Genealogy Chat

see below.

I think I might be following the wrong birth cert. My Gr grandfather appears on various certs with different names. On my grandfathers birth he is named as Richard Barker, railway employee. On GFs marriage cert he is Edward Richard, dec. porter. The only death cert I can find is no help as the informant was the steward at Kensington Infirmary, & the name is Richard. He married twice, first to my Gr grandmother in 1866, name Richard. Widowed in 1888 he married a younger woman in 1890, name Edwin Richard. On all census,1871/1881/1891 he is named as Richard & I can't find him in 1861. The above I am 99.9% sure of. The only birth cert I could find,remotely viable,is indexed as Richard Edward but on the cert is Richard Edmund. Birth place 11 Phoenix Place, Knightsbridge Father, WilliamBarker, Trooper 2nd Life Guards Mother, Jane Barker formerly Hopkins Brenda Hawkins very kindly found details of father William & has even more kindly offered to get details from Kew for me but now I'm beginning to doubt I have the right man. Can anyone point me in the right direction please. Sorry this is so long winded, Vivienne

hi viv i would try and track down his 2 marriage certs, as his father and occupations will be on it, and then you may be able to find his fathers marriage which would confirm the mothers maiden name.which will confirm the right birth certificate hope this helps sandra

Have you got his service records they would have all his details and a good way to cross check what you know or suspect.

Thanks for the replys, it is so difficult getting everything down in an intelligable way. Sandra,I have the marriage certs. to my Gr Grandmother in 1866 he [Richard] is either 20 or 24, not clear. Father William is a soldier & to Jessie in 1890 he is 51 & William is soldier deceased. The reason I am so sure this is right is that on this cert one of the witnesses is his daughter & the family are together in 1891. Unfortunately he is then listed as age 49. Thanks again Peter, I haven't found any indication of Richard in the forces. The birth cert I have is for 1845 & this is where I got the name William & occupation Trooper in 2nd Lifeguards. I am sure that Brenda found the right records for this man as I found him on the 1861 with a wife of the right name Jane. What I don't know is if this couple are the right parents.

you mentiond a trooper in 2nd life guards thats the one I ment

Keith Thank you for replying. I'm sorry but I'm a bit thick. I've read your reply over & over but it's as clear as mud to me. I can hear everyone else saying, whats she talking about it's very clear but as I say I'm a bit thick. Anyway I'll try & put the ages in some kind of order. 1891 census Richard Barker age 49 1890 marriage cert Edwin Richard age 51 1881census Richard age 35 1871 census Richard age 25 1866 marriage cert Richard age either 20 or 24 it's not clear. Does that make it any clearer? Vivienne

Hi Peter I have no idea what Brenda will get for me when she goes to Kew. I don't know much about it. Do you think what she finds will answer my questions. Will the names & ages of his children be there? Vivienne

No you are not thick, its been the same for most of us. Edward Edwin & Edmund, they do get them mixed up, they didn't alway use their first given names and they changed them around willy nilly. As for ages, well you wonder if they really knew or just took pot luck. How are we going to sort them out before census started I don't know but thats part of the fun. No doubt we all end up saying the same words which I won't use here, But it does sound like you have the right family. If you have the death marriage and birth, it should tie in maybe not exactly but near enought. It may mean getting a few more birth certificates of other children just to see what they have that would tell you. More money I hear you say but it is worth it in the end just to be sure. Irene

I think what Keith was getting at is...is there any chance that he was illegitimate and therefore wouldn't be registered with his father's surname. My ggrandfather was illegitimate and was registered Ernest Turner Kirkham, Turner being his father's surname. By 1901 he had dropped the Kirkham and continued to use Turner throughout his life. I spent 6 months following the wrong family after finding an Ernest Turner, right age, right area who also had a father called Joseph, until I realised my error. And if that's NOT what Keith was getting at, I'm sure he'll feel free to tell me off! Lou

Hi Irene It gets even more complicated. On the first marriage one of the witnesses is William Barker & in 1871 there is a William at the address Richard was married from. He is aged 45 so I think ok this is his brother but I can't find a William with parents, William & Jane & I can't find Richard with a mother of any other name. Now this William in 1871 says he was born in Windsor Berks but in 1881 he says he was born in Westminster. I have searched both districts till I am blue in the face but can't find any that look promising. Thanks for the interest Hi Lou I have no way of knowing just yet Vivienne

Hi Viv I did the same this weekend, I discovered I've spent the last 10 months researching the wrong Waterman family :-( the prob happened when they decided to change place of birth on the census and have about 3 generations with the same first name. ARGHHH! Luckily I had only got 3 certs from the wrong family but at least know I will hopefully be able to get back further as where before I thought they were originally from Southampton ie miles away from me, I've now discovered that they originally came from a little village just outside the town I live in :-D - every cloud has a silver lining :-) Karen

Hi All I've found what I think could be the marriage of brother William in 1867 so I am sending for the cert. Fingers crossed it will give me the right answers. Keith & Lou, I finally got what you were saying but as of now I have no reason to think illigitimate. Peter, I've just seen your contact me thread & realised you do millitary stuff. Apart from Kew, where Brenda is going to look for me, is there anywhere else I can look for info? Thank you all again for your interest Now I'm going to bed, Night, night Vivienne