Genealogy Chat

Oh dear - what people, when, where?

how do u search for people

Ahh bless

my biological dad & my mums side of the family (history)

If you give a bit more info Lisa folks on here will be only too pleased to help you, with tips + look ups. Regards Ann

Start with what you have as solid facts - do you know when they married and where? Do you know their full names and ages?

my mum and Gordon married in 1980 in burton-upon-trent he now lives in somerset

Can you get their marriage certificate to find out their dads names or can you ask them?

Lucy, I presume you know both your mother and fathers full names? You can start by looking for their marriage in the complete index's on Ancestry free here:- http://www.ancestry*co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx (Replace star with dot) If you know the year, you can search the complete index's for the year, find the GRO Disrtict, volume and page number for the couple (by finding both partners and cross referencing). With this, you can order the marriage certificate from the GRO online here at a cost of £7 :- http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ This will give you the Fathers names of both partners. From there, hopefully you will be able to find the fathers on the 1901 census, also it will give you the ages of the couple, from which you can again look at the complete images for births and locate them. It can be a slow and expensive hobby, take your time and enjoy it, it can be frustrating at times, but when you break down a wall the satisfaction you get is great. Good luck

Keith, I think Lucy's parents are too young to have parents on the 1901 - Lucy will have to get her parents marriage cert and then work backwards through her grandparents marriage cert and possibly beyond to get before 1901. Lucy, if you can speak to your parents ask them everything they know about their parents/grandparents and write it all down to start. Then follow the directions for buying certs for information that Keith has given you. Meanwhile, if you havent already done so, search the family trees on here for any names you do know - the link is to the left in the green margin.

Hi Heather, just realised that as you say, that the grandparents may well be young enough not to be on the 1901 lol.

Just showing our ages Keith!

you two golden oldies ;) my grandparents weren't old enough to be on there either, but I must admit now when giving advice I always think of 1901 first , even if it may not be appropriate!!! Lucy - like the others have said, ask your living relatives everything you can think of then work backwards. From 1911 the mothers maiden name is on the BMD index, which can be very useful in then searching for a marriage. I definitely recommend subscribing to Ancestry. If you want anyone to look for something for you, it's always a good idea to post full names and any dates/locations you may have. However, seeing as your parents are still living (I assume) you shouldn't really post it on here..... a difficult one! Laura

Heather and Laura, not yet turned the half century, but not far from it lol. Laura, my paternal grandmother was born Sept 1901, parents not at birth address on 1901 census, also changed occupations between marriage in 1899 (Cpl Royal Irish Rangers) to Town Postman in Sept 1901, and cannot find them anywhere!

Keith just catching up this one - yes, golden oldies - LOL. Thats the prob though you do tend to think 2 steps back to 1901 after you have done it so often, same with births, I often forget mums name on after 1911. Keith Im sure you are the master at all things military, but just a thought it may be of use to newbies- when hubbys GGF was in Scots Guards he suddenly comes up as a railway porter in Victoria on a birth cert. Well that threw me, because he was still living in what appeared to be army married accommodation near Westminster barracks - I bet you know all this - you may have told ME, BUT the regular soldiers had a sort of period at the end of their term of contract where they were still 'on call' but took on their civilian job. Both of ours got jobs which now wouldnt be thought of prestigious but back then when our rail and postal services were the best in the world - they would be recruited for their military record and it would be a job with some cudos.