Genealogy Chat

I have been looking for the birth and parents of my great grandfather for 8 months with no concrete results. I have his marriage and death certificates so know his approximate year of birth and father's name. He is on the 1891 and 1901 census aged 30 and 40 respectively,with his wife and children and gives his place of birth as London, no sign of him on the 1881 census anywhere in Britain. The GRO has no record of a John Boon born between 1859 and 1862 with a father also named John Boon anywhere in Britain. Would a professional Genealogist be able to trace him by means unavailable to me? I realise such a resort might be expensive but would gladly pay for a result that allows me to get further back on this branch of my tree. Has anyone on GC used the services of a Genealogist and if so, what were the costs and outcome? Pam

Hi Pam I have been wondering the same thing about my great grandfather. I have not been able to find any records on him.He seems to appear when he married my great grandmother. I will be quite interested in any replies you get. I am at a loss to know what steps to take also. Good luck! Sandra in Ontario, Canada

Not sure really, But births didn't have to be registered by law until the 1870's, so you could be looking for something that isn't there anyway. Then you would be searching parish records for a baptism. That could be costly. What is the area Diane

Pam, Alot of births in that period weren't registered unfortunately. Do the census records you have give a place/borough in London. Maybe then you could look for a baptism and get him that way. Janice

Although both census appearances for John Boon give his birthplace as London ( no other information) I am not convinced that he was born there as all my other ancestors came from Sussex. He married Eliza Granger in Brighton in 1886, Eliza was Brighton-born as was her mother, all their children were born in Brighton and John died in Brighton. My mother is still alive and when I told her that her grandfather may have been born in London, she was surprised as she cannot recall her mother mentioning any London connection. I have been sent a census copy of 1871 which shows a Boon family Living in Carlton Row Brighton with a father and son named John Boon, the father's occupation is given as a painter and the son as aged 11, this information fits nicely with the details on my great grandfather's marriage certificate, aged 26 in march 1886, father John Boon deceased and a coach painter by trade. I could accept the 1871 census Boons as my family if only the place of birth for John junior tallied with the other 2 census but they don't. This leaves me with 3 possibilities: JB was born in London and not registered, he thought he was born in London but was actually born in Brighton or he lied on 2 census about his birthplace. I am going down to Brighton next week and will start to look through local records for Boon births so maybe I will have some luck then. Pam

I have the same problem but even if you searched parish records could you be sure that there is any record. I have my great/grandfathers marriage cert got him on the 1881 census but can't find him on any other census he had died by the 1891 census. I was going to buy the parish records for the area at a cost of £81 but will I find anything Margaret

Although both census appearances for John Boon give his birthplace as London ( no other information) I am not convinced that he was born there as all my other ancestors came from Sussex. He married Eliza Granger in Brighton in 1886, Eliza was Brighton-born as was her mother, all their children were born in Brighton and John died in Brighton. My mother is still alive and when I told her that her grandfather may have been born in London, she was surprised as she cannot recall her mother mentioning any London connection. I have been sent a census copy of 1871 which shows a Boon family Living in Carlton Row Brighton with a father and son named John Boon, the father's occupation is given as a painter and the son as aged 11, this information fits nicely with the details on my great grandfather's marriage certificate, aged 26 in march 1886, father John Boon deceased and a coach painter by trade. I could accept the 1871 census Boons as my family if only the place of birth for John junior tallied with the other 2 census but they don't. This leaves me with 3 possibilities: JB was born in London and not registered, he thought he was born in London but was actually born in Brighton or he lied on 2 census about his birthplace. I am going down to Brighton next week and will start to look through local records for Boon births so maybe I will have some luck then. Pam

Sandra and Margaret, who are you looking for? If you give me details I will add them to a list I keep of lost souls waiting to be claimed by their present day relatives. When searching censuses and records I refer to this list and have had some success in stumbling across missing people. Pam

Sandra and Margaret, who are you looking for? If you give me details I will add them to a list I keep of lost souls waiting to be claimed by their present day relatives. When searching censuses and records I refer to this list and have had some success in stumbling across missing people. Pam

i Pam I am looking for a William Poole going by his marraige cert which states he was 24 in 1871 means he should have been born in 1847 in Haverhill Suffolk thank you Pam, Margaret

Pam If all else fails contact Joan Allen at my folks they have had wonderful results as many members on this site can testify too. Margaret Drummond who does the Scotland side of my folks found my husband's family for him. All he had was a birth certificate with his mothers name on (no father) and date & place of birth. He his in his 60's and thought it was an impossible task. So do not give up they are wonderful. If you do go for someone to find your rellies make sure you obtain references. There are a lot of tricksters out there. Good luck Pat

Margaret, who did William poole marry? Pam

Pam How about asking Antony Adolph on his next live web chat? On GC Tuesday 20th April at 9pm. Jeanette

Hello Jeanette, I did intend to ask him on his last visit but my mother-in-law was taken ill and I missed the last session. I hope to catch the next one !!! Pam

Hello Jeanette, I did intend to ask him on his last visit but my mother-in-law was taken ill and I missed the last session. I hope to catch the next one !!! Pam

Hi I suspect your man wasn't born in London. My family told amazing porkies about where they were born. One said she was born in Birmingham in 1871 Census, Gibraltar in 1881, Birmingham in 1891 and Waterford, Ireland in 1901. I KNOW she is the same person. I read somewhere (here?) that sometimes people said the earliest place they remembered living as their place of birth ... Good luck in Brighton, I hope the records show what you need to find. Ann

Hi Pam, my William Poole married an Emma Ransom Oct.27 1871 at Haverhill St. Mary's Suffolk, also I asked in the live chat twice about done what he suggested but still no joy Margaret

Hope this gives some ideas, this is what I have found for my husbands g grandfather Arthur Hinton. 1881 33 born Ingatestone Essex. 1891 not found but could possibly be in the Midlands as someone on GC found a possible Arthur for me born London 1901 born London City. On birth certificates of children his name is Arthur Hinton. Did not find a marriage for Arthur Hinton to Miriam Harwood but I did find one for Arthur Wells to Miriam 1874 in Winchester Arthur Wells is in the Army. Arthur was not with his wife? in 1891 but his sister was so I concentrated on Sophia Hinton born 1840 Leytonstone. Through this I have found our Arthur born Ebenezer Arthur Hinton father Henry Hinton. To make matter worst the Arthur Wells has exactly the same details as Arthur Hinton on the marraige cert. Henry Hinton was an Ironmonger, so was Henry Wells. Not many Ironmongers around then. So it either looks like he changed his name to Wells, or there was a mix up. Most strange when he is back in London in 81 using his right name. Now the question is did he change his name to go in the army as thats were he was when he married Miriam in Winchester. I was looking up dead ends for almost 2/3 years on and off and never though I would find him. Next stop the PRO to see if I can find him on the muster rolls, this will prove whether he changed his name. So don't give up, put it aside for a bit then have another go. It worked for me. Good Luck Irene

Hello Pam, I had done the very basics on my tree, & decided to engage Anthony Adolph to carry on, so far he has negotiated some very difficult searching, even I imagine for a proffessional, so I am sure I would have had massive difficulties dealing with research as a total beginner, I find that his charges are very reasonable, so I suggest you approach him on the basis of a set amount for just your problem area ? At present one of my relatives is proving to be most reluctant to show himself, this is understandable as he was a pretty bad guy in the family responsibility department , I am fully confident that Mr Adolph will winkle him out presently. Steve in Chester (U.K.)

Pam, Frustrating though it is, in the big scale of things an 8 month search is not so long, and I would still be wanting to find him for myself, if it were me. I have still not found the birth, - or baptism for my great grandfather after searching, on and off for over 7 years...... In your case, I would look again at the 1871 census family, do any of the family match witness names at John's wedding? Are there any wills for either John's family or the 1871 family which may link them. Where was that family in 1881? Was John a witness at any of their family marriages?..... Lewes Record Office hold some records for Brighton, but maybe they are duplicated in Brighton. I believe Brighton library has a copy of GRO index... Good hunting, don't give up yet!