Genealogy Chat

Hi there, I've posted on this board before requesting info on John Mountford Van der Velde. J.M.V D V died in 1935 aged 30. He would have been bornin 1905(if death age is right) I can't find a birth in England for the right year, but I found a Johannis V D V born 1905 in Edingburgh. The fathers name is also Johannis which is on J.M.wedding cert. Can anyone help.

Hi Katherine, without getting the cert. you cant be sure. However, it is a rather unusual name. Looks Dutch/SouthAfrican? I would say it more than likely is your man who changed his name to John to be more ' British' dont know where the Mountford came from, maybe he wanted to impress the future wife? You can call yourself anything you like,its perfectly legal, unless you are intending to defraud. I would go for it! Regards Sylvia.

Johannis is merely the latin form of John. It SUGGESTS, that he was Roman Catholic, as by 1905, Anglican Vicars were not usually recording baptisms in Latin. Olde Crone

Hi Sylvia,thanks for responding, on my grandads marriage cert he is aged 22, his father John Frederick (mining engineer) is deceased . I found a Johannis V D V. born 1905 in Leith, the father is also called Johannis (merchant navy). In Scotland, it was not unusual to use family names as middle names, so Mountford might be a family name. I would dearly love to add him to my tree but I just don't know how I can prove he belongs to me. It's so frustrating. Thanks again Kate

How can you prove it? Well, I'm a bit lost between the chap whose dad is called Johannis and the one whose dad is John Frederick. But you could look for the father on the 1901 census? nell