Genealogy Chat

I am having real problems trying to locate my maternal grandmother's birth Cert. I have her marriage cert. for her 2nd marriage (to my grandad) and have seen her certificate for 1st. marriage on Scotlands people. I know she said her maiden name was Wilhelmina Blattner and have traced her parents marriage certificate. She gives her birth date as 1897 (which ties in with her age on both marriage certs). BUT her mother didn't marry the man she calls her father until 1903 making her 6 years old at the time. Her mother at the time of the 1901 census is 29 and still living at home with her parents but she is married and her name is Nicholson. There is a 4 year old daughter on the 1901 census called Wilhelmina Nicholson. It is definitely my grandmother's family in the 1901 census because her mother has an unusal name (born Christina Crocket Burton). In 1897 Christina was married to a man called Angus Gunn and they had a baby boy that only lived for 4 hours, was he my grandmother's twin, should her surname be Gunn, Nicholson, or Blattner? I am going mad, I can't find a record of any of these 3 on either Scotlands people or any of the English BMD Indexes.

Sounds to me as though her name was probably Gunn, but changed to Nicholson when she was young when her mother remarried. Going by the age of 4 on the 1901 census, she could have been born the year before the baby who died. Kath. x

If she's the Wilhelmina Nicholson on the census as born in Durham, I think there's a Durham bmd site somewhere. Also, you might consider asking the relevant register office if they can find her birth. nell

Could this be a possible: Name: Nicholson, Wilhelmina Record Type: Births Quarter: September Year: 1897 District: Lanchester (1875-38) County: Co. Durham Volume: 10a Page: 321 nell

If you can't find Angus' birth, try looking for his death. It is perhaps possible that the 'only lived 4 hours' was a mistake and he was stillborn, in which case there will be no record. nell

I found the Lanchester birth record for Wilhelmina Nicholson, and discovered that Lanchester is in Durham (I think). I have been unable to trace Mr. Nicholson or a marriage for him to my great grandmother in both England and Scotland. As for baby Angus Gunn I have found both birth and death certificates for him on Scotlandspeople (I was looking for a death cert. for his father). My grandmother always said she was Scottish, as were all her family, and it is most annoying not to be able to place her anywhere in either country!