Genealogy Chat

Can someone out there point a novice in the right direction... I have an ancestor Richard John Neary born approx 1862, and in the 1891,1901 census returns he lists his place of birth as "East Indies" and "India (British)" He lived in London by 1891 but alone. Is there any way of tracking down his birth certificate, or his family history? The IGI only gives me another Neary of similar age also born India, so possibly a brother, but at the moment I have drawn a blank on this line of my tree. Would be grateful for any advice on researching family history where members have moved to and from parts of the British Empire then back to England.

Hello. Just read this post as I too have relations born in the East Indies and have found the reference details for all 3 of them. I have been banging my head against a brickwall with these relations for ages!!!!! Does anyone know if I can I obtain birth certificates with these references????

People born British may be listed in the overseas section of the GRO. You can find the reference and then order the certificate. Please see: www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/research/searchingforoverseasrecords/index.asp#0 for more information. Additionally, if your ancestors were connected with the East India Company, there are a lot of their records available at The British Library. Please see Mark Herber's book "Ancestral Trails" (in libraries and bookshops) for more info. nell

I think most of that onfo will be found in Kew in the Nat Arch but they only do personal visits for searching to my knowledge. I was born in Singapore and we came under the Colonial Office, still classified as British Subjects. Mary in Sydney

Thanks ladies for your advice - still haven't found my man, but hopefully it will be included in one of the "coming soon" sections on the National Archivist site.