Genealogy Chat

You could buy an Ancestry subscription for about £60 which would enable to you find this chap and his family on the censuses. You can register free on Ancestry and go through the GRO birth marriage and death indexes yourself. You are paying this chap for his time - is it more valuable than yours?

Thank you, Joan. What's interesting is so many of his siblings seem to be known by their middle names: William Henry George Brooks, Edmund Arnold Brooks (was my great grandfather). Christened Edmund and known ans Arnold. I have a feeling this was West Country tradition? Thanks for the tip re: PWDRO

There appears to be only one Thomas Brooks born in Plymouth on the 1881/91/1901 census. 1 (1881) abt 1880 Son Samuel W. Eliza Male Plymouth, Devon, England Plymouth St Andrew Devon England 4 High Gate St Plymouth St Andrew 29 Age Alberta E. Brooks 5 Arnold Brooks 7 Eliza Brooks 29 George Brooks 9 Samuel W. Brooks 37 Thomas Brooks 1 (1891) Name Age Alberta E Brooks 15 Arnold E Brooks 17 Eliza Brooks 40 Elsie Brooks 9 George Brooks 19 Samuel W Brooks 46 Thomas Brooks 12 On the 1901 he was still at home and unmarried therefore had to be married after 1901. If you have his wife's name I would write or email Plymouth and West Devon Record Office Community Services Department Unit 3 Clare Place Plymouth PL4 0JW Phone : 01752 305940 Email : pwdro at plymouth(.)gov(.)uk (hard getting email adds on here)and ask for a death search would probably save you a bundle. I ordered a search in Cheshire and and received a copy of the marriage cert. for less than $30. If you can search for a Plymouth newspaper you can often find obits. in the archives which would possibly give you relatives names.

I would like to ask the question 'How do you know he's an excellent researcher'. Ron www*genealogyprinters*com

Thanks. How many hours (ball park) does it take to look for a likely marriage or death in a certain area if you have a common name? I have no idea how long it would take someone.

Buying a cert (marriage or death) costs £7.00.............but whether to spend £250.00 on a researcher really is a decison only you can make. Presumably, you know the names of his parents, so that any marriage info can be cross-checked.......... Reg

Yes, I am asking I suppose if this is reasonable (would this be a very long winded task - I have looked myself for a marriage in Plymouth for him and can't find one). £250 is a great deal of money to me. My mother did not know her birth family and I am hoping we can find living descendants. HTH.

I'm not sure what the reason is for this posting..............do you have a question? Reg

I am paying an excellent researcher to answer some of my difficult ancestry questions as a present for my mother. I am paying £250 and have asked for a few things to be sorted. One of which was finding out if there were any descendants of a relative of mine born 1879 in Plymouth, Devon with a common first and second name - Thomas Brooks. If not to search for a death certificate. It looks like most of the money will be taken up in this search. I think this is reasonable as it is such a common name? Thanks.