Dead end, brick wall, last ditch attempt

[Josephine]

CB1964,

Perhaps there was a notice in the local newspaper when he got married.  Have you tried to find one?

Did his obit contain any clues?  Do the funeral home or cemetery have any info on file?

What about the church marriage and baptismal records for the area in which you think he was born?  Have you been able to trawl through those?

Regards,
Josephine

[little meg]

You say he married in 1918, do you have the marriage certificate and what does it say about his father.
Perhaps trying to find his father in earlier census might help link him to a particular area.

Margaret

[Timbottawa]

Have you traced all other living descendants?  Often different lines of the family retain very different levels of verbal family history.

[JustinL]

The naval connection would have made Greenwich a good possibility.

Is it not possible that your great-grandfather was posted to a naval base abroad and hence your grandfather was born abroad?

Abroad may have been somewhere as close as Ireland. Bantry Bay in west Cork was once home to the Royal Navy's Atlantic Fleet, a base being at Castletownbere I believe.

Have you tried consulting the Navy Lists to find out more about William James senior?

Judging by the data in the IGI, the surname SELWOOD is concentrated in Wiltshire.

Justin

[carol8353]

Who were the witnesses to the 1918 marriage?

And what address does it give for the couple?

Carol

[Suttonrog]

Possible record of the father:

1901 census HMS Highflyer William Sellwood 31, married, Wellington, Somerset.

Just about old enough to be William's father and an easy spelling mistyake on the surname.

Rog

[Laurina]

This might sound a bit daft but have you tried looking at this from a different angle.  It might not help you with your grandfather unless he was the informant on his father's death certificate.

My grandfather, William James Selwood was born, I believe on 29 April 1887 .......

On 14 September 1918 he married Violet Lily Sharpe at Horfield Parish Church in Bristol. His age is shown as 29, which means he was born c.1889. ....

His father's details are shown as being: William James Selwood (deceased), Petty Officer R.N.

His father was dead by 1918 William James Selwood (deceased), Petty Officer R.N.

So would looking for his father's death help you find some other clues? He must have been atleast 20 when your grandfather was born. This death looks a possibility particularly as I think Devonport could fit in with his naval connection.

William J Sellwood
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1867
Jan-Feb-Mar  1916  Devonport  Devon  Vol: 5b Page: 482
Age at Death: 49

Laurina
 

[JustinL]

Good find!

Devonport was a naval base.

[Josephine]

Len Barnett's website has some background information about Royal Navy records:
http://www.barnettresearch.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm

There are also links to other sites.  He's a researcher (I'm not affiliated in any way and have not used his services) but the articles on his site are free.

Regards,
Josephine