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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Marianthompson47 on Saturday 03 January 26 12:48 GMT (UK)
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Hello
I have just spoken with a member of my family.
They explained that my father had been married before. Then married my mother in the 1940ies.
So I thought I would search for information on the General Registry Office.
Unfortunately, it only allows you to search births and deaths.
Furthermore, I obviously do not have a date of this first wedding.
I attempted to search but you can only order a marriage certificate and pay right there, without viewing it. Sort of pot luck!
Does anyone have any idea where else I could search??
Thank you!! 🙏
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Freebmd
Does the marriage certificate to your mother confirm that he was previously married -ie widowed or divorced
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Thank you Rosie.
My father remarried (to my mother) in Belgium.
I am not sure the certificate mentions he was previously married but I will check. I have this certificate in French.
I have now checked the marriage certificate but it doesn't mention he was married before.
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You can search for Marriages on the website FreeBMD https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
Tick the marriages box and put in their surnames and you should get some results. Obviously it depends on how unusual their names are as to whether you'll just get one result or multiple but it's worth a look. If you get many results then it's possible to narrow the results by putting in likely areas where the marriage may have taken place and/or an idea of the period to be searched, perhaps in this case 1930 to 1950?
Hope that helps, FreeBMD is a very useful free resource for finding reference numbers to order Birth, Marriage and Death certificates.
Good luck with your research :)
Heather
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Thank you Heather.
I obviously know my father's full name but haven't got a clue of his first wife's name (that is if he was previously married).
Also, it has given me 4 results which do NOT include his exact name.
So I am at a loss....
But thank you very much.
You can search for Marriages on the website FreeBMD https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
Tick the marriages box and put in their surnames and you should get some results. Obviously it depends on how unusual their names are as to whether you'll just get one result or multiple but it's worth a look. If you get many results then it's possible to narrow the results by putting in likely areas where the marriage may have taken place and/or an idea of the period to be searched, perhaps in this case 1930 to 1950?
Hope that helps, FreeBMD is a very useful free resource for finding reference numbers to order Birth, Marriage and Death certificates.
Good luck with your research :)
Heather
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If he married in Britain, then maybe look for a newspaper announcement in the area where he lived.
Or perhaps look at electoral rolls in that area to see if a wife is listed. If nothing else, it might provide a first name for her.
Nell
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Does your father appear on the 1939 register, perhaps with a wife?
If not, you have 4 possible 'wives' to investigate on the 1939 register. Do you know if he had any children with his first wife?
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Does your father appear on the 1939 register, perhaps with a wife?
Do you know his exact date of birth?
Where and when did his parents marry?
If you don't want to post details of his name or his date of birth, his parents names etc... please feel free to send a personal message via Rootschat
If you've not used PM before this link explains how it works https://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php
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Thank you.
Where would I find the 1939 register??
He was born in 1908 so would have been about 30 then.
I do not know her name but was to!d children were born from his first marriage
Does your father appear on the 1939 register, perhaps with a wife?
If not, you have 4 possible 'wives' to investigate on the 1939 register. Do you know if he had any children with his first wife?
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Where would I find the 1939 register??
On FindmyPast and Ancestry
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/1939-register/
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Thank you!!
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Marian,
In case you haven't found your father in 1939 he appears to be living with his widowed mother and sister at 447 Main Road, Glascote, Tamworth R.D., Warwickshire, England. His mother's entry is partly obscured by some discoloured sellotape and, in FindMyPast at least, her marital condition has erroneously been transcribed as Single.
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Based on his occupation (clay worker), or his address in the 1939 Register, the following press cuttings may be relevant to your father and grandfather. I haven't found any sign of his first marriage.
Added Comment. The Rats and Rabbits clipping may not be him. The age is wrong, and your father was probably still living in Gascote, not Nuneaton as shown in the court report.
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AndyJ2022.
Thank you very much for this information, some of which I have in my family tree.
I think they were confused as my father was William Alma Godderidge and my grandfather was William Godderidge.
I presume from all your searches that my father never married before my mother. It's late to get married at nearly 40.
Thank you once again!! I wouldn't know where to start searching! 🤗
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Without doing any digging, or checking dates or time lines, a couple of suggestions:
- in your search for an earlier marriage check for misspellings of the surname
- look for a quite early marriage before 1939
- does the 1939 register say he is single or married?
- he may not have married previously but may have still had children, and family stores may just say he was married for respectability
- did the first wife die? Have you looked for a death within the area they were living and prior to him remarrying.
- can you search for children born with that surname in that specific area within a reasonable time frame
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Ruskie. Thank you for your suggestions.
There are many Godderidges in the area where he was born and lived but I am not sure if it would take me ages to do that digging.
Someone else helped me with the 1939 census as I was getting nowhere at all.
In fact, I answered them (very long) but when I posted my response, it simply disappeared. 😔😔
He may have had children but how do I find out?? A minefield...
His sister's daughters were emailing me about 20 years ago but that stopped. I am not sure why and have no address. They sent me photos of my father.
Thanks again!! 😔😓
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- does the 1939 register say he is single or married?
It says he was single.
His sister Brenda (born 20 Aug 1917) married Sidney Boulstridge on 16 December 1939 at Victoria Road Methodist Church, Tamworth. According to the Tamworth Herald they had a daughter born 21 May 1943, and the birth was registered in Lichfield. The daughter married in 1965 at Atherstone.
A second daugther was born in 1949 and a son in 1951; both births registered in Lichfield.
I have withheld the names (single and married) of the children as they may still be living, but I can send the details to Marian if necessary.
Brenda Boulstridge died on 1 January 1999 and the death was registered in Birmingham. She left a will.
The Methodist Church connection may be worth following up. Is it possible that the Godderidge family were Methodist?
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Thank you so much Andy!!🤗
Strangely enough, Brenda's daughter, Jill, sent me a photograph of her mother's wedding with my father standing at the back, alone.
It's in black and white so I.didn't know the colours they were wearing.
But this article describes the colours!!
My father, I remember, sent us to Sunday school but I think it was a church of England school.
Strangely enough, in the village where we live, my husband and I have joined a Methodist church where we go for coffee on Thursdays and Saturdays.
My father was very religious and my mother gave me a Bible he was offered by the Padre at the Butlins camp in Scotland where he had made many handwritten notes.....
Thank you once more!!🤗
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Marian
I've sent you a pm with your cousin's address.