Thank you for sending your latest questions to Nick Barratt, our resident genealogy expert, and genealogist star of BBC2's hit series 'Who Do You Think You Are?'.  

Nick is only able to answer a modest number of questions every two weeks. If your question is not chosen, we do hope that you will still read the useful advice that Nick gives to others, as it may relate to your own research.

Question 1 -  Jean Seaton
I have traced my family on my father's side to the 1881 census. My great grandparents are listed as coming from Ireland, but there are no further clues as to when and how they came to England. Can you advise me what to do next?

Answer - Nick
This is a common problem, and one that is often very difficult to resolve. Your first step should be to contact the Irish Genealogical Research Society, who can offer specific advice about how to take your research forward in Ireland. For example, if the surname is uncommon, you might be able to establish roughly where in Ireland your family came from, and then follow up with local records such as parish registers or surviving will abstracts.

Question 2 -  Helen Barnes
Can you give me some advice on how I can get information about my ancestor, Pascoa Padoa, who was born in Malta and must have come to live in England prior to 1816. I have spoken to relatives and they think he may have been a seaman. Were records kept of immigrants coming into the country? Does Malta have an equivalent of our births, marriages and deaths?

Answer - Nick
If your ancestors were subjects of Great Britain, then there is a chance that they used consular archives to register the birth of their children. You can look at these consular archives by searching the overseas records on findmypast.com. 'The British Overseas' by G. Yeo is also a good guide to available resources. The other possibility is if they served with the British army, as military registers do survive that far back. Any other archives for Maltese nationals would be held in Malta so you should also try the Maltese Archives.


Question 3 -  Laura Coveney
The latest death certificate I have received is for my great grandfather Joseph Williams who died in Liverpool in 1932. I have noticed on the certificate that under the column for cause of death it just states 'cerebral haemorrhage', and no doctors name is given. I just wondered if this was common, as my other death certificates (ranging from 1919 - 1945) all give the certifying doctors name and qualifications.

Answer - Nick
It is unusual, but I don't think you can read anything sinister into this despite the fact that it was a requirement to fill in the relevant details.


Question 4 -  Nicky Lowe
I've traced my great great grandfather's birth and his marriage. I've also traced his details on the 1871 and 1881 census, however there's no trace of him in the 1891 or 1901 census or the death records. I managed to trace his wife's death record (and her death certificate states she was great great grandfather's widow - so I know he died before her) and I then found where she was buried in the hope she would be buried with her husband - but no such luck. I don't know what to do now - how can I find his death details? He must have died - that's the only sure thing in life. Have you any tips for a frustrated newcomer to genealogy please?

Answer - Nick
It is possible that his occupation might have taken him abroad, particularly if he was a soldier or naval seaman, or perhaps a merchant seaman. In these cases, there are separate indexes to military deaths, as well as a register of deaths at sea. Alternatively, the Federation of Family History Societies has prepared a National Burial Index that, while incomplete, is worth searching to see if you can find an entry for his burial. Otherwise you will have to search the local parishes in the area in which you know he was living in the hope of finding a burial record.

Question 5 -  Angela Brown
I've recently found out from the 1881 census that my great grandfather was a prisoner in Hereford Prison. When I asked my mother if she knew of any skeletons in the cupboard she wasn't aware of this. Is there any way of finding out what he was imprisoned for? I am not sure how to trace these sorts of records.

Answer - Nick
There are a variety of steps you can take to work out what your ancestor was imprisoned for. The Calendar of Prisoners, held at The National Archives , will provide information on the date and nature of the offence, and where the trial was heard. As the Calendar is arranged by county, you can establish quite quickly where to then look for the trial records. If they were tried at the Assizes, then indictments, gaol books and even depositions can also be found at The National Archives; quarter session records are usually held locally. By using the 1871 and 1891 census returns, you should also be able to confirm whether he was local to the Hereford area.

Question 6 -  Hugh Owen
I have encountered an entry in the 1881 census which shows the birthplace of someone as 'Dorm B Subject, France'. Are you able to explain what this means?

Answer - Nick
It's always a bit tricky to comment on text without seeing the entry, but I would interpret this to mean that the individual was born in France (possibly at Dorm) and was a British Subject. This would normally indicate that they had applied successfully for naturalisation (or possibly denization), and a search of the surviving paperwork, such as a duplicate certificate of naturalisation or case papers, at The National Archives should reveal more about his background.

Question 7 -  Kathleen Mahoney
I have a birth certificate showing a child born on 14 March 1881. I cannot find any of the family on the census for that year and they are not at the address in 1871 or 1891. Can you help?

Answer - Nick 
It depends on whether you have searched the census records manually or online. The records on the internet are searchable only via a database, compiled through transcriptions made from the original returns. It is possible that an error was made with this process, making it tricky to find your relatives; alternatively the census enumerators wrote their name down incorrectly, or they were using another version of the surname. Of course, they may simply have been serial census dodgers!

Question 8 -  Astrid Oram
My ancestor, William Henry Stiffell was married in Hampshire in 1881 and was said to be in the 56th Foot Infantry at The Verne. He and his family were in the 1881 census under the name of Stiffield and living in the married quarters, but I cannot find any trace of him being in the army. I have already checked the army records at Kew.

Answer - Nick 
A great deal depends on what army records you searched. The military musters and pay lists at The National Archives for the 56th Foot Infantry should reveal whether he appears with that regiment, bearing in mind that there were two battalions by this stage. Discharge to pension records may also help. Alternatively, the 56th Foot could be a red herring and therefore it might be worth checking to see which regiments were posted at the location where the marriage took place. It might simply be a case that he later transferred to the 56th Foot but enlisted with another regiment.

Question 9 - Janet Chard
I am trying to trace a relative, born in 1913, who emigrated to Canada between about 1914 - 1921, possibly with another family or relatives. Can you suggest some websites providing information on passport applications or ship passenger lists that would be useful to me and others following this line of enquiry?