Which of your ancestors have disappeared?

[MarieC]

The other place you can get English bmd certificates is from the Government Register Office - www.gro.gov.uk

Chris, I'm not clear why you can't get Elizabeth McKenzie's death cert.  Did she die before civil registration began in Scotland?  Or if she lived in England and appeared in an English census, this would be after civil registration began there, so you should be able to get a death cert if you want one.  Bearing in mind that death certs often don't tell you much. 

MarieC

[chrislb]

MarieC,  I do have a contact in the uk who is looking at certs for me....... the problem is I haven't been able to find a registration date for it.  At least not one that I can be sure of.  There are a couple of possibilities.  Also her married name was Harris.  Her husband, James Harris, died in 1874.  On his/their tombstone his date of death is clear yet hers is not.  His is given as May 1 1874 and hers as May 7 age 69.... so there is some confusion there.  Given that she was born c1815 (going by census records and her marriage certificate) 1874 doesn't seem likely.......... more likely is 1883/4. 

There are a couple of candidates for her as I said, which are being investigated but I am not too hopeful........

I am also going to get James' death cert which may help a bit.  I am sure of his origins (Hatfield Peverel, Essex) which may or may not help with regards to Elizabeth's details.

One reason for the difficulty with dear Elizabeth is that there is some confusion within the family as to her origins.  The family story is that she was a Spanish Gypsy.............  but the dates that she is in England (1851 census for starters, as well as marriage cert etc) don't gel with the family story of coming to England aroung 1862ish.....from Spain. 



Chris in Auz!!

[KathMc]

Chris,

You just have to love the family rumors. There's a whole thread on that topic. Great reading.

Kath

[bitty_matriarch]

Everyone has a Black Sheep/Skeleton in the Cupboard, and this one is mine:- my great Grandfather Walter SCOTT, born 6 October 1867, in Christchurch, nr. Upwell, Cambs.

As far as my Dad knows from family talk, on the day that Walter disappeared, ihe had taken some of his father's cattle to market in King's Lynn, Norfolk, sold them, banked the money for his father and was never seen again!

When Walter did his "runner"- in about 1904 - he was alledgedly accompanied by the local school mistress (who is supposed to have disappeared on the same day) or by the family nursemaid - BUT he left behind a wife and 3 young children; the eldest being my grandmother, Grace.

As I posted this on the Emigrants Board yesterday, here is the link:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,213733.msg1107724.html#msg1107724

or you can read my about Walter on my website:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cawthorn/SCOTT/walter&annie_maria.html
but this page needs updating.

Any ideas anyone??

  Ann
 

[MarieC]

What an interesting story, Ann!

He's a bit different in that most of our ancestors probably didn't deliberately disappear, but he did!

With a common name like that, and the possibility that he could have gone to a number of countries, he will be SO hard to find!  (It's even possible that he could have changed his name at some stage, to avoid being found!!)  The Australian states and Canadian provinces all have their own bmd systems, all different, and varying widely in their availability for searching (including whether indexes are on the Internet!)  And there are ten Canadian provinces and six Australian states, and this isn't even mentioning New Zealand. 

I think you are right; the only way forward is to put his details out there in as many places as possible, and hope to find his descendants wherever it was that he did a runner to!!

Couldn't you just strangle them?? 

MarieC

[Comosus]

GGGG Grandfather, Edward Gaunt married Mary, probably 1810-1815.  No record of it on the IGI. She died before 1837 as Edward remarried (thankfully) on the 2nd of July 1837 - the first marriage record at the church after the act.  Now if only I could find out who Mary was... all I know is that her name is Mary.  I know something must exist somewhere.

Andrew

[Emjaybee]

GGGrandfather Watkins went to Trinidad and did much charity work in building a church etc. He was a plantation owner who invited my brother to take over from him in 1940's. Nobody knows where he went or who his ancestors were, I gather there were two daughters and the name Brash was mentioned.

[alftabor]

My granduncle Richard Tabor
While living with my Grandfather and his wife, he had a dispute regarding the fact that he was squiring a lady and using a false name for some unknown reason.
My grandmother is alleged to have confronted him and his friend about this.
Richard departed the household changed his name ( to Mathews?) and married the Lady.
As far as I know he was never contacted again by his birth family.
At My grandfathers funeral there was a stranger who resembled most of the Tabor males
and may have been him but at the time I was not aware of this situation.

[Alan b]

I have one relative that I just can not find anything out about him other than a marriage. His name is James Knights and he got married in 1835 in Nacton, Suffolk. He must have lived in the village because his 2nd daughter was born there in 1839 however that is the last I know of him. His wife died days after giving birth to this daughter and I have no idea where he went as he does not turn up on any of the census'. His daughter and son (who was born in 1836) went onto live with their grandparents from their mothers side. I have no idea where he was born either.

I have access to the NBI and can't see anything of help on there, perhaps he went overseas ??