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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?'. If you wish to submit a question to Nick, please email expert@findmypast.com. 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 -
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Marion Grumbridge
I have traced my great grandfather to Patchway, Gloucester. On census and death certificates his address is just shown as Patchway Common. Is there any way I can find out his full address?
Answer - Nick
It depends which census return you found him on. If you located him in the 1901 census, you might have a chance of finding him in the 1910 Valuation Office Survey. These records are held at The National Archives, and combine maps with assessment documents. A careful search of the assessment documents should reveal his name as either occupier or owner of a property, and you can then look at the corresponding map to find the location in Patchway Common. Alternatively, there is a similar set of documents known as the Tithe Apportionment Survey. Created in the 1840s, the Tithe Apportionment Survey also combines maps and assessment documents. Geoff Stuttard
Is there anywhere that specialises in collected registers for baptisms in non-conformist churches, such as Baptists and Methodists, from 1700 up to the start of civil registration? I have already exhausted the parish registers for Anglican churches in the towns concerned, and local library collections.
Answer - Nick
There have been many non-conformist religions in England and Wales, that created and kept their own registers. After civil registration was introduced, two commissions were sent out (in 1837 and 1857) to collect the registers of the non-conformist churches. The results of these commissions are now housed (primarily) at The National Archives, in series RG4-6 and RG8. In addition, two non-conformist registries were set up ? the Dr Williams Library, and the Wesleyan Methodist Metropolitan Registry ? whose records are also at The National Archives. Steve Whitfield
I have found my great, great, great grandfather, George Whitfield, in Dorset. He was born about 1800 and died in 1846. I had assumed he was born in Dorset, however the 1841 census says this is not the case. I have looked in the Wiltshire parish records as other members of my family are from Wiltshire, however I can?t find him. On the IGI, I have found a George Whitfield born in Hampshire in 1800. How can I marry them up?
Answer - Nick
The only way is via a process of elimination. I would start by widening the parish records search to take in other Wiltshire parishes, but also to see if you can locate a marriage record. This should help you to narrow down the search, as it will say whether he was resident in the parish at the time of the wedding. Next, you could investigate the George Whitfield born in Hampshire and see if you can pick him up in later census records, or find his burial in Hampshire. If so, then you can rule him out; if not, you?d have to see if you can find other family papers, such as registered wills, to help with the identification process. Derrick J Reeves
Emanuel Hook married Jemima Thomas on 15 November 1844 at St Mary Callow. They had a son, Emanuel, christened Manuel Hook in August 1847 at St Martin, Hereford. In the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census Manuel is listed as living with Jemima's parents in Lower Bullingham. I have searched the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire 1851 census; the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census; the BMDs and the local church burial registers for Emanuel and Jemima Hook, but have not found them. Any ideas what might have happened to them after their son was born?
Answer - Nick
It would suggest that they either both died, or moved away from the area to find work. During the 1840s and 1850s epidemics such as cholera raged through Britain ? and many people were buried in due haste without records being created. I realise that this does not help you to find them - but there are few other explanations, other than emigration. (If you have Manuel?s marriage certificate, that should in theory at least denote whether his father is deceased.) It might be worth widening your search of neighbouring parishes for the burial records to see if you can find them, or try the National Burial Index prepared by the Federation of Family History Societies . Clive Davis
I am tracing my mother?s family, named Gerrish. Can you tell if this is of Huguenot origin, as I have been told?
Answer - Nick
The best way to check would be to contact the Huguenot Society Library , University College, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
Marie Summersby
I cannot find the death of my great grandmother. I did find out that she had remarried - and as she was a district nurse on Hayling Island, I thought she would be easy to track down. Her name was Bridget O'Donnell, then Sheehan, and then Ogburn. She married James Sheehan in 1886 when she was 20. After James died, she married Ernest Ogburn in 1913. I believe she was born in Ireland.
Answer - Nick
I?d imagine that you?ve searched for her death under all three surnames in England and Wales, so it is possible that her death occurred back in Ireland ? in which case, you?d have to search the registers there. Alternatively, it is not inconceivable that her second husband was killed during the 1st World War and that she married for a third time, thus requiring a repeat search under the new surname. It might be worth checking the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to see whether this theory is worth pursuing. Susanna Saunders
Can you tell me why I cannot find any trace of some of my family on the 1901 census? I know they were alive and in England at the time, so how can I find out what happened to them? Is it possible they did not get included for some reason?
Answer - Nick
If you have worked with the online census returns, there are three plausible explanations. The first, as you correctly surmise, is that they simply missed the census enumerator when he was in the neighbourhood, or were away from home on business and did not fill out a form. The second is that their names were recorded with a variant spelling, or using an abbreviated Christian name, which would make them harder to detect. The third is that there could be a transcription error in the database. Marie Potter
I hope you can help with my puzzle - it concerns my father?s surname. My grandfather's surname was Flint, and my grandmother?s maiden name was Gurton. When they married in 1911, they already had a son - born in 1908 - this son was also Flint. My father was then born in 1912. When my parents married, my father had lost his birth certificate, so had to send off for another. When he got it, his surname was down as Gurton. My grandmother went on to have two more children, who were both surnamed Flint. Why is my father recorded as Gurton?
Answer - Nick
This is indeed a puzzle, and it might be worth re-examining all the pieces to check the chronology. For example, how sure are you of the date of marriage? It may be that they had not actually married, and used the switched surnames to ensure a degree of respectability. However, if you have the marriage certificate, and it does pre-date the birth of your father in 1912, then another explanation is needed - and it could be a simple mix-up at the register office by the informant; sometimes these things do happen! Keith Bryson
I have managed to trace my family line back to around 1780, when my ascendant was living in Kent (the only Bryson recorded in Kent at that time). Obviously I have no census information for this period in time, so what is the easiest way to trace this ancestor to his birthplace / date of birth? I suspect that he moved to Kent from North England, or possibly Scotland. I have a marriage record - will it tell me his birthplace on the marriage certificate?
Answer - Nick
Have you looked for any wills? They may help you to track back one generation if the will was registered locally in Kent. However, if you suspect a connection with the north, then the Borthwick Institute is the best place to start looking - as they hold registered wills for the Prerogative Court of York, as well as many original wills. Without some form of location or connection to a previous generation, it is going to be hard to make the link, though you can always speculate and see what matches occur through the International Genealogical Index or the National Burial Index to see if there is a Bryson stronghold elsewhere in the country. Monica Flavill
Is there anywhere I can find records of divorces in the 1840s?
Answer - Nick
Prior to 1858, it was prohibitively expensive to obtain a divorce; in fact, the only legal recourse was to obtain a private bill in the House of Lords. Alternatively, church courts were used to settle matrimonial disputes, but only created a form of legal separation where neither party was free to remarry. Where records survive, they are likely to be held at the relevant diocesan record office (often the county archive).Carol Worthington
Could you give me some idea where to start looking for my ancestors, as I haven't got a clue. I don?t have much to go on - and no one to ask, as they are all dead.
Answer - Nick
Sadly this is a common problem, though by no means insurmountable. You need to start from scratch and use birth, marriage and death certificates to piece together the lives of your grandparents and parents. For instance, if you know when someone died, you can order their death certificate to find their age or date of birth, which in turn will reveal the name of their parents, along with their mother?s maiden name ? thus allowing you to search for the marriage, obtain the age of the bride and groom and therefore repeat the process. By the time you reach 1901, you can use census records to flesh out your research.
(The 'Ask the Expert' section on findmypast.com is for educational purposes only. findmypast.com or Nick Barratt shall not be held responsible for the reliability or accuracy of any such 'Ask the Expert' submission, statement, advice and/or opinions, or for any injury, loss, or damage which occurs as a result of such 'Ask the Expert' submissions, statements, advice, opinions, or other information provided within the 'Ask the Expert' section.)
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