Genealogy Chat

I have a problem trying to find my maternal grandfather. According to my mother he was born in 1902 in Leeds. No problem so far - there is a Fred Todd born in 1901 in Bramley Leeds. Trouble is I've no way to verify this as I can't find a marriage certificate for him and my grandmother (Ethel Birch, b 1895 in Leeds). She had a bit of a wild youth - went to Canada after the First World War and returned to have a baby, my uncle Ron Birch, in about 1922. I can't find his birth either! I have no other information about my grandfather and because of the proximity to the 1901 census cannot really progress any further. Has anybody got any ideas about how I can get through this brick wall? Mark Dudley

Mark Do you have any birth certs children born after her marriage to your grandfather? Are you sure she was called Birch when she married him?

Ther is a birth for Ronald Birch mothers maiden name Birch Wolverhampton vol 6b page 1117 Ap. May, June 1922 Could this be him? Can you tell me roughly when she married Fred, it will help to find the marriage. It takes a long time to look through all of the images otherwise Linda

Here is their marriage Ap, May June 1924 Leeds Ethel Birch, groom Todd vol 9b p971 So now you can order the certificate and that will give you the names of both fathers, so you should be able to find them on the censuses Linda

Hi Carole, My uncle was certainly Ron Birch (illegitimate). My father has a vague feeling that Fred Todd was also illegitimate. My mother is looking for her birth certificate, so fingers crossed that might tell us something! As an aside, I can't find my mother's birth on FreeBMD either! She was born 28th December 1935 in Coventry - name Anne Todd. Thanks for the help Mark

Not wanting to be morbid, but what do you know of the deaths of these people? Anyone who registered a death in Eng/Wales after 1969 will have been asked the decd's date and place of birth. The date of birth appears on the death indexes and the place of birth appears on the death cert. The info given may not be accurate, but perhaps it is? You might be able to confirm some info by at least looking up their deaths in the indexes.............. Merry

Your mothers birth Anne Todd Jan, Feb, march 1936 Coventry vol 6d p1041 mothers maiden name Birch Linda

Linda posted a possible birth reg for Ronald Birch. Could this be the same man's death reg? Name: Ronald Birch Birth Date: 22 Feb 1922 Death Registration Month/Year: Jul 1997 Age at death (estimated): 75 Registration District: Wolverhampton Inferred County: West Midlands Register Number: C54A Entry number: 246 You sound as if you knew your uncle, so maybe you can confirm? Merry

Linda, Thanks ever so much for those lookups! What I can't understand is how I couldn't find them? What might I be doing wrong? Mark

I don't think the Ron you've found could be mine. My parents lost contact with him, but know of no link with Wolverhampton. He lived in Nuneaton when I did know him. Mark

Free bmd only has some of the bmd.s on it. You weren't doing anything wrong. In cases like this you need to look through the complete images. That means looking through all four quarters, year by year, there is no search facility. That is why I asked you when you thought they were married, but when you didn't reply I just made a lucky guess. I have these complete transcriptions as part of my Ancestry subscription, I am not sure if they are free to everyone to look at on the Ancestry UK, site, or only once you have joined Linda

Thanks again Linda. I'll get on and order that certificate. I really appreciate everybody's help on this. Mark Dudley

If Ethel returned to England to give birth to an illegitimate child then it's quite likely that the birth would take place somwhere other than her home town. It may just be a coincidence that it also happens to be the same place another part of the family lived later on. Are you able to answer the query about when these people died? As that may help in finding the births - although I think the finds so faar look to be pretty accurate. Zoe

My mother has now 'found' the marriage certificate which she has always said she didn't have! Unfortunately it doesn't help a great deal as there is no father listed for my grandfather Fred. His address is given though and I have found a Fred Todd b 1901 in Wortley which I hope may be him. Does anybody know if the subdistrict of Wortley is in Leeds, or the one near Barnsley? Mark

Do you know when Fred died? (when you said you will get that birth cert for your uncle......consider it is probably the same person as the one who died in Wolverhampton!) Merry