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Another "Don't believe everything..." thread

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  • Another "Don't believe everything..." thread

    And why you should collect as many certs as you can...

    My mum told me her gran was a twin... TRUE, got the certs

    The other twin died quite young... TRUE, if you think 50 was quite young (her sister lived to be 93)

    This twin didn't have any children... Well, she died in 1935, after my mum was born, so you'd think she'd know...

    I only sent for her death certificate out of morbid curiosity, as there is a possibly genetic condition on this side of the family. Imagine my surprise when I found the informant was HER SON. Investigation of the BMD indexes showed another 2 possible children. Oh how I wish I could see the 1921 census!

    So I might have a whole load of cousins somewhere, and another branch to research, that I'd never had stumbled on had I not got that death cert.

    Makes me wonder now whether the 2 sisters had a falling out? My mum did know the husbands name & where they lived, so its not as though they were never mentioned.
    Vicky

  • #2
    Sounds interesting Vicky. My Grandad had a twin who died young which all turned out to be true, she was 17 days old when she died.

    Remembering: Cuthbert Gregory 1889 - 1916, George Arnold Connelly 1886 - 1917, Thomas Lowe Davenport 1890 - 1917, Roland Davenport Farmer 1885 - 1916, William Davenport Sheffield 1879 - 1915, Cuthbert Gregory 1918 - 1944

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    • #3
      You're so right - death certs are definately next on my list of things to pursue - might well be using any christmas money I get to fund this particular habit!!

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      • #4
        Memory is a very fallible thing. I've often remembered events which don't tally with what I wrote in my diary at the time!

        So lots of what my mum and dad told me about their family history has proved to be wrong. Lots of it is right and most of it is slightly mangled.

        My own mother didn't remember she'd registered her mother-in-law's death - I had to show her the cert to convince her!
        ~ with love from Little Nell~
        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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        • #5
          My mum when asked, told me she didn't have an uncle who's Christian name was William. Months later she started talking about her uncle Billy :D I'd told William's grandson there was no connection to my family before she came out with that gem! Luckily he saw the funny side and we were able to meet up and compare notes.
          Last edited by Durham Lady; 18-08-09, 11:07.
          Daphne

          Looking for Northey, Goodfellow, Jobes, Heal, Lilburn, Curry, Gay, Carpenter, Johns, Harris, Vigus from Cornwall, Somerset, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, USA, Australia.

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          • #6
            after thinking a bit more about this, my mum might not have known her cousins as they lived about 20 miles away; perhaps times were hard & transport difficult so they never visited.
            I've come to the conclusion that the falling-out probably happened AFTER she died. She was already widowed, and the children I've found would have been 25, 19 and 15. I wonder who brought them up? certainly her sister didn't.
            Would a 19-yr old girl & a 15-yr old boy be allowed to live on their own in the 1930's? Haven't found out if/when the oldest lad married yet.
            Vicky

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            • #7
              I would have thought at those ages the older siblings would take care of the youngest for a while. But at 15 they would be old enough to work in 1935 and even be in service so no need for other accomodation.

              Anne

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              • #8
                I don't think there has ever been a legal age at which teens are allowed to live at home. Remember that even now 16 year olds can marry.

                In the days when school finished for many aged 14 they grew up a lot quicker.

                As for cousins, my own mother's father was one of 8 children. She had photos of 2 cousins, born 10 years before her birth, but only knew one name (which was slightly different from the one I found in records). She doesn't even know if 2 of her father's sisters had children and one of them I can't find a marriage for, going on the name of the husband my mother had remembered.
                ~ with love from Little Nell~
                Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                • #9
                  not worried about whether they COULD manage on their own, just whether they would have been left to it. A generation earlier & I would have expected to find them with an aunt or other rellie.

                  North East; mid-thirties; times would have been quite hard... could they have got jobs good enough to manage the rent & feed themselves etc? I think by the 1930's not many people had servants, so wouldn't expect the girl to be in service. Dad had worked in the ship yard, but surely jobs were more scarce by 1935.

                  How I wish I had some contact with this branch. Fairly common name too, so not very easy trying to track them forwards. Nothing jumps out at me on GR. Found out who the girl married, when she died, and she had 2 sons who are about my age. But the lads seem to have left the area, so no clues about possible family. (and I've checked the CWGC site too, don't think they are on there)
                  Vicky

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                  • #10
                    Family always said my g-grandmother was an only child and when I found births for two siblings I was told they were not her sisters. I was not convinced as one of the children had her g-grandmother's maiden as middle name, which followed the naming pattern of my g-grandmother's family.

                    On a visit to Edinburgh I located birth and death records for both girls. They had died within a month of each other, one at age 4 years and the other at four months. My g-grandmother was 11 years old at that time.

                    Perhaps she never spoke of her sisters but she did not forget them as I realized recently that her youngest daughter was named Margaret Jane, deceased sisters' names.
                    Bel

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                    • #11
                      Vicky

                      In my first job in the 1960s I worked with a girl of 16 whose parents had both been killed in a car crash. She lived with her 17 year old sister and there was no other adult around.

                      In the 1930s, as long as they could pay the rent, no one would care about their ages. If they couldn't pay the rent, they might go as boarders or lodgers with another family, or go into service as suggested above.

                      There were still plenty of live-in jobs in the 1930s, including shop work. Most of the large department stores had hostels and even family run small businesses could fit in a lodger or two, or make boarding arrangements.

                      OC

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