Genealogy Chat

My perennial advice is to obtain death certificates to ascertain the exact date and place of death, and then go to the local public library there (or enlist the reference service remotely) and look for a published obituary in newspaper archives on microfilm. Obituaries give children's names, and often siblings' and grandchildren's names, and even parents' names sometimes. (They do where I'm at, in Canada, and I assume they do in England.)

I'll leave off there and wait for your thoughts.

This is the death of an Ian Peppitt:

Name: Ian Edward Peppitt
Birth Date: 26 Jan 1944
Death Registration Month/Year: Jul 2002
Age at death (estimated): 58
Registration district: Southampton
Inferred County: Hampshire
Register number: B68A
Entry Number: 214


The surname is uncommon enough -- fewer than 40 deaths for that surname since 1984 -- that it might be a good bet that he is the person you're thinking of.

That death was more recent, so the certificate would be more likely to have current information on it.

That was just me deleting a mistake.

I'd settled on this being Amy's death but missed the fact that the birthdate is a year out:


Name: Amy May F Arnold
Birth Date: 25 Mar 1912
Death Registration Month/Year: Nov 1997
Age at death (estimated): 85
Registration district: Bromley
Inferred County: Kent
Register number: D30
Entry Number: 132


But ... I might still think it was. It would not be unusual for an informant of death -- even a son or daughter -- to have an old person's year of birth slightly off, and the date there would be right for a birth registered in April-May-June quarter.

The significance of the death record is that the certificate could provide you with information, such as an address or the name of the informant who might be findable and who might have information.

Okay, so this is his sister:

Name: Amy M F Peppitt
Year of Registration: 1913
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
Mother's Maiden Name: Francis
District: Willesden
County: Middlesex
Volume: 3a
Page: 633


Baby steps ...

This is Herbert's birth:


Name: Herbert F Peppitt
Year of Registration: 1911
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Mother's Maiden Name: Francis
District: Willesden
County: Middlesex
Volume: 3a
Page: 549


Luckily, after 1911, so we know his mother's surname. Let's see whether we can find another Peppitt-Francis birth. (For idle genealogical curiosity, I'd make you do it yourself, but we'll make an exception!)

I urgently need help to trace Herbert Francis (or could be spelt Frances) Peppitt. I am told he was probably born in 1909 and had a sister who lived in Greenford in Middlesex.
I need to trace relatives of Fred's who can supply information about that side of the family for medical reasons.
Fred was to say the least was a bit of a character, he had a wife who I think lived in Middlesex, a son and two daughters there. The son may have been called Ian or Stephen and I think one of the daughters may have been called Anne.
He had other wives and had families with them. He died in the West Indies, where he had a house the address of which was 9 Arima Port of Spain Trinidad West Indies. He lived there with a woman called Korisha Jaglal and they had five daughters.