Genealogy Chat

Have you posted for a look up on Genes R Annabel? Its amazing what folks manage to find on here!

After trying for so long to trace my late father inlaws birth and his parents births and marriage, I decided to use a researcher, she got back to me today, again no sign of them, she did a thorough search and a report of what and where she had checked.Annbel gooseberry bush's I think

Hi Ann might give that a try, had lots of folk on here trying, thinking of seeing if there are school record for the areas where his youngest siblings were born, Lanham green Hungerford 1917, and Mile Elm Calne 1923 Wiltshire. Annabel

No, don't give up - we all come up against a brick wall of one sort or another during our research but persistence often pays off in the end. As an example, from my own tree I could not find the birth of my Grt Grt Grandfather and spent the last couple of years with the help of a cousin (who also paid out for a researcher to check the records she could not access) trying to track him down, plus trying to find who his parents were. All we had was that his name was Edward Westwood and he had put down that his father's name was also Edward Westwood, a deceased barman, on his marriage cert. Only recently did I have a major breakthrough when, on a whim, I decided to order a birth cert for an EDMUND Westwood (entry was found whilst trawling the indexes as it wasn't transcribed onto Ancestry so I hadn't found it in initial searches)...lo and behold it turned out to be him! From that I was able to find everything else - parent's marriage and deaths, his grandparents etc So...no, never give up hope! Regards - Athena

Hi I have tried tips, records and trying to find, lots of great folk been trying for me for a few years now, its only 1908,1910, or 1911 I am talking about, I spent the last year at hospitals with my husband, so have had a break from research but would like to trace them before its too late. James Richard Rowland Lawrence NEW He used different combinations of those christen names 3 dates of birth he gave 1908, 1910, 1911 Wiltshire father William New? mother Mary formally Potter?

Did you get the names of the parents from the birth certs of the younger children? In view of the apparent 'gap' between James's birth and the next one, could there have been a second marriage? Perhaps William married, produced James, was widowed, then married again................ Just a thought.......... And another one............ Was James perhaps born out of wedlock..........thus having his birth registered under the mother's name? Reg

Hi Reggie I got the parents from the younger sibling birth certs, and he named his father as William New on his second marriage cert, no father named on his first marriage cert, its a very big tangle, most likely was under age but lied about his age; the younger brother and sister claimed him as a brother, but nobody left alive to tell me any think, he gave 1908 as d/o/b on his first marriage, 1911, on his second marriage and on his death cert 1910. Me and the researcher have gone though all possibilities but no leads Annabel

I'd guess his 'father' was actually his stepfather. The illegitimate son of my 2x great grandmother was originally known by her surname but when she married my 2x great grandfather he was always called by that man's name. When this young man married he claimed that the stepfather was his father and he was then, and from then onwards, always using the stepfather's surname. If someone on that branch tries to research this chap's ancestry they are going to find tracking his birth very tricky. Particularly as his mother lied about her age on censuses. Sue

I agree with Susan. I think you should be looking for his birth under the name Potter, if he didn't give a father's name on his first marriage certificate. Kath. x

I would suggest that your main priority would be to find the marriage of William and Mary. Reg

Thanks folks good morning. Have tried looking for the marriage of William New and Mary Potter no luck, and births under Potter again nothing, and no Mary Potters born 1890 that link up. cheers Annabel

Searched for his birth under Potter for 1908-1911 and nothing. was wondering if the name lawrence was signifcant cos that can be a surname too

Hi Margaret have seen those many times but no links. Some think I keep going back to is a Lawrence R R Hurkett d/o/b jan qt 1911 Pewsey Wilts my husband said his dad's birthday was nov 5th a Mary Potter married a Walter Hurkett in Pewsey 1908 Trying to check out this family, Annabel

Hi - have you already checked out the birth of: James New, 1908 - Sept Qtr Wycombe vol 3a pg971 This ties in with the original birth year he gave on the first marriage cert - plus a Nov 5th birthday would fall in the Sept qtr. I think Wycombe is in Berks but since you don't have much on his background, anything is possible - he may have moved from there to Wilts as a young child. Re his unusual middle names - these may not have been registered at his birth - he may have simply 'acquired' those at a later stage, as some people often did give themselves middle names as and when it took their fancy. Regards - Athena

Hi Athena yes I have seen that one, pretty sure he was born in Wiltshire, he lied about his age on his first marriage cert to my mother inlaw she always maintained she was older than him, and she was born june 1908, he put 1911 when he married for the second time in dec 1976 so the woman he lived with would get a pension, so if he was going to claim one then ,had he just turned 65. Annabel

Hi Ann - do you have anything concrete to base his birthplace as Wilts on? Could well be, but in the absence of any other birth entries that appear to fit for Wilts, I would be inclined to check this one out - even if it is to strike it off the list of possibilities. Also, if his first wife claims she was older than John and her birthday was in June 1908 - then if he was born in Nov 1908, she would be correct - she would have been older by about 6 months. When she said 'older' did she actually say 'years'? It's certainly a puzzle, but I'm sure the answers are all out there somewhere but it may mean venturing down avenues that at first were disregarded. You just have to keep digging away at every possibility - and don't rely too much on family heresay because quite often that turns out to be wrong. In the above possibility - Berkshire and Wiltshire are not a million miles apart, in fact I'm pretty sure they are neighbouring - so if it were me, I would definitely put this one on my list of things to investigate. Just as added weight - on the 1891 and 1901 census, there are several William New's living in Berkshire (born around 1888 +/- 5yrs). Could one of these have been John's father I wonder? Anyway, will leave you with those thoughts. All the best - Athena

Hi Annabel Just have a look at my updated 'Soooo Frustrating' - NEVER give up and ask GR. Pat