Genealogy Chat

I recently found an Uncle I knew nothing about in the record office. He was my Mother's older brother (a complete shock to her!). His name was Albert James Nicholls, born in Coston (Melton Mowbray) Leicestershire, in 1921. I presume he died, but I can find no record of his death. He must have lived for at least 3 months, as that was his aat baptism. Any ideas how to go about finding out what happened to him? Jo

I had a reply from another GC member today regarding one of my husbands lines. His nan was a twin, we assumed the other (a boy) had died at birth or soon after. This lady was his daughter he died aged 54. We had no knowledge of this man at all. So I suppose anything goes.

Hi Joanna, It seems odd that your mum didn't know about him, but maybe your grandparents found it hard to talk about. Where have you searched for his death or burial? Assuming he died very young he might have been buried in the same grave as a relative, a grandparent, which might have been in another parish to where they lived. If you can't find a death, you might have to consider the awful possibility that your grandparents just couldn't cope financially, or that he was disabled in some way, and he was either fostered out or placed in a home. In 1921 there was no legal adoption procedure, but people still privately adopted. My grandmother was fostered out for 4 years from birth while her mum worked in service. Best wishes, Carole

Joanna there is also another way were a child disappeared. I do not know if you have heard of children supposed to be orphans being sent to Canada and Australia. well many were not orphans at all. I refer you to freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/british home children or just type in google BRITISH HOME CHILDREN and read a truly heartbreaking account of 1000's of children sent overseas. we do tend to forget about the so called waifs and strays and assume the child may have died. Pat