Genealogy Chat

I'm very new to this so apologies for asking another dozy question. How do I find what other children each set of parents may have had besides the one I know about? Does that make sense? To clarify - I know the names of my paternal great grandparents. How do I find out if they had any more children besides my paternal grandfather? Is it just a matter of trawling through records & getting certs to confirm I've got the right people? I'd appreciate any pointers in the right direction. Geraldine (trying to find a family history course for beginners at a local college so I won't need to ask too many dozy questions!)

You'll find that many people on here are very knowledgable in the subject and are more than happy to help! If the people in question were around in 1901 you can start by searching the census for them.

I've used a combination of: checking Census records (1901 and earlier); talking to the oldest members of my family for their recollections; and... trawling throught the records. I've found some great and great-great uncles and aunts that way, but I'm sure there'll be more to come! Gordon

Geraldine what were your great grandparents names & when & where did they marry? Georgina.

If any of the children were born pre-1901, they will appear on the census with their parents.......... Unless you really want to do a course, don't go forking out for one.............you'll find loads of people on here only too willing to answer your questions. Also, there are tips on your your GR home page under 'getting started'......and threads on here offering tips for newbies...........put 'nebies' in the search box at the top.... And be aware that you will get addicted......... Reg

Only an addiction, Reggie? OH calls it my obsession with my dead people! Jay

Thanks everyone. I didn't want to clog the boards with questions if there was a place to look. Although I do try to find an answer before I post;-) Reg - I am already finding this addictive. I love history & the 1901 census is fascinating. I'm keeping a track of my spending & its getting scary but I want to find out more! Georgina - I don't have any certs to confirm yet but my great grandparents were William Henry Redman & Maude M. (don't have maiden name yet). I believe they married in Q2 1900. I have found them on the 1901 Census with 1 unnamed male child who I am assuming is my grandfather as he was born in Q2 1901. They were married in Portsea, Portsmouth. Geraldine

Going to ancestry's partially indexed BDM's I put William Redman, Portsmouth 1900 into their marriage search and following the links I came up with: Maude Mary Barter 1900 Apr-May-Jun Portsea Island (1837-1900) Hampshire Robert Burton 1900 Apr-May-Jun Portsea Island (1837-1900) Hampshire Maria Harris 1900 Apr-May-Jun Portsea Island (1837-1900) Hampshire James Henry List 1900 Apr-May-Jun Portsea Island (1837-1900) Hampshire William Henry Redman 1900 Apr-May-Jun Portsea Island (1837-1900) Hampshire so I suspect Maude Mary Barter is your girl! cheers! Gordon

Geraldine I am afraid you have a tough job finding siblings because he was born at the worst time. Between 1901-1911 is the worst time for finding children because the mothers maiden name was not included on the index's until 1912 which makes it easier to search and you cant cross reference until the 1911 census is released in 1912. Georgina.

Oh Bless , the baby is aged 1 day, born the night of 31st... Maude M Redman William H abt 1880 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Wife Portsmouth Hampshire ?~~~~? William H,Maude M abt 1901 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Son Portsmouth Hampshire William H Redman Maude M abt 1880 Gosport, Hampshire, England Head Portsmouth Hampshire

Geraldine, at the moment it is quite difficult to find out what children a couple had between 1901 and 1911. If any of them were born after 1911 then they will be listed under the surname Redman with the correct mother's maiden name also listed in the GRO birth index, and if before 1901 then you should get them from the census, but until either we get the new GRO index with mother's maiden name all the way through, or we get the 1911 census (in 2012), that decade is tricky. If the father or mother left a will, then you should be able to get the children's names from that. Also, if you get the father's and the mother's death certificates, then you may well get children's names as the informants. Oh, and witnesses' names on the marriage certificates for the sibling(s) you DO know about. There are a very few counties / areas whose local BMD sites list mother's maiden name on the index pre-1911 (check on www.ukbmd.org.uk). Apart from those suggestions, well, you might have to keep ordering certificates for 'possibles', specifying mother's name or whatever as a checking point so that you don't have to pay the full whack for any that turn out to be the wrong family. Kate.

Geraldine, unfortunately your lot of siblings seem to have been born in the abyss of post 1901 census but I can see someone has already had a search for them in the bmd index. If you are only using the 1901 census site on here, then it would be a much better idea if you took a sub to ancestry which will give you free access 24/7 to ALL the available census from 1901-1841 which you will need as you go backwards through the family. familyrelatives.org is another good (but pay to view site). Always check for births, marriages and deaths on the (free) freebmd site then if no joy and you cant bear trawling through years and years of bmd images on ancestry then if they fall into the 1866-1920 period use familyrelatives which is name, area and time span searchable. Good luck.

But there's always a chance of finding some siblings born after 1911... My tree currently has my gggrandparents having children in 1897, 1899, 1900, 1911 (Grandad) and 1915... There are probably more in the family, but I won't know unless I wait until 2012 or buy all the certificates for my surname born in Salford between 1901 and 1910! Gordon

Geraldine if that is the correct marriage to Maud Mary Barter then he had a least one sibling... Frederick R Redman born March quarter 1914 in Portsmouth, mothers maiden name Barter ref no:2b-903. Georgina.

Thank you to everyone for the help & suggestions. To Gordon, Georgina & Jess Bow Bag Bobbin Dog (love that name) all I can say is Wow! & thank you so much. How did you find the info so quickly? I can see this easily becoming an obsession before long. I'm just sorry I didn't start sooner as there are, as far as I know, no relatives from my Dad's side left to ask. Geraldine