Genealogy Chat

In 1867 Louisa Eliza MAJOR b 1849 St.George in the East,Middlesex married an Alfred LOOSTOR at St, George in the East London Surrey. I can find no record of him and its driving me crazy. Can anyone help me trace the lost Looster please?

Do you have his father's name from the marriage cert? What was Alfred's occupation? The name Looster doesn't appear at all on ancestry. Wonder whether its a bad mistranscription of something else or he was from overseas?

Hi Cat.. No I don't have his fathers name I got the info from ancestry as marrying Louisa and I know she was widowed by 1871 -yes it could be a wrong translation..Iknow wot these eastenders sound like at times- being one myself

Hi I agree....I cannot find any mention of a surname Loostor. Even if you goggle it nothing comes up but a DJ's signature name. I have looked at the image of the index and it is down as Loostor. Have you got the actual certificate? Suzanne

Hi Sue, No I have only just found the marriage on Ancestry while looking for Louisa, and wondered if there was another sire to look into to confirm, May be mistrsnslated as Louisa's maiden name of Major was als Mogor and Mayor. Is there anyway these mistakes can be corrected? Thanks for replying and also to Cat.

...lol...I meant the entries not my spellings...

Hi Sylvia I think sites like ancestry(.)com and the like take all their details from the original indexes. If the name was originally mistranscribed (Which 'I think' is the case in this instance) then they will not correct it, even if you have the proof on the certificate. Im afraid the only thing you can do is get the cretificate to read the name yourself to know for sure. Suzanne

Thanks Sue I have been onto 1837 ..reason for delay in reply.. and cannot find him. Have found Louisa so will get certificate as suggested Many thanks for your info Sylvie XXX

I'm little confused (no change there then). If you know she's a widow in 1871 I assume you got that info from the census. What's her surname down as on the census? Surely that will tell you if Loostor is the correct surname or not. Or maybe I'm missing something here, its been a long night! Rachel

I had a look at the GRO entry via FreeBMD. Altho' it's only 1867, the list is typed. To me, that suggests that the probable mistranscription occurred much earlier. (My g-grandfather is similarly entered with a middle name 'Charlee' which is 'Charles' on the certificate.) I'd suggest that you try to get a copy of the register entry from London Metropolitan Archives or somewhere similar. That way you can see what the name really is. This has several advantages: 1] cheaper (price of a photocopy, & postage if it's sent - a poss. £5 min) 2] sight of the source information for the cert 3] including original signatures (or Xs) 4] you can interpret all the info for yourself, without any go-betweens to cloud the issue. If it is LOOSTOR, or even LOOST?R (i.e. any letter in the gap), then he appears to be unique in English history (as far as the Ancestry transcriptions go, anyway!). Christine

The typed records at the GRO are copied from the original hand written ledgers when they were falling apart at the start of the 20thC. There are LOTS and LOTS of errors in them Sometimes the typists would accidentally (??) turn two pages at once, so you might get a registration for a Sarah Smith followed immediately by one for Willam Smith (so no Sophia, Thomas or Walter Smiths that quarter then! lol). The original ledgers were THROWN AWAY!!!! Then there are the spelling errors like this probable one.... I am asking the same question as Rachel - You seem to have found Louisa in 1871?? What was her name then?? Merry

Thanks to all for your respsonses- sorry didn't reply earlier-went to bed then had local horeshow to help with. Found Louisa in 1871 under Langton but her parents and siblins are now called Mogor..but I know their name was Major,as 1891 has her brother lviving with them. Louisa's 2nd marriage in 1874 is to Christopher Crawford Wilson who was my g.g.grandfather and her name then is Lanston. Is it just me-I'm totally confused Sylvie

I suspect that LANSTON, in script, wouldn't look enormously different from LOOSTOR - although you'd think the 1900's transcribers should have been better at the task than that! Christine

Hi Chris, Ancestry 1871 my translation is the same as theirs - Langton- but I am at a loss as to how the Major became Mogor because that also seems plain to me...perhaps they had a 'blonde moment' or snow blindness... Sylvie

I hadn't realised - until Merry's contribution - about the 1900s transcription. That could certainly explain a lot! It also reinforces the value of the local BMD records! Christine

With such iffy transcriptions, I'd say the copy Parish Register route was a really good alternative. At least you'd see the original record's appearance. Christine

Hi Chris, Still trying to fin my way round differnet sites..I really have a slow learning curb (or kerb cos I'm as thickas one!!). When you say Parish records how do I get these please..

You actually haves names (approx) and dates PLUS place: St.George in the East,Middlesex. There are records office & libraries which carry copies of the original church records (usually in film/fiche format so that the originals are protected). If you can find the right place (try the A2A search, perhaps, although I'd say LMA http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/ libraries_archives_museums_galleries/JAS/lma/lma.htm (remove the line-break) was almost certainly one likely place for St George in the East) you might be able to get them to send you a copy of the relevant Register page. It shouldn't cost as much as an actual cert, although they may have a £5 (e.g.) minimum because of the processing costs. I can't recall whether you said a visit was feasible - if it is then it's just the cost of getting there, plus 35p for a copy of the page - and the time-cost to you of finding and scrolling through the film to find the Event. Christine

Hi Christine, Your a treaure, thank you very much for all this info.. I've actually found her 1st born on 1837 and his name is Lanston. And yes, I will be able to go to the local one. Thanks again, Sylvie XX p.s. might call into the records office at the same time!!!!

I have the name MAJOR in my tree. I have found it (in the original records) spelt as MAGOR (easy to mistranscribe as MOgor, wherever there's an 'a', it can be read as an 'o') MAYER MAYAR MAYOR MAIER MYER MYERS MEYER As most Majors seem to originate from Ireland round about the 1660s, when most records would have been written in Latin anyway, MAGOR would have been a valiant attempt to show that the G was hard - there was no J in Latin, it was always written as an 'I'. Hope this doesnt further muddy the waters! Olde Crone