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Orphaned great Grandfather, how do i go back further?

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  • Orphaned great Grandfather, how do i go back further?

    Hi,
    I have only just begun to get an interest to my ancestory; when talking to my grandfather and trying to find out more, he informed me that his father was an orphan until becoming a capenter's aprentice. The orphanage i know was in Hackney, London. I really would like to find out who his mother and father were, but my family do not have a clue. I know my Great grandfather's name (however, this may have been given at the orphanage) and his date of birth. Can anyone help point me in the right direction and suggest how i might trace this?
    Many thanks KKingman

    If anyone wanted to help...
    Charles Thomas Want b. 23rd Nov 1898 d. 31st March 1979.
    Married to Edith May Precilla Whitehead b. 27th July 1900 d. 27th June 1976.

    My grandfather remembers a sister of Charles and thinks she was called Mary.
    Last edited by kkingman; 27-07-10, 08:05. Reason: added info

  • #2
    You could start by looking for a birth here, assuming that the name and date you have are correct:



    You could also get your great-grandfather's marriage certificate, which will give his father's name if he knew it.

    Comment


    • #3
      Not sure why you assume he would be given a new name at the orphanage - but you could try tracking down the orphanage records which might be with the relevant records office, Hackney Archives, or perhaps the London Metropolitan Archives. They might give details of his parentage and the circumstances in which he was placed in the orphanage. You have his birth date which would help find the right chap.
      ~ with love from Little Nell~
      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

      Comment


      • #4
        Just a word of caution. We were always told OH's grandfather was an orphan. Strictly this was part true as his father died when he was 10. However he lived with his mother on two more censuses before marrying the girl next door in 1902! We began our research expecting to be searching orphanages but easily went back along the surname line to 1790.

        Anne

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Little Nell View Post
          Not sure why you assume he would be given a new name at the orphanage
          I imagine Kkingman's assuming he was a foundling, and his parents weren't known, but of course, children went to orphanages for many other reasons - his parents may have died when he was young, his mother may have been unmarried, his parents may have been alive and unable to care for him, etc.

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          • #6
            i think you need the certs for your grandfather, then get the marriage of your great grandparents and find them in the census, you may find some clues before you delve into orphanage records!

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            • #7
              I see you have added to your original post.

              On the 1901 census there is a Charles T Want living in Shepperton Rd, Islington with his widowed father, William G Want (a bricklayer's labourer) and two older siblings. He is aged 3, which makes him about the right age.

              There is also a baptism on the Ancestry London parish records for Charles Thomas Want, father William George Want and mother Emma. William George is a bricklayer. The baptism is in 1903 (but it doesn't say how old the child is). The church is St James, Clapton.

              Anne

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              • #8
                Following on .... His birth certificate could be bought from the General Register office. He is the only one with that name in that time scale.
                Charles T WANT, Dec quarter 1897, Shoreditch, vol 1c, page 128

                It looks as if maybe his birth year was mistaken in your familiy memory - a very common thing to happen so I wouldn't worry.

                Anne

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                • #9
                  On the 1911 census he is at Hackney Union school workhouse, Chipping Ongar. So he did go there eventually, but you will still be able to find his origins and details of his parents as I have described above.

                  Good luck
                  Anne

                  Edit to say this looks like his mother's death.
                  Emma Want, age 36, Dec quarter 1898, Shoreditch, 1c, 83.
                  Last edited by Anne in Carlisle; 27-07-10, 10:12.

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                  • #10
                    With an apprenticeship in London the actual Apprenticeship Certificate may well be at the Metropolitan Archives so worth checking. Don't be too downhearted as it is posible to trace fathers through apprenticeship records. I have an apprenticeship record for one in Northants who was apprenticed to a local tailor in the 1820's and who was down as 12 years old with mother dead and father transported overseas with father named, so you never know.

                    Janet

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                    • #11
                      This could possibly the death of his father - Want, William G aged 53, Hackney district, ref 1b 702 March quarter 1913
                      Although this would mean Charles wasn't technically an orphan when he went into the workhouse school his father would probably have been hard pressed to earn a living and look after young children, and if there were no relatives on hand to help out then the workhouse would have been one of the few options open to him.
                      Last edited by JudithM; 27-07-10, 11:05. Reason: forgot to put the date of death!
                      Judith passed away in October 2018

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                      • #12
                        There are also a number of baptisms for children who died before Charles was born. His surviving siblings are William George (b c1882) and Edith Louise (b c 1885). There is a possible marriage for Charles' parents ....... but the FIRST thing you need is that birth certificate for Charles Thomas WANT to make sure we have the right family!!

                        Anne

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