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The Lighter Side / Re: "Heir Hunters"
« on: Thursday 10 July 08 12:14 BST (UK) »
I have been fascinated by the discussions, especially the one about searching by relying on a second name.
My great grandmother's birth certificate remained elusive until I discovered her by doing a general search on her surname and I found her registered 4 months after she was born with no first names given! She was just recorded as a girl. Her father died shortly afterwards and I suspect he may have been ill which caused the delay in deciding on her names? Or maybe she wasn't expected to live? No way of finding out now.
Also for generations, and it still happens regularly, our family members have been known by the second given name or even a nick name only. It has caused considerable extra work to find them.
Also my great grandmother for some reason (could it have been a then recent high court case against her husband at which she represented him as he was in S Africa?) gave her christian name in the census as Mary when in fact she was never Mary but Annie Camilla. I found her by putting in my grandfather's name of Amian for which there were only 2 records in the whole census (and the other was a girl) and luckily he was still living at home with some sisters too.
I have been lucky to introduce several second cousins of mine (and great uncles) to their first cousins. Very satisfying result of extensive research and much appreciated by relatives who thought they were the last of their generation.
My husband suggested I should look for employment as an Heir Hunter and it was this that lead to my reading and registering for this site. Can anyone tell me what is required to be an Heir Hunter for an established firm please?
Helen
My great grandmother's birth certificate remained elusive until I discovered her by doing a general search on her surname and I found her registered 4 months after she was born with no first names given! She was just recorded as a girl. Her father died shortly afterwards and I suspect he may have been ill which caused the delay in deciding on her names? Or maybe she wasn't expected to live? No way of finding out now.
Also for generations, and it still happens regularly, our family members have been known by the second given name or even a nick name only. It has caused considerable extra work to find them.
Also my great grandmother for some reason (could it have been a then recent high court case against her husband at which she represented him as he was in S Africa?) gave her christian name in the census as Mary when in fact she was never Mary but Annie Camilla. I found her by putting in my grandfather's name of Amian for which there were only 2 records in the whole census (and the other was a girl) and luckily he was still living at home with some sisters too.
I have been lucky to introduce several second cousins of mine (and great uncles) to their first cousins. Very satisfying result of extensive research and much appreciated by relatives who thought they were the last of their generation.
My husband suggested I should look for employment as an Heir Hunter and it was this that lead to my reading and registering for this site. Can anyone tell me what is required to be an Heir Hunter for an established firm please?
Helen