The Winner of WDWTYA? 12th February 2009 is....

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Dubonnet lady!

Well done Dorothy

[Lyn A]

Congratulations Dorothy & good luck!!!!!

[Dubonnet lady]

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!! thank you!! :D:D

Caught me on the hop - just back from shopping - I'll post some details shortly.

[Dubonnet lady]

Well here goes!! Fingers crossed someone can help:

My father Leonard Gillett was born in Wortley, Sheffield on 29/5/04
He apparently left home as a lad as he didn’t get on with his father. He refused to ever have anything to do with him/them again. He spoke (to mother) about being ‘one of many’, which she had thought was 7 or 8. On his Birth Certificate it says his father was a Mineral Water maker.

Grandfather was George Gillett d.o.b 1874 in Preston. Married Louise Bonnell Minor (dob 1874, Hyde, Ches.) I had traced that George was one of 11/12.
Leonard was one of 7.
Nellie 1898
Clifford 1899
Frederick 1900
Lizzie 1901
Nora(h) 1903
Frank (Francis?) 1903 (?)
Arthur 1906
On 1911 census, there is also
Norman 1905
Kathleen 1910
(No mention of Arthur who would have been little)

Leonard married Mary Hepburn (my mother) in 1937. On the marriage cert. it says George is a Cutlery Manufacturer. No mention was ever made of any of his relations, until in 1956 as a teenager I was going down to Devon and father said ’you can go and visit your aunt …….? in Paignton’. But I can’t remember her name!

I’ve been trying to find out who the various sisters and brothers married in order to trace a relation! With little success.

That’s fathers side – Mother’s is a similar story

[Mary from Italy]

You've missed a sister for Leonard:

Births Dec 1912
Gillett Eleanor / Minor / Wortley / 9c 705

[Mary from Italy]

Marriages Mar 1926
Gillett Clifford / Wragg / Sheffield / 9c 578
Wragg Jessie / Gillett / Sheffield / 9c 578

Clifford and his wife had two children; you'll find them in the new Ancestry birth index:

http://content.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=8782&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0

(I won't put their names on here in case they're still alive.)

[Mary from Italy]

Brother Arthur?

Births Mar 1906
Gillett Arthur Sheffield 9c 558

Deaths Sep 1906
Gillett Arthur 0 Sheffield 9c 303

[Dubonnet lady]

Gosh that was quick Mary!! Thank you
Oh poor little Arthur.

And yet another sister for Dad!!!

[Mary from Italy]

There's a WW1 service record on Ancestry for a Clifford Gillett aged 17 from Sheffield; as the name's fairly unusual he may well be yours. I've had a quick look at the first two pages; unfortunately it's very faded and hard to read. Next of kin looks like George Gillett, though.

- Ancestry.co.uk

[Mary from Italy]

Death of Clifford's son (named after your dad?):

Name / Birth Date / Death Registration Month/Year / Death Age (est) / District / Inferred County

George Leonard Gillett / 19 Nov 1932 / Jan 1995 / 62 / Sheffield / Yorkshire

[Dubonnet lady]

Thank you again Mary.

I'm having to wait to pick up on the links as OH is a member of Ancestry and he's currently doing some research himself.

[Mary from Italy]

The only children at home with George and Louise in 1911 seem to be Clifford, Frederick, Leonard, Norman and Kathleen, so Nellie, Lizzie, Nora and Frank are missing.

This might be Nora:

Births Mar 1903
Gillett Nora Sheffield 9c 618

Deaths Sep 1903
Gillett Nora 0 Sheffield 9c 357

[Mary from Italy]

Births Sep 1903
Gillett Frank Sheffield 9c 547

This seems to be Frank's birth, and I can't see a likely death for him before 1911. Are you sure he and Nora are both yours, though? Their births seem to be too close together.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

There's a Frank on the 1911 census who would appear to be the son of a Frank and Lizzie Gillett. Frank jr is 7 and they are living in Ecclesall Bierlow.

[Mary from Italy]

Are you sure Nellie's one of yours? There is a Nellie Gillett born in Sheffield, but she's not with George and Louise in 1901 (only Clifford and Frederick are with them).

[Mary from Italy]

There is a Lizzie Gillett who died in infancy, but again, she isn't with the family in 1901:

Births Mar 1901
Gillett Lizzie Sheffield 9c 546

Deaths Dec 1902
Gillett Lizzie 1 Sheffield 9c 304

and she appears to be another child of the Frank and Lizzie that Merry found.

[Mary from Italy]

I'm guessing that you've assumed that all the Gillett children born in the Sheffield area at around the right time are the children of George and Louise, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Clifford, Frederick, Leonard, Norman, Kathleen and Eleanor will be theirs; Lizzie and Frank aren't, and Nellie, Nora and Arthur are doubtful without a cert.

[Dubonnet lady]

There's a Frank on the 1911 census who would appear to be the son of a Frank and Lizzie Gillett. Frank jr is 7 and they are living in Ecclesall Bierlow.

Well I thought that too about Nora and Frank - being too close. :(

But I got so confused with all of Grandfather George's lot as well as Dad's lot, I really got lost.

[Mary from Italy]

Nellie is also the child of Frank and Lizzie Gillett (she and Lizzie and another sister are with them in 1901).

[Mary from Italy]

Did you get the 1911 census image for George and Louise's family? That should tell you how many children they had in total, and how many were still alive in 1911.