Hi all,
I am new to searching my family history but have hit a dead end when i have barely started. My grandfather was John Edward hughes born 17/05/1917, He served in the 1st battalion Durham light infantry as a stretcher bearer. The great mystery is that he had two brothers John and Robert, and three sisters, mary , florence and ruth, i have no idea of the dates of birth of these children, we know little about the parents either, other than their names were Edward Hughes and Florence hughes nee Teesdale/teasdale?, so i am told the mother is buried in Murton cemetery. I have searched a variety of different dates for borth registration etc. to no avail, however as i understand the children at some stage entered a workhouse ( i imagine the whole family went together) my grandad managed to escape this somehow, also i am told subsequently some of his siblings, which ones i am not sure, ended up in a lunatic assylum ( i am guessing winterton) Can anyone help i don't know where to even start looking now, and have read that there is a 100 year block on the assylum records....is there any truth to this, as i know the hospital no longer exists and the records are at county Durham record office. I also know the father was a miner and the two boys had to go down the mines at a young age, but it is pure guesswork that they were at easington colliery......if anyone can give me pointers i would be so grateful