Genealogy Chat

Hi I'm still looking for the marriage of my grandparents, Sylvia May and Arthur Millichamp. My father was born in 1940 and I have searched 5 years either side of that date and can't find them. I am having difficulty viewing some of the quarters and via Ancestry.co.uk (comes up with a blank page) any ideas where else I can search. Sue

Do you know where they were married Sue?

I believe the London or Middlesex areas as they lived in Uxbridge and his death was registered in Uxbridge. He was born in Smethwick but I can't find a record of my grandmother's birth as I can't be certain of her birthdate which she said had was September 1910 but I can't find a record of it. There are a couple of Sylvia May's born around that time i,e , 1907, 1908 and 1911 but without the marriage cert I'm fast approaching a dead end. Sue

I did find a Sylvia May born in 1905 Epsom Surrey. Sylvia may not have been your Grandmothers first name though. I have run out of time now, my little Granddaughter will be arriving any minute. Why not try asking for a look up? Sorry I couldn't be more helpful Ann

Ann Thanks for trying for me. Much appreciated. Sue

I suspect your grandparents were never married. Someone on one of your other threads, found you father's birth reference MILLICHAMP Matthew D. 4th. quarter, 1940, Staines, vol 3c, page 65. mother's name MAY. There is also under the name MAY Matthew D., 4th. quarter, 1940, Staines, vol 3c. page 65, mother's name MAY This is certainly the same entry under both name, this indicates the father was recognised but the parents were not married. I found the MAY entry added at the bottom of the page, you always need to check the bottom of the pages of the index, quite often names are included which were previously had been missed off the index. Jennifer

Hi I've established that it is definitely my father's records from the other thread. I was just having one final going at seeing if they were married. As Millichamp is a slightly unusual name and I haven't been unable to find a record of a marriage I suspected that they weren't married but as I have had trouble viewing some of the pages in Ancestry I was just double checking. I guess my grandmother took my father's father's name for modesty. Sue

Given that you grandmother was very reticent about you grandfather, that is probably the reason why. He may have been already married, you would need to try and find that out also. Of course it was war time, things were rather different then, there were many such relationships, we have a similar case in my husband's family. Jennifer

What seems odd is that they never married as there apparently were still living together up until the time he died in 1954. It would explain why my grandmother signed my father into the Navy very soon after my grandfather's death. I hadn't expected her to take his name if they weren't married. I guess times were different then though.

We haven't been able to find a marriage for my husbands parents and they lived together as man and wife. We would never have imagined that they weren't married (they were very straight laced), but we found his first wife's second marriage, and it wasn't until after my father-in-law died, and she described herself as widow and not divorced, so we think this is why hubby's parents probably didn't marry (his first marriage was never dissolved). There were a lot of family breakups between the war years. Kath. x

Also you may find that marriages took place long before or after you expect them to. Some of my lot only married when the eldest left home to marry at about 21.

Family tree hunting certainly brings up some unexpected outcomes! Sue x