The Winner of WDWTYA? 16th April 2009 is......

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

NormanB14!!

Well done

[borobabs]

Congratulations Norman hope you do well dear ;;;good luck ;;

[brenmac]

norman congratulations enjoy your most busy week brenda xxx

[NormanB14]

Merry, thank you for selecting me as this weeks winner! A good way to celebrate my 63rd.:D

brenmac and borobabs, thanks for your good wishes!

[KiteRunner]

*drums fingers*

[lorry53]

Hope it's a productive week, Norman.

[Moiramary]

Well done Norman and I hope you had/ will have a very Happy Birthday.

[Elaine ..Spain]

A good way to celebrate my 63rd.:D

Hope you've had a good 63rd - now tell us about those brickwalls you need help with!

[NormanB14]

Hi all

Firstly, let me get my excuses out of the way! I have just returned from a damp, chilly and not so sunny Majorca. I spent the half term there with family inc' grandson and grand-daughter. So I had nil time to go online and look at my e-mails or this (or any other site) as I was needed for the table tennis comp/football comp/swim twice a day/trips to shops for ice cream 3 times a day etc etc. I was glad to get home for a rest.

OK, that's done. Here goes.

As you may be aware, I'm very new to this and have only been at it for a couple of weeks in total. This all started with a request from my cousin in USA for some info on my 'Irish' side and I have done rather well with that so far.

With the help of some really kind folk (on here) I have started on my 'English' side of the family. I know that I have a half brother and possibly another half brother. I know very little of one and nothing of the other, except what I gathered from a comment from my late father, when I met him for the one and only time.
So, my question is this. Where do I start to look for info' of them both? I know the name of one but not the other. When researching about my late dad, I 'phoned Blackpool Council and the registrars office were most helpful. Should I start there again and see if the births are registered? But if I don't know the name or DOB of either of them, where do I go? I think one is still alive but have no idea on the other.

I'm not asking for anyone to do work on my behalf (meant in the nicest way) but just advice on where to look.

Thanks in advance.

[NormanB14]

*drums fingers*

:D Sorry KiteRunner. Please see my feeble excuses in my post. Here's another one. My wife and I have a very active 10 year old grandson living with the two of us and I'm not allowed to sit at a PC during the day. I have to go for a bike ride or be goalkeeper up the parks. Get the idea?

Forgiven now?

[Mary from Italy]

Do you know both parents' names of your half-brothers? Were they married?

For the one whose name you know, you can search here:

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

You may also find the other one there, if you know the mother's maiden name as well as the father's surname, and they aren't too common.

[KiteRunner]

Course you are, Norman! Hope you had a good birthday.

It's hard to advise without knowing the name of the person you are looking for because it is going to depend on how common or rare the name is. If it is a very common name, then looking for a birth registration would be difficult because you would find loads of them and not know which is the right one, but if it is a more or less unique name then looking for a birth registration could well be the place to start. Sorry, forgot to say if you know their mother's name then it might be easy to find the birth registration(s), again, depending how rare or common her surname is.

Obviously you can't post the details up on this thread as you say at least one of the people is still alive, but if you want to PM me with the info you have I could try to give you more specific advice.

Also I'm not sure from what you say whether your half-brother(s) lived with your father, and whether their mother was married to your father? If so then, if you know the address where your father lived when the sons were old enough to vote, you could look at the electoral register to see the names listed at the address, and that might help. Although of course the electoral register wouldn't confirm the family relationship.

Did your father leave a will, or an estate that went to administration? If so then you can get a copy of the will and / or letters of adminstration and it might well give info about his sons.

[KiteRunner]

Oh, of course if you haven't already tried Genes Reunited, then try searching on there in case one of your half-brothers (or his wife) is a member. I've managed to get in touch with a few relatives of mine and of my OH's on there.

[NormanB14]

Do you know both parents' names of your half-brothers? Were they married?

For the one whose name you know, you can search here:

England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005 - Ancestry.co.uk

You may also find the other one there, if you know the mother's maiden name as well as the father's surname, and they aren't too common.

Mary, I don't think my dad remarried. All I know is that they lived in Blackpool.
Funny thing is that both my half brother and myself have the same forename and surname as my dad! He either liked the names Norman or he had a sense of humour:D

Thanks for the reply and the link.
N

[KiteRunner]

There are some Blackpool birth registrations indexed on Lancashire BMD, if that's any help:
Lancashire Births Marriages & Deaths

[NormanB14]

KiteRunner, phew! I was worried there for a minute;)

I have no idea of the lother of my HB. My HB has the same forename and surname as both my dad and myself (go on, have a giggle) so he should be easy to trace. I think he would be around 5 to 8 years younger than me. I know that he lived with his mother but not father. I'm not aware of the address. I think for the moment i will start with one and try there. As for the other HB, I'm lost.

My late father did not have much in this world (to my limited knowledge) so I would be surprised if he left a will.

Thanks for the offer of help via PM. I will do that perhaps Sunday as I'm off to have a game of cards with my grandson.

Thanks for the advice.

N

[NormanB14]

There are some Blackpool birth registrations indexed on Lancashire BMD, if that's any help:
Lancashire Births Marriages & Deaths

Cards will have to wait! I'm off to look on your link.

Thanks,

N


No trace on your link. I used the names and DOB as 1950 to 1956.

[NormanB14]

Do you know both parents' names of your half-brothers? Were they married?

For the one whose name you know, you can search here:

England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005 - Ancestry.co.uk

You may also find the other one there, if you know the mother's maiden name as well as the father's surname, and they aren't too common.

Mary, I used your link and ( I tried 1952) it came up with 7 of that name. I know I will have to pay a fee to Join Ancestry, so that's my next step. But how do I know which one (from those listed) is my HB if I don't know his DOB?

[Mary from Italy]

Mary, I used your link and ( I tried 1952) it came up with 7 of that name. I know I will have to pay a fee to Join Ancestry, so that's my next step.

You can get a 14-day free trial to begin with.

But how do I know which one (from those listed) is my HB if I don't know his DOB?

You don't, unfortunately. Do the areas where they were born give you any clue?

The mother's maiden name will be listed, so you could look for a marriage between your father and someone with that surname. However, marriages aren't indexed during that period, so it means a long trawl through the complete marriage index, quarter by quarter:

England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1837-1983 - Ancestry.co.uk

and of course you can't be sure they married at all.

[Mary from Italy]

You could also look at the electoral roll (local library) to see where your father lived; your half-brother will also be shown when he reached the age of majority.

Another possibility is to look at the phone books on Ancestry to get the address:

http://content.ancestry.co.uk/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1025&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0

If you can narrow down the area in that way, you can then order one or more of the likely birth certificates, which will give the date and address where the birth took place and the parents' names.