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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: katiet on Friday 06 September 19 13:04 BST (UK)
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Hi , everyone ...looking for suggestions plz ...my great grandad had a child with one of his servants ,she was called Bella ....his name was James parkins ,he was married at the time .She died many years ago ,but I haven't a clue how to go about finding her birth details ....any advice would be great ....thankyou
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If you know a rough date, area,or her mother's surname you could try https://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Bella might be short for Isabella,especially common in Scotland.
Do you know where her mother lived after the child's birth,was she adopted out into another family?
You might be able to find them together on a census.
I very much doubt that she was registered under your great grandad's surname.
Carol
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The majority of illegitimate births are registered with the mother's surname. On the GRO website they show the mother's maiden name as a dash (-)
An example here from 1889
SMITH, CHARLES JOHN -
GRO Reference: 1889 M Quarter in ABINGDON Volume 02C Page 266
One from 1903
SMITH, ADA FLORENCE ELIZABETH MCINTYRE -
GRO Reference: 1903 M Quarter in ABINGDON Volume 02C Page 292
With this one there is a possible clue to the father as the child has McIntyre as one of her names.
As Carol says, if you can provide more details re names etc., we may be able to find out more for you.
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Was it the mother or the child who was called Bella? More information about your James Parkins might also make it easier to track who they may have been. If the child grew up and had children then you could also try DNA testing to see if you can identify cousins from that line.
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Was it the mother or the child who was called Bella? More information about your James Parkins might also make it easier to track who they may have been.
Do female servants appear with the PARKIN family on censuses? (If so, when and where?)
If so, it could be worth checking the surnames against FreeBMD or GRO for births in the nearby areas at the right time.
Philip
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Thankyou everyone .....no don't know what the mother was called ...all I know was that she was born roughly between 1895/1905 in Jarrow ...and the father was called James parkins who married an Elizabeth Harris x
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The Parkins/Harris marriage perhaps?
Marriages Sep 1897
BROWNBRIDGE John William Gateshead 10a 1244
>>HARRIS Elizabeth Ann Gateshead 10a 1244
>>Parkins James Gateshead 10a 1244
Pickering Emma Gateshead 10a 1244
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I think this may be James and Elizabeth with her mother and family in 1901
Living at 16, Clayton Street, Jarrow, South Shields, Durham
Registration district South Shields
Archive reference RG13
Piece number 4742
Folio 5
Page 2
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What registration district does Jarrow appear in from 1895 to 1905 - having difficulty pinning it down?
Added:
South Shields?
So start by looking for Belle's born then and there in free bmd and cross-reference with gro to find illegitimate births.
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South Shields Chempat
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I think this may be James and Elizabeth with her mother and family in 1901
Living at 16, Clayton Street, Jarrow, South Shields, Durham
Registration district South Shields
Archive reference RG13
Piece number 4742
Folio 5
Page 2
The 4yo “niece” Winnifred Bannister? (Barrington?) with the family in this census may be worth investigating, even if only to rule out. Born Jarrow, though I can’t easily see her birth reg in South Shields.
How is the illegitimate child known of by living family - did her father keep in touch with her/have a hand in her upbringing?
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Struggling to find a birth record for Winifred. Tried phonetic etc but nothing likely for Durham.
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Winnifred is probably a red herring - Eliza Harris was née Banister so she probably is a niece or great-niece.
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I am also having trouble finding the Parkins family in 1911.
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I am also having trouble finding the Parkins family in 1911.
They are in Plymouth.
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I can't seem to find them on FindMyPast. Have you got the ref nos?
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RG14/12954 sch 393
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Yes I think that's them ....thankyou x
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You say that the baby was born in Jarrow- do you know that for a fact?
Usually an unmarried mother will move away from the area that she lived in to give birth.
Maybe a mother and baby home.
So it may not be as simple as focussing just on births of babies called Bella (Isabella?) in Jarrow.
You say that James was married when Bella was born,so doesn't that narrow it down to after 1897?
Carol
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Was the story of the child always known within James’ family? Did he acknowledge her?
Is there any mention of her in his will?
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There is a possible census record for James as a coppersmith in Gateshead in 1891, but there are no servants in the household.
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This may well be James' death
Deaths Jun 1940
Parkins James 70 Plymouth 5b 825
Right age and in Plymouth in the 1939 register occupation Naval Pensioner.
According to the Find a Will website he died on 29 April 1940. Probate done by solicitors, left £1034 9s 10d. Quite a sum of money in 1940. The address is the same as the 1939 register.
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Oh my goodness ,that is him as I have been to his grave in Plymouth ....that is a lot of money ....thankyou so much for your help ....what was the address in Plymouth plz
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36 Bickham Park Road, Plymouth
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Thankyou x
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Just to rule out this one, as mmn Watson from GRO
from free bmd
Births March quarter 1904
Isabella Parkin Smith Newcastle T. 10b 128
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Not going to be this one judging from the GRO record
REID, ISABELLA PARKINS PARKINS
GRO Reference: 1909 J Quarter in NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Volume 10B Page 135
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Nor this one....
BROTHERS, BELLA THORNTON
Mother's Maiden Surname: REAH
GRO Reference: 1901 S Quarter in SOUTH SHIELDS Volume 10A Page 864
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Without any concrete information regarding the servant's child, this is a needle in a haystack situation.
No clue as to what the servant herself was called. There was no servant in the 1901 census record. James appears to be on his own in the 1911 as he is a naval officer.
I can't find the rest of the family in 1911 no matter what I try. For anyone who has found the family in 1911, was there anyone who could have been a female servant?
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They are together in Plymouth in 1911. Maybe search on daughter Laura?
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There are two entries for James on Ancestry. I couldn’t find the family in family Search indexes.
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All I can find is James:-
County Royal Navy At Sea and in Ports Abroad
Country Ships And Overseas Establishments
Archive reference RG14
Registration district number 640
Enumeration district 25
District number 25
Sub district number 4
Census reference RG14PN34973 RD640 SD4 ED25 SN9999
Image states 41, married, Chief Engine Room Artificer, born Gateshead, Durham - Wesleyan
For me the rest of the family are invisible! If anyone has found them perhaps you could give me the address and maybe I can find them that way.
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They are at 90 Glendower Rd, Peverell, Plymouth.
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Unfortunately we are not allowed to give that much information, although perhaps it can found in indexes which, I think, we can then do that. :)
I have done an address search on FindMyPast but their address does not show. :-\
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Thanks avm
Slight problem. All the numbers listed are odd ones. So what I wonder have FindMyPast done with the even ones ::)
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Just in case it hasn’t been mentioned here is Elizabeth’s probate details
Elizabeth Ann (wife of James) died 21st January 1927. Probable granted to William Alfred Parkins, confectioner and Laura Hilda Parkins, spinster. £266. 5s. 8d.
I don’t suppose she would have left a legacy to the child though.
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Heywood you can give info from the 1911. I checked with Sarah some time ago and was informed that info from the 1911 can be posted.
We are now 8 years past the 100 years of 2011.
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That’s great news. I didn’t know. I thought it was to do with copyright although it always seems odd that we can link to FS.
I have just checked for neighbours and they are also missing.
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Thankyou so much for all your endeavours ....I really do appreciate it