What documents for Birthplace

[englander8]

Looking for suggestions on what documents may reveal the birthplace of my gr gr gr grandfather,John Douglass.Died in Darlington 1838 age 48. All childrens baptisms show him as a surgeon but wether he was qualified is questionable. How can I determine which one of the John Douglass's born that year he is? Any help appreciated...........................

[stanmapstone]

All childrens baptisms show him as a surgeon but wether he was qualified is questionable. ....................

Outside London and the largest cities the surgeon served an apprenticeship like many other tradesmen, but did not necessarily take any examination.

Stan

[Jeuel]

Do you know where he married?  Which parish does he say he is in on the marriage cert?  Start there and go through the parish baptisms.  If he's not there, its a dreary job of going through all the nearby parish registers spreading outwards in a circle.

Of course you might have a clue if one of the children has an unusual (ie not John, William, Thomas, Robert etc) name, because that might be a clue as to John's father's name.

Again, his marriage cert might be useful as the witnesses might be family members whose births you could trace if they appear on 1851 census.

[coombs]

If he died in 1838 aged 48 then he was born about 1790 depending how accurate the age at death was. This site contains an index of Durham wills pre 1858. They give name, date of death, occupation and parish but I think you have to order the full will.

http://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk/nei/data/intro.php

[Greensleeves]

There are a lot of records relating to 'John Douglass' on Durham Records Online, which is pay to view.  Some of them might relate to your chap, for example there is a Marriage Bond in 1813 for John Douglass in the Durham Diocese, his birth date being given as about 1792.  I have found a lot of useful stuff on this site so you might want to have a look at it and see if you think the investment of a few pounds might give you a good return or not.

Regards,
GS

[englander8]

Thanks to all.
Unfortunately no marriage record found but mother of all children is Rebecca Douthwaitte (Dorthwaite) born in Whitby,1791. There was a John Douglass born in Whitby 1789 but it is not him.
They moved around a lot ,until after 1825 when they appear to have settled in Darlington until their deaths in 1835 and 1838. John being listed as Surgeon on all childrens records.
1st child born in Hull, baptised York 1811.James Edwin
2nd baptised York in 1813 May ,then again in Gateshead Dec 25th that year. Eliza
3rd born in Hull per census about 1815. Rebecca
4th born Sheffield,per census 1818, John George
5th born Whitby 1820. William
6th born Whitby 1822. Thomas
7th born Sunderland 1824. John
8th born Darlington 1825. Jane

again many thanks

[ainslie]

Some surgeons qualified first as apothecaries, and I think it is the Guildhall Library in London which holds the records of the Society of Apothecaries.  I do not know if they are online anywhere.
A