Genealogy Chat

Hi all. Being off work with a 'flu-like virus', I thought I'd take my mind off it & cheer myself up by getting to grips with the Smith side of my tree...Aaaaaarrrgghhh!!! Many frustrated hours later I have got precisely nowhere. I have found my maternal grandfather, Francis Smith,in the 1901 census,living in Ravenscroft St, Bethnal Green. I also have his birth cert which gives his place of birth as 51 Cowper St, Finsbury.However I can find no trace of him or his family at either of these addresses or anywhere else for that matter at any other date.Anyone else managed to get round a similar problem?

What are the full names of each of his parents? It might be easier tracing his mother's line..........assuming her name wasn't Brown or Jones..... Reg

Therein lies another tale! His father was also Francis Smith, and I don't know of any middle names - certainly grandad was just plain Francis. His mother was Henrietta Flaacke. Ha! Nice uncommon surname you might think! Well, if you can find any trace of her anywhere, you're a better man than I am (metaphorically speaking)!

I have Smiths, but thankfully they had the foresight to give their kids middle names, so I've got them back to the 1841 census. Will have a look for yours :) Is this them in 1901? Francis Smith 49 Henrietta Smith 48 William Smith 20 Francis Smith 18 Alfred Smith 15 Elizabeth Smith 12

Yes, Tracy, that's them - not a middle name between them!

You'd think with a name like Smith they'd be easy to find on a census, especially with names like Francis and Henrietta (now we can use those in the search) but I can't get any family up that looks like it might be them. What was Francis snrs occupation?

I'm wondering if they went abroad to visit Henriettas family, but then why are all the children born in London? Is Flaacke definitely her maiden name?

Yes, Francis senior was definitely an upholsterer & his son William (Uncle Bill to Mum) later joined him in the family business. Mum remembers them taking a sofa round on a horse & cart during the recession, trying to sell it for £5! I don't understand how the whole family can just disappear either. Mum thinks Henrietta's family were German & Francis' were Irish, but she's not sure.

Hi Tracey, Henrietta's name is certainly given as Flaacke on Grandad's birth cert. That would be accurate, wouldn't it? Mind you, her signature is just a cross, so if she wasn't literate, would she have been able to tell the registrar how to spell her name correctly?

It could be spelled differently, depending on the registrar but it would be something like that. The only Flaacke matches I get are in America lol

This from 1871 is interesting.... Henriette Fallek abt 1856 Pest, Hungary Sister Paddington London