Genealogy Chat

Thanks Irene and Brenda. I think 'searching a black hole' just about sums it up!

Aran, you are searching in the great black hole. Until the 1911 census is published, it is going to be very difficult. If you are actually visiting the area, though, you might consider school records. I've not used them as a source myself, but if you found out where your grandfather went to school, you might find siblings at the same school. If the records survive, the sort of information you might find is date of birth, address and possibly parents' names. Good luck B

Aran The Elec Rolls are done every year, just like now, you will only get heads of house to start before 1923 only women over a certain age possibly 50 were on, from 1923 men over 21 and 1928 women over 21. It would be possible if you know the district to make a note of all the names. after June 1911 they started to put down the mothers maiden name in the indexing so it makes it easier to match up families. So for any family you will be looking 1921-1941 if they were still at home. Irene

Good idea Abigail - I'm planning a visit to the area, so I'll give it a go.

Would electoral rolls of the time be any help? I think you can get them at the local libraries. Abigail

Abigail, thanks. Unfortunately, I have no idea whether or not he had any brothers or sisters. He was a dark horse! So I might even be wasting my time looking for them!

Helen, thanks. The parish baptism registers seems like a good idea. Doing a simple name search in the right area has thrown up a good many likely candidates based on the dates, so it'd be an expensive way to do it. No living relatives who know anything. But we'd like to!

Jess, thank for the reply. Their data is available, but his father was only 16 on the 1901 and was living at home. They married in 1904 and I'd like to know whether they had any other children than my grandfather who was born in 1905.

If you look on 1837 after about 1911 they give the maiden name of the mother of the child. This might help confirm which ones you are looking for by: Surname Mother's maiden surname Gaps between children Do you know if he was the eldest or in the middle or roughly how many there were. On my tree further back I see patterns emerging of a birth each year in the family in the same quarter. On other's it can be two years. It is still difficult but it might narrow the targets down a bit. Abigail

Aran Aran Whenabouts are we talking? You could check the parish baptism registers if you know when and where your grandfather was baptised to find other entries with the same parents. Otherwise, you can go through the GRO births indexes (after 1911 its easier as the mother's maiden name is also indexed) for the registration district. If you find likely ones but aren't sure, the gRO will check them for you if you specify parents' names and charge you £3 to check, or they will send the certs for £7 if they are the right parents. Are there no living relatives - cousins, etc who could give you some clues? nell

What are his parents name , are They post 1901 too? Jess

PS it's all after 1901, so no census data available!

I'd like to find any brothers and sisters of my grandfather. I have his birth certificate, and the marriage certificate of his parents. But how do I find out whether they had any other children? I can't just search by surname and region - it'd take far too long and I'd end up ordering dozens of birth certificates only to find most wouldn't have the right parents! Thanks in advance for any ideas.