RootsChat.Com

My great-grandparents were Victor and Merle Beeney (nee Smytherman, first name Ethel). They worked with animals and ran a farm. My dad grew up on a farm and has fond memories of them. I was lucky enough to know both of them. I still have Beeney family around Brighton+Hove but I've not come across a Robert yet. I'll do some digging and see what I can find.

Victor was born in Ticehurst 1906 and married in 1931.

Thanks Rosie, you've been invaluable!

So from what you've posted, the other thread, and other sources, I've linked the following together:

Mercy Hannah Turner born Dec 1857 Lewes: 2b 141

Marriage: June quarter 1881
Mercy Annie TURNER
George FUNNELL
Brighton 2b 448a

Births Jun 1887   
Ada Funnell
Brighton    2b   256

Birth Dec qtr 1893   
Flora FUNNELL     
Brighton  2b 214  (from the other thread which I linked.)

March qtr 1899   
Funnell    Mercy Fanny       
Graimes    William Henry       
Lewes    2b   250

Does this look pretty solid to you?

It explains why my family remember Ada's surname as being Graimes. She was actually born of a previous marriage to George Funnell and is also a Turner by maternal blood.

I'll look into the 'Graines' spelling variation next! In your experience are the spelling variations more likely due to the poor literacy/record keeping of the time, or a deliberate attempt to 'start a new life' so to speak due to the stigma of divorce/wedlock?

Hello all,

I'm hoping that somebody here can help me. I have been tracing my roots and I've hit a bit of a wall with available records.

My family have inhabited Sussex and Kent for many generations. I am tracing my paternal great-grandmother. I have found records of her marriage and newspaper articles confirming that her maiden name was GRAIMES. I have found a birth record of her brother in 1870 but cannot find a birth record for her. I have tried all different variations of the spelling.

I spoke to some older family members and they helped to confirm something which I had been wondering for a long time - whether I have Romany ancestry. Myself and my siblings are all dark featured, and the older family members described the women in my great-grandmothers family as dark-skinned and wearing Romany-style dresses. The men had jobs such as clog-maker, and some had unusual names.

I've read that if the subject isn't alive then I won't be breaching any forum rules by naming them. My great-grandmother I believe was named Ada Graimes (married Burchett).

My family are all over Sussex, concentrated around Lewes, Uckfield, Hailsham.

My paternal family are also Beeneys. I have read on other Romany sites that Beeney/Beaney is an old travelling surname. I also have Westerns and Bowdens on my mother's side.

I hope that somebody here will have heard of those names and can point me in the right direction. Has anybody come across a Graimes family in their research? Also is it a common stumbling-block to not find a birth record of an ancestor?

Thanks kindly for your help