as far as I know. He died at Aylesbury in 1976.

I actually wonder if she returned to the U.K. The last time I know she was in the U.K. would be around 1955 when she visited my mother in Edinburgh. She had been in Cairo just previously , she and her husband travelled on a ship and arrived together (1954 Ship Kenya arr London). He returns alone in 1960 (or so). I met him in 1967 when he was retired.

The only other relevant information is that she was known as "Lily".

It is impossible for anyone to know what info the document holds about birthplace without seeing it.

It's a pity you didn't say how much you knew before I spent valuable time finding info which you already had

Sorry about your time Reggie, I didn't ask anyone to do lookups. Just for some advice on a certificate. I now see that someone has given me some bad information and I appreciate that Rose has, through the U.K. birth of "ADA" shown that I was on the wrong track.

Incidentally I have this womans father, grandfather, brother, sister so don't need any further investigation.

Grateful as always for help.

If by bad information, you are referring to the reference that I suggested for Ada Elizabeth a Robb, you will note that I asked "Could this be her", not stating that it was.
The point was that you would check the reference for yourself.

No No No No NO! I was referring to information I got from another contact (Not on GR) who uses Ancestry and said that the Death Cert said that the subject was born in Russia. It was THAT mistake I was referring to.

Goodness me, some of you guys get really touchy. I didn't ask Reggie to do research for me, If I wanted that i'd have posted on the "Seeking Ancestors" area. I also saw Him getting hot under the collar at somebody closing a thread without saying "Thanks" though they had given a "Thanks in advance". Message with their original post.

You experts are all good at what you do, and believe me it IS APPRECIATED but just slow down and give us idiots a chance to absorb the info you give us then respond at something like a pace we can handle. Strewth!