Genealogy Chat

I'm new to this, so bear with me! I am trying to find out who my Grandfather's parents were. I know who he married, the date and the church, so can I get a marriage certificate with this information, and would that have the names of his parents on it? Any advice appreciated.

Hi, Unless you're in Scotland, a marriage certificate will show just the father's name, for both husband and wife. You would have to get your grandfathers birth certificate in order to get the names of both his parents. Best of luck Helen

Do you know the GRO ref you need, for the marriage cert/ or birth cert? If not, let me know, as I have a few spare credits and will look them up for you.

Jacqueline Trudy means after 1837. Forgive her she has had a hard time helping me with a computer problem lol :))) Chris

You lovely lot! I have not done one look up yet, I have just collected together all the research of relatives and I am in the process of checking it all and filling in gaps. I feel so green! I don't even know what a GPO number is...Or was it GRO? General Records Office? Here's what I have. Percy Davies, born 25/10/1904 (I think in Burtonwood, Cheshire, but not certain). He left school at about 12, worked on a farm, moved to Yorkshire (not sure how that came about) and became a weighman at Silverwood Colliery, Thrybergh. Married Annie Pears 02/08/1926 at St. Leonard's Church, Thrybergh, Rotherham, Yorkshire. He died in Thrybergh, 13/02/1993. What can I find out from this? I'd like to find out about his siblings and his parents, how do I do that?

You sound like the sort of person who wants to know how to find out, rather than all the answers on a plate, so..... You need his birth cert to find out his parents. Then you will need to sort out when they married (the parents I mean) in order to establish if they were together on the 1901 census. You may need to buy the marriage cert too. Try looking at this website, FreeBMD to find the GRO (General Register Office) references. You will need these in order to buy a copy cert from the GRO. http://freebmd.rootsweb(.)com/cgi/search.pl (remove the brackets from the address) You can search this site to find birth, marriage and death registrations. Births sometimes show in the quarter after the birth (years are divided into four quarters and you got 6 weeks to go to the registrars) FreeBMD is not complete, but it is free. To order the cert, go to this site http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/index.asp#0 Costs £7 with a credit card, if you order online Merry

Ok, here's Percy's GRO for his birth. PERCY DAVIES Registration District - WARRINGTON (which Burntwood comes under) Registered - Quarter 4, 1904 8C (Which is the volume number) 204 (which is the page number) So the GRO ref you need is simply 8C 204. I would get this as at least it will confirm both his parents names. You can then look for his parents on the 1901 census. Percy will probably have some siblings with them as well. There are a number of places you can get a cert from. They cost £7 (don't pay anymore than this as they're just ripping you off) I personally use the GRO site, give me a shout if you get stuck. I'll have a look for the marriage ref no now. Regards Helen

Once you have more information about his parents, you may find older siblings on the 1901 census, or it may be that all his brothers and sisters were younger, in which case it may not be quite so easy to find them, but there are ways!! One step at a time for now!! UPDATE - I see Helen has been kind to you above and below!! You can try finding the same details as she did on FreeBMD, to see how it works. She will have got the marriage ref (below) from another site called 1837online. This has ALL the GRO available indexes. FreeBMD only goes up to about 1910. 1837online is at: http://www.1837online(.)com/Trace2web/ (remove brackets) Merry

The marriage cert ref is: Marriage registered in the district of Rotherham. Quarter 3, 1926 9C 1295 (I'm not 100% certain though that it is 9C as the letter is hard to read) Could someone confirm 9C does cover the Rotherham reg district please? Best Regards Helen

Helen - Yes it does! Merry

Hi Merry, Thanks for that! Logging off now as I have a pounding head.....need to close my eyes I think! By the way, I LOVE your name Merry! Helen

lol Helen - hope your head is better soon..... Merry

Thank you Trudy, Chris, Helen and Merry. Helen, I hope your headache wears off soon. Merry, thanks for taking the trouble to post these tips, I will try it out and use it to double check any other family data of that period. I'm sure it will help other readers with the same kinds of queries as well. I shall let you know how it went! regards, Jacqueline.

Just to let you know, Percy's birth certificate arrived in the post this morning, it has his parents names and the address of where he was born on it. Many thanks. As he was a miner, I have been looking up that side of things and have found a site for the mine he worked for, asking for local and family information. I notice his father was also a coal miner (in a different district) so I can pass this info on.

I've been following up a different branch of the family, but recently came back to this. Now have a copy of Percy's parents' marriage certificate and from this have found out where his mother and family were in 1891 (before they got married). The Davies side is proving harder to sort out, but I have a couple of leads to follow up yet. Again, many thanks for starting me off! I just needed that push to get me going.

Jacqueline, Why not add the details you have of the Davies? Perhaps we can help. Rose

Well Jacqueline just like Trudy said at the beginning, you got well & truly hooked! Ozi.

You're right, Ozi, I am hooked! Have got in touch with quite a few relatives (mainly on Dad's side) through gr too. I'm just looking at what I've got. Percy Davies' father was called George Thomas Davies (a collier/ coal miner) and his grandfather was a bricklayer called David Davies. I've no idea where from, though - could be Wales, or England. George Thomas Davies married Alice Fearnley Dec 29th, 1894, he was aged 22 (She was 21). I have found Alice's family in Burtonwood in 1891. I've found Alice's birth register, so can order her birth certificate. Another thread about occupations helped to work out that Alice and her older sisters were Coal Pit Brow lasses, while her younger siblings were at school. I still don't know why Percy went from Burtonwood to Thryburgh, who his siblings were, where George and Alice were in 1901 (am abouts to go and have another look) or anything about David Davies. I know there is a Welsh connection and the Davies family came from Wales, but not when or where. So that't Mum's side of the family. Somebody did ask! Thanks again to Trisha, Monty and all for getting me started.

Where was Alice born? Will help to find them in 1901. Rose

Found them in 1901: 1901 England Census about Alice Davies Name: Alice Davies Age: 27 Estimated birth year: abt 1874 Relation: Wife Spouse's name: George Gender: Female Where born: Haydock, Lancashire, England Civil parish: Astley Ecclesiastical parish: St Stephen Town: Astley County/Island: Lancashire Country: England Registration district: Leigh Sub-registration district: Culcheth ED, institution, or vessel: 15 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 201 Household Members: Name Age Alice Davies 27 David Davies 6 b Burtonwood George Davies 28 b Cheshire, Bhead Joseph Davies 8 months Rose