Genealogy Chat

ok - something else i missed earlier - not very good at this am I :O( my grandads birth cert shows father john beatty Private Northumberland Fusiliers No 32136 the war grave photo i found is for John Beatty 86159, Royal Defence Corps so presumably i am on totally the wrong track as these can't be the same person - can they? the rest just seems to fit so well :O(

My gut feeling is that the memorial has an error on it. I would double-check your research to date, though. Do you have your father's birth certificate? If not, get a copy. And look again for his parents' marriage, not stopping when you find the 'right' names but carrying on to make sure that there's not been a bizarre coincidence that has resulted in two different couples with the same or very similar names. See if you can find details of the presumed second marriage of your gran, and get the certificate for that as well. Also, I'd imagine that you can use the service no. from the memorial to get hold of things like service and medal records. I'm guessing, because I've never had to do it. But that might help prove or disprove that this is definitely your grandfather. Finally, based on what you have so far, was his father still alive when he got married? If your grandmother never met her father-in-law, then it's perhaps possible that she misremembered his name, or never even really knew it.

Hi helen i don't really - do you have any suggestions for me to check up. am i making too many assumptions? :O) thanks Michelle

thanks andrew

When you start a new thread it's usually best to just have 'See below' as your first message, and then post your questions in a reply to yourself. GR b*ggers up the formatting otherwise! I've taken the liberty of reformatting your post above: HI i originally posted this in general topics - but thought you guys might be able to help me out too. :O) HI I have my grandad's birth cert which shows father john beatty, mother annie elizabeth beatty formerly west in newton abbot 1917. i then found a marriage and sent off for the cert. again newton abbot 1904 john beatty (father william edward beatty) and annie elizabeth west (father george west). i then found on the war graves commission a photo of a cemetary with the words In Memory of Private JOHN BEATTY 86159, Royal Defence Corps who died age 45 on 09 July 1919 Son of John Beatty; husband of Annie Elizabeth Penn (formerly Beatty) i know my great nan became known (by my dad) as grannie penn so this must be her remarried and living in dover where my whole family lives. what confuses me is the war grave description - it says my great grandads father was John Beatty - not William Edward as shown on the marriage cert. have i gone completely off track somewhere or could some of the records be incorrect. would be grateful for any help/advice. thanks michelle

How do you know that the certs and the inscription are for the same chap?

HI i originally posted this in general topics - but thought you guys might be able to help me out too. :O) HI I have my grandad's birth cert which shows father john beatty, mother annie elizabeth beatty formerly west in newton abbot 1917. i then found a marriage and sent off for the cert. again newton abbot 1904 john beatty (father william edward beatty) and annie elizabeth west (father george west). i then found on the war graves commission a photo of a cemetary with the words In Memory of Private JOHN BEATTY 86159, Royal Defence Corps who died age 45 on 09 July 1919 Son of John Beatty; husband of Annie Elizabeth Penn (formerly Beatty) i know my great nan became known (by my dad) as grannie penn so this must be her remarried and living in dover where my whole family lives. what confuses me is the war grave description - it says my great grandads father was John Beatty - not William Edward as shown on the marriage cert. have i gone completely off track somewhere or could some of the records be incorrect. would be grateful for any help/advice. thanks michelle