Genealogy Chat

Please can anyone help. My ggfather Benjamin Ackroyd b.1853 in Dudley Hill, Yorks d. 1889 in Outwood, Yorks. His birth does not appear to have been registered, in which case any way of finding out his mothers name? I have his fathers name , John Ackroyd from his wedding certificate. The 1881 census states birth 1853 so he may not have been christened.

I take it you've tried FreeBMD and 1837online, with a few years either side? You may be correct and his birth may not have been registered. If this is the case, then nothing but parish records will help you, I'm afraid.

With reference to FreeBMD, not all the records have been transcribed yet. It may be that he is in there somewhere, he just hasn't been found yet. What sometimes happened is that the birth was not registered for a period of time (in some cases years), only becoming necessary for marriage, etc. Don't give up yet Paul

Anne Where abouts in Yorks. is Dudley Hill? I can't find it in my UK road atlas! I was checking Ackroyds on the VRI CD for you but need to have an idea of area.

Dudley Hill is in Bradford, 2 miles south east of city centre. I hope this helps. Stan Driver

Thanks for helpful suggestions. If Ben Ackroyd was neither registered or christened is he lost to the system?

Try looking again for a male child born, this happened to me and it took me 4 years to find one of my GGGGfathers. not named at birth in 1849, found him on 1851 census 1 year old, hope this helps you. the last colume on a birth certificate is for children named after registration but few parents bothered to let the registar know.

It might be worth looking at the 1861 census to see if his mother was living with him and the rest of the family. Whilst you can never guarantee that the wife of his father at the time is his mother, it may help. Rachel

Anne Sorry I've just had another thought. You could check back to the 1851 census and check that the wife is the same in both years, and then as another double chck, you could try and find their marriage to see if that ties in as well. Once you find the father getting married on FreeBMD if you click on the page number it will show all other people getting married registered on that page, which will give you a choice of spouses. Good luck in finding them. Rachel

If you're open to alternative spellings, there's these two on the same page: 1853 Jan-Mar, Akeroyd Benjamin, Bradford Y, 9b 46 1853 Jan-Mar, Akeroyd Fanny, Bradford Y, 9b 46 There were many other spellings, all pronounced Ackroyd. Not so much a question of people changing, more a case of when each family stopped regarding all the versions as freely interchangeable. Anybody's guess

I am having a similar problem finding my g-grandfather George Newman. He is on 1881, 1891 and 1901, his apparent year of birth being 1859, Lambeth, but I have trawled through 1837 from 1858 to 1863 and can't find him anywhere. I ordered 1 certificate from Mar 1858, which seems too early for his age to tally with the censuses, and whilst his father's name is correct, (also George), it lists him as a "stoker at Crystal Palace" whereas on the censuses he is a cabman or driver. The Newmans were Baptists and so there are no Parish Christening records anywhere for any of them. What do others think? Could these Georges be mine? Also, does anybody know if the Baptists hold their records anywhere? Liz STS

I am also having the same trouble with my Gt Grandad. Is it true that you had to register a birth before marriage?

Any ideas re my George Newmans?