Genealogy Chat

I am trying to order the birth certificate of my great grandmother but I'm totally confused. I have her marriage and death certificate and therefore know she was born 1876/1877. The only information I have is that her full name was Alice Mary KAYE and that her father was William KAYE, however he was deceased in 1906 when his daughter married. I dont know where the family is from though. Nicky

Hi Nicky Does it give her deceased fathers occupation on the marriage cert? And do you know if Alice had any siblings and what their names were? Jeanette x

Nicky, do you mean 1876/77? And if so, have you tried FreeBMD etc? Mandy :)

Her father's occupation was labourer but I dont know anything about any other siblings.

Hi Mandy, Yes, sorry I did mean 1876/77. I have tried Freebmd and 1837online but not sure where she was born. Any ideas. Nicky

A couple more questions Nicky What were the names of the witnesses at the marriage - they sometimes turn out to be family members. Where did the marriage take place? jeanette x

Nicky, I've just searched on Ancestry - there are a lot of Alice Kayes in West Yorkshire so would this tie in with her marriage and/or death certs? These are the only two births around the right time, but neither of them have a middle name: Alice Kaye Dec qtr 1875 b Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire vol 9c p21 Alice Kaye Dec qtr of 1877 b Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire vol 9 p82 Good luck! Mandy :)

They were married at the parish church in the parish of Brompton in the county of York in the district of Scarborough. They both lived in Brompton at the time of marriage. This is where my ancestors lived according to census records. Brompton by Sawdon. Witnesses were Thomas Edward Seaife, something Simpson and Albert Leaf. Albert was Fred's brother. Nicky

I have looked through the 1881 census and the only Alice I can find born in those years with a father of William have the surname Kay and from Lancashire. I'm confused. Marriage and death certs are KAYE. Alice even gave the surname of Kaye as a middle name to her son. Nicky

Just had a look on multimap and Scarborough and Wakefield are about 75 miles apart. Family could well have moved that distance between Alice's birth and marriage. Mandy :)

Blinking Heck Nicky! Brompton is just over the border in NRY and out of my area otherwise I could have had a look at the parish registers. As for the spelling of Kay/e. As most poeple couldn't read or write in those days it was up to the person writing how to spell it. And in my experience I have found that there were a lot of census enumerators who weren't very good at spelling themselves. So I wouldn't rule it out. Also bear in mind that poeple used to lie about their ages for various reasons. By the way I think your witness Thomas Edward's surname is probably Scaife. Let me have a think! jeanette x

Mandy, I thought Wakefield at first but the only alice born wakefield on the 1881 census for her age has Charles as the father. I am confused. Nicky

Jeanette, Yes I think you are right, it is Scaife. Nicky

Nicky Just found on the 1901 census Alice KAY aged 23 living in Brompton and working as a Cook Domestic. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any other Kays living in Brompton. And the birthplace says Yorks... It might be worth looking at the original to see if she did just give her birthplace as Yorks or whether the transcriber just couldn't read the birthplace. Jeanette x