Genealogy Chat

hi. were trying to find out anything we can about my step-fathers real dad. we know his name FRANCIS JOSEPH STANLEY MERRY & we think he was born in london. we know his army number. we have a copy of a marriage cert. we have written to royal artillery barracks in woolwich and army historical disclosures in glasgow but basically unless we know more than they can tell us they can't help! does anyone have any ideas on where we can go/write to to be able to look further? thank you. gina

Hi Georgina I gather you would like to know about his living relatives rather than track his ancestors? What about posting on the Trying to find board? Sorry not to be able to help. I have had little luck trying to track my grandfather's marine records.Good luck Joan

hi joan. yes were trying to find out if my step-dad has any brothers/sisters or even if his dad is still alive. or really just anything about him. he did'nt know him as a child & his mum's 2nd husband adopted him. she can't really remember much. & it's really difficult to know where to look to find out what we want to know. we thought we'd get some help from the army addresses we wrote to seeing as though we know his number, but as i said they were rather useless.one of them was gonna cost £25 & the info they wanted from us was what we wanted from them!!! but, like everyone else on here we'll plod on. thanks for your reply. good luck with your searches. :))) gina

Me again! Realised you will need a birth date to find any records. I had a quick look on freebmd but couldn't find birth or marriage. Are we talking post 1837 ? If you have a rough idea of his birth year you could try 1837 online...hard work but reliable. Is he on any of the censuses? You can e-mail me if you don't know how to look up these. Joan

Hi Gina I am looking too far back! Haven't much experience of the sort of searching you are doing. Is there a Friends reunited army group? Cheers Joan

Hi Georgina. I have had lots of problems finding people but this board always comes up trumps in the end. If there is any chance of a person being found then found they will be. I can only advise at the moment and this is it. Put all you have on this board, dates places etc and help will come. Good hunting, Roger from Eastbourne

tell us more about the marriage cert you mentioned

the marriage cert. registration district : Newmarket. 1946.parish of Wickhambrook in the county of Suffolk. at All Saints parish church. no: 38. on the 30th November 1946. names:FRANK MERRY age 21 bachelor. soldier 3rd infantry training centre. Blenheim camp Westbury. fathers name: Stanley Merry, ex soldier. married: Olive Freda Haygreen age 22 spinster. Wickhambrook. fathers name: George Stanley Haygreen, agricultural worker. that is all the info from the cert. gina

If it'll help to have Frank's date of birth at any point, you can order the birth cert on 1925 Apr-Jun, Merry, Francis J S, Holborn 1b 890 Mother's maiden surname was Harrison.

Afraid there's a death: Merry, Francis Joseph S (unique names help!), November 1997 Southend-on-Sea. DoB is given as 4 April 1925 (From 1837online. After 1984 they're computerised, so you don't have to search a quarter at a time)