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Messages - maxidog

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1
The Common Room / Re: What Country is your research ?
« on: Saturday 13 July 24 08:57 BST (UK)  »
Quote from: maxidog on Friday 12 July 24 23:21 BST (UK)
Initially Australia but then New Zealand. I now need to know who to contact in Brunei about the time my father lived and worked there but I have failed abysmally to find any helpful contact there. The only one that answered was the British Consul giving me official information about their work but nothing to help me. I also researched Jersey, Channel Isle. Had great response from RootsChat member there as I did for Australia and New Zealand.. it was an Australian member who found where my father was buried after years of searching. A NZ member contacted me and picked us up from our hotel in Auckland and took us to his grave there. Likewise a Jersey member picked us up from our hotel and took us to local library where he found valuable information about my family. I continue to get messages regarding my father which spring surprises on me. Altogether a wonderful group who have helped a ‘dinosaur’ regarding computer usage.
There doesn’t appear to be anyone dealing with Brunei on RootsChat

2
The Common Room / Re: What Country is your research ?
« on: Friday 12 July 24 23:21 BST (UK)  »
Initially Australia but then New Zealand. I now need to know who to contact in Brunei about the time my father lived and worked there but I have failed abysmally to find any helpful contact there. The only one that answered was the British Consul giving me official information about their work but nothing to help me.
There doesn’t appear to be anyone dealing with Brunei on RootsChat

3
Lancashire Lookup Requests / Re: Barbara K Hopwood
« on: Thursday 08 February 24 19:15 GMT (UK)  »
I hopefully have removed my posting as it was seen to contravene the rules.
I have done all those steps you suggest and got nowhere so decided to post on Lancashire forum in the hope someone knew the family.
I guess I shall have to persuade my husband to book a few days in Preston and Manchester so that I can visit the libraries there. I have found librarians a valuable source for information both here and when we visited New Zealand. It was through posting on Roots Chat that I found out that my father was buried in NZ after over 10 years of futile searches.

4
Lancashire Lookup Requests / Barbara K Hopwood
« on: Wednesday 07 February 24 20:30 GMT (UK)  »
I am hoping the post that was here has been removed.I thought I had deleted it but it has reappeared twice. HELP



5
Australia / Re: What happened to Ivor HOPWOOD who died in Australia
« on: Tuesday 24 October 23 11:19 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for that. I had only contacted the Sydney Archives. Hopefully the National Archives can point me to who/where/if  records of personnel are kept
I have had problems over here in UK trying to get information about my father’s twin brother who worked in Hawker Siddley aircraft factory in Broughton, Flintshire, North Wales. This is now known as the Airbus factory and has gone through other owners over the years. No one there has any idea who retained personnel or other records from that period and I should imagine that could have happened in Australia as the Post Office there was split up. But 🤞🤞🤞

6
Australia / Re: What happened to Ivor HOPWOOD who died in Australia
« on: Tuesday 24 October 23 00:17 BST (UK)  »
I haven’t used Roots Chat for a while as a lot has been happened here with my husband being diagnosed with highly aggressive bladder cancer. He has been successfully treated and today it was confirmed he is clear of it but will continue to have camera procedures every 6 months. He also was hospitalised in Northern Spaina flyer fracturing his femur there from slipping off the pavement. So a lot to deal with leading to not concentrating on Roots Chat
I have occasionally gone back to read postings and tried 3 more times to contact different government departments in Brunei as well as the British Consul but had no reply from the former and a standard response from the British Consul which was no help at all. I also have had a response from an archives librarian in Sydney who could only tell me that the Post Office is split into too many companies now and thus make it difficult to get information about my father’s time working for the PO there and the duration. If I had that information it would help towards finding when he left for New Zealand.
I am not sure if I mentioned that New Zealand sent me my father’s death certificate before I left to visit the library in Auckland. The death certificate said that he had died on April 4th, 1966. When in the library looking through the Auckland Herald at editions from that period I discovered the obituary announcement of his death in Auckland hospital. The date of the paper was April 3rd and the date of death given as the 2nd of April and funeral the 4th April. I contacted the BDM office in Wellington but they refused to accept the revised date as the Dr who gave evidence at his inquest in Wellington had said at the inquest the death was the 4th.
 I fortunately had been able to obtain his medical records from Auckland hospital and the death was recorded as the 2nd and signed by the same Dr who had given evidence at the inquest. I again contacted Wellington and included all this information to the BDM office again requesting a new death certificate with the revised, correct date. No argument that time - I got a new certificate. I wonder how many times mistakes like that have been made.
I still have had no response to my private message left on FaceBook to the person who is probably my half sister. I gave no indication of my connection to her as it is a sensitive issue especially as she is now about 70. I am 82 and am not sure it is a good idea to let her know at this stage in our lives of our relationship but I have said that whilst compiling my family history I believe that there could be be some family connection and asked her to confirm or otherwise if her mother was Margaret Brown from Preston and her father Ivor Hopwood.
I am still hoping to find a means of connecting to someone in Brunei who could do some research for me there but it is not looking very hopeful that I shall be successful. I need to pursue the Sydney Post Office connections and hopefully someone from the Sydney area who is a member of Roots Chat will be able to point me in the direction as to where I can get information about my father’s  time there and where he lived. All along this time I have not been able to get a photo of him as an adult. That would be my ultimate goal. I have no idea of what he looked like as an adult only as an infant and toddler.

7
Australia / Re: What happened to Ivor HOPWOOD who died in Australia
« on: Tuesday 28 December 21 14:21 GMT (UK)  »
Regarding the summons I mentioned that was issued against my father sometime in the 1940's I do not know why it was seemingly 'ignored' when he was issued with a passport. What is interesting is that in the letter my mother received in 1966/7 it was asking her if she has a claim on his estate. She had a claim as she was owed maintenance money from 1948 to 1960. She took her divorce nisi to the solicitor who dealt with her divorce and other documents but 2 years down the line she got a letter from the solicitors informing her that there had been prior claims to my father's estate and so there was no money for her. We had no idea who this prior claim came from until someone on RootsChat found information about the estate being left to Annie Malpass- his mother!
I fail to see how any claim by her took priority over my mother's claim but it is too late to do anything about it now as all the people concerned are no longer with us.
I am forever grateful for this forum for the information that has been found for me. I still have big gaps about my father's life especially his time in Brunei and in Sydney. I have had no responses to any enquiries I have made either by RootsChat or directly by email to different people and organisations.
I have pursued the likelihood of having a half sister as was hinted at apby a member here. I have sent for the birth certificate of the said person but the Preston office said they had no record of her and directed me to the Manchester office who in turn said that they didn't think she was the person for whom I was applying for the certificate. The Manchester application form would not accept the area she was born so I had to email them regarding the information I had and asked them if they could forward me the certificate. They responded by saying that they didn't think she was the person I was looking for and so I had my money returned without getting a chance to see the certificate. I have found the person I think who could be my half sister on FaceBook and have left her a private message but being very careful how I worded it. I haven't had a response so far as she doesn't use FB frequently. So all in all I am having to think of a new approach to getting all this information about my father's time in Brunei and Sydney and await a response on FB

8
Other Countries / Re: Brunei
« on: Friday 19 November 21 15:53 GMT (UK)  »
I have been going round in circles on a number of counts but most recent, today, trying to get information from Australian archives regarding my father's time in Australia. Someone on RootsChat kindly found the record for incoming passengers that I had been hoping to find when I first started searching for information about him, and sent me a copy of the actual card showing he had lived in Brunei and left via Singapore to go to Sydney as a telecommunications engineer for Sydney Post Office. Despite entering the information when using Australian Archives I get a reply saying no records found regarding his arrival. Frustrating. I want to find out where he lived when there and how long he lasted in the job but again unable to access the information. The archives gave me links which when I went them and entered the asked for information got a negative response.
I have had no progress whatsoever with any enquiries directly to companies, organisations etc in Brunei-  so disappointing. Finally after being given a hint that I may have a half sister and following up that lead I ordered her birth certificate just to confirm that my information was correct, and using the index given on the county birth records only to have a reply today saying they cannot find any records even though I sent a screen shot of the actual records I had found.
I am not sure what I am doing wrong.😏🙁

9
Other Countries / Re: Brunei
« on: Friday 22 October 21 23:32 BST (UK)  »
To answer some of the replies I have had in the past day or two about the time my father was in Brunei- I do not have any idea of where to start when checking passenger lists to find out when and how he got to Brunei and where from. He flew from Brunei via Singapore to Sydney so I should imaging he flew to Brunei.
Some of the replies I had stated that there was a demand in Brunei and Australia for telecommunication engineers. I should imagine the post office in Sydney laid for his airfare from Brunei so maybe his fare to Brunei was also paid for by the telecommunications place of work and so maybe he flew to Brunei rather than by ship.
I am going to have to contact each of the telephone companies that have developed in Sydney since 1956, when he arrived there, to find if they hold the records at the time he was employed thee- a bit of an arduous process but would have been easier if there was only the one as in 1956.

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