Genealogy Chat

Hiya! With the overseas registers now on 1837 I thought I'd have a look for my mums birth certificate. Found it really easily so I thought I'd look for all her siblings. Found them all either overseas or in this country except one! My mums eldest sister was born in 1953 (I've searched from 1950 - 1956) in both overseas and England. I just can't find her anywhere. My grandparents were married the year after in 1954 (didn't my mum get a shock when she found out that her sister was born out of wedlock! The hassle her mum gave her for having me at 16 and she'd been no better!!!) Tried searching for my aunts wedding certificate to see what her maiden name was and thats the same as my mums so no luck there. Thought I'd try my grans maiden name (in case my grandad wasn't the father!) but no luck there also. Although my gran was German so I suppose my aunt may have been born there. To be honest I wasn't going to order my aunts certificate just confirm all my information but now I'm getting intrigued. Anyone got any ideas. Sam x

Maybe her father wasn't your Grandad? I've found the same thing happened in my family, she may have been registered under a different man's surname and your grandad 'adopted' her the next year (and she'd have got a new birth certificate). Jacquie

Thanks for your reply? If this were the case, would there be anyway of finding her 2nd birth certificate? Thanks Sam x

When you say her maiden name was the same as your Mum's, do you mean she married under that name? Who was shown as her father? Did she have children? What maiden name is shown against their birth entry on GRO? It may not be the same as when she was marrying. Is there no one you can ask?

Hi Gwyneth, Against the marriage index my aunts maiden name is the same surname as my grandfather but I'll order it to see if its my grandfathers name on it. My grandfather was in the army throughout this time and I ordered his records ages ago. I'm hoping that when they eventually arrive I'll be able to work out where he would have been around the right dates etc. Unfortunately I can't ask my aunt. My mother and aunts all fell out when my gran died on a big scale. I also wouldn't want to ask my aunt in case I open up a hornets nest! My mum, where theres a different story, I can ask her!!! Thanks for your help. Sam x

Does anyone know where your Gran came from? It seems quite likely that she lived somewhere in Germany near to where your grandfather was stationed. What does it say for place of birth on her death certificate? Just Germany? I think you are going to have to search further afield. If they were not married, your aunt would probably not be registered through the British system if she was born in Germany.

What happened in my family was that the mother wasn't married and the baby was registered under the father's surnme, when the mother found herself a husband, the husband adopted the child, so the child's old birth certificate was confiscated and a new one issued (one of those that doesn't give parents on) 4 years after the event. The only way to get a copy of the first certificate is to know the name they were registered under - impossible. I even had another case where the child was registered under the dad's name and the mother put herself as his wife when they were never married. It's such a tangled web!! It's a shame you can't ask the older members of the family - but I know what you mean you can't rile up a load of trouble.

Hi again, Thanks for the extra messages. I've found out today that the Army records office are working currently on the requests sent in during February 2004 so they expect to despatch mine in the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed I can work something out from them. Once again, thanks to everyone. Sam

Hope you find out what you're after! I bet your postman thinks you fancy him when you watch him walking up the path! Jacquie