Genealogy Chat

Hi there!! I'm still trying to find my Grandfather who is supposed to have come from Australia!! name is Frederick (Henry)George, born about 1881 in Sydney, he is also supposed to have been in the Australian Army during World war 1??!! He supposedly settled in England sometime at the end of WW1 and eventually lived in Manchester with Lilian Watt, his wife, they had 2 children (after the war he was a draftsman!!) Can any one help me, (we have nothing about him photo's or any thing, other than the above info.) Dad never even knew him as he supposedly died when dad was born in 1927. Hopefully Val

Since much of this is too recent for censuses I think you are going to need to buy some certificates. Do you have your father's birth certificate? This will have his father's name. You can search for your grandfather's death certificate in the GRO indexes. It might be a long search so you are perhaps best doing it in the National Archives, your local large library or archive or nearest LDS centre. His death cert will give some idea of his age (not always accurate) Then you could try to find his marriage to Lilian Watt and find more information about the bride and groom's fathers. Non of this will tell you if he came from Australia unless you are lucky, but it will begin to build up a picture. If you can't find your grandfather's birth certificate in this country you could try requests for lookups in Austalia since you would have a better idea of his age by then. Anne

yah, I can finally help someone. But not really. There is no record of him being born in NSW at that time. Only these 16822/1876 GEORGE FREDERICK JOHN WILLIAM MARY ANNIE NEWCASTLE 15049/1885 GEORGE FREDERICK A WILLIAM ADA E DUBBO 6535/1890 GEORGE FREDERICK W A WILLIAM EMILY M BATHURST Newcastle, Dubbo & Bathurst are not near Sydney either. Sorry KAren

a Frederick William George served for Aust in WWI http://www.awm.gov(.)au/database/133/page.asp?Folder=19&Page=82&Surname=george are the frederick & henry definitley the right way round?

I've checked deaths in 1927 on 1837online and can't find a death for Frederick Henry George in that year in Manchester.

A Henry was born in Sydney in 1881, with no father. mother Esther. 1881 GEORGE HENRY ESTHER SYDNEY

there are about 5 Henry George's who served in WWI as well.

Hi to you all thank you so much for trying!! you are all so very kind. what a problem I've been having to get back on to GC these last 2 days!! any way I eventually got back to you all!! Unfortunately Dads certificate shows no father!! he is devastated!! he was always brought up with the knowlege that FHG was his father, I wish I'd never sent for it for him now.!! I sent for dads and his sisters, Frederick Henry George a draftsman, is on my Aunt's certificate though! I can only guess what must have happened, but one thing I do know is that this man was hated by my G.Grandmother (Gran's mum). We have no record of him, if he isn't in records as dead in 1927, maybe he moved out before Dad was born, and I'll find him somewhere else, heaven only knows where!! I will be grateful for any suggestions as to how I continue this. Thanks again to you all for your help Val

Was his sister born before him or after? If she was born after then in all likelihood he was his father but they weren't married at the time. It was virtually impossible to put the father down unless they were married. Best bet is to find out when the marriage took place and I suppose it wasn't unusual for mother in laws to hate their son in laws!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but the more so if he did a runner.

Hi Julie Dads sister was born in 1924,her father down as FHG, Dad was born 1927,on his certificate it has a dash where fathers details should be, so she either hated him so much and out of spite didn't put his name on or ???? We don't have any marriage details, only think from what was said in the past, that they went to London to marry!! Sometime after WW1 and before 1924!! I am hitting a brick wall with this one Val

or could he maybe have died when your gran was pregnant with your father?

Hi Sheila Dad was always told his Dad died not long after his birth but yes he could hav died while she was pregnant (I hoped some of this was true) but I can't find a death for him, I sent for a certificate that I thought might be him but it wasn't. So I'm still very stuck!! Thanks for your input though Val

Seeing that the daughter had him down as her father and that the mother in law hated him leads me to think that he must have been the father of the son too. Otherwise surely her anger would have been directed at someone else. Think you may have to widen your search for a death for him - remember registration is usually put into the following quarter which may put it into another year. I would always look at least a couple of years either side. He may even have been in a sanatorium (TB) or gone back to Australia. I too am finding it difficult to find marriage and deaths on 1837 and scotlandspeople. Thankfully on scottish records they entered the date and place of marriage of the parents on the childs birth certificate so was able to go direct to the GRO. However the English Records aren't as detailed so more difficult to research. Still can't find a marriage or death in early 1900's.

Hi Julie Yes I did check the following year for a death and I found a Frederick H George, hoped that this might have been him, right age! right initials! he was then a confectioner and tobaconist, yes he could have changed his profession too! he died in wanstead Essex in January with his SON (not my Dad) present. he died of Asthma and TB!!! How can I find out if these where the same man? (I know how easy it must have been to lead a double life but he must have been a very energetic man early on in his life to travel back and forth from Manchester to Essex) I suppose this could also be why I can't find a marriage between Lillian and Frederick!! Would be grateful for any other ideas!!! Good luck with your persuit! It sounds as if you have as big a problem as me!!! Thanks again for all your input Val

Did the sister get married - if so what was put on her marriage certificate? Also the mother's death certificate - did it say wife of? as it does in scottish death certificates. Depending on his trade perhaps a look in one of the trade directories might possibly come up with something or even a will if he had something to leave to his family. What about trying the local cemetary office records for around that time. Have you tried a different spelling Jorge or Gorge or something. I have a Lumsdane that changed to a Lumsden when grand daughter registered death and another grand daughter registered a different maiden name for her grand mother too!!!! Did they not think of the difficulties they would cause us???????

Hi again Julie My Gran died in 1963 in Manchester, how do I go about finding her death certificate on the net? Or is that an impossible task?! We don't have my aunts paperwork, to look up her fathers details, if they where on her marriage certificate! Any other suggestions PLEASE!!! Val

Hi, Your gran's death registration will be on the website 1837online (it is a pay to view site). When you have the reference send for her death certificate to see what information it has. You can search 1837online for her marriage as well. Gwynne

Hi Val, sorry to say I havent had any more luck than others have indicated - I did derch of ww1 records too - no trace sorry Laurie

Thank you both Gwyneth and Laurel, for your replies, I will give 1837 a try thanks Gwyneth. Fingers crossed Val

Valarie I do feel for you. Lets stop and think, he was said to have come from Australia, so maybe he did, he would have had an accent. So why did she say he had died, maybe he did, but did she never speak of him, so either she had found out something, like he was already married or something happened to make her leave, did she stay in the same home town do you know. What did people do went they wanted to get away from someone so that person didn't know where they were, they would lie and lie to their children. So maybe he didn't die then but much later. Had you found the mothers birth details and have you found her on any census where was your father born, was it near where your Aunt was born. Just had a thought who recorded the birth, was it your fathers mother or grandmother. That may explain why his name isn't down. Irene