John Mullen - Scotland

[CabSauv]

I am trying to trace a John Mullen born in 1916  in Scotland. He was a rifleman in the Cameronian Regiment (Scottish Rifles), and married Emily Clements in 1939 in London with whom he had several children. His father, also John Mullen, was a coal miner. I think his father was born in Scotland between 1890 and 1895. John Mullen senior is named on the marriage certificate of John Mullen junior with Emily Clements, but is stated to be deceased.  I am researching on behalf of a friend who is the son of John Mullen junior, but the family split up when he was 5 and he never saw his father again, his mother remarried, and she has also now died.

My friend has tried to get the last address of his father from the Cameronian Regiment itself but because he was subsequently "adopted" by his mother`s 2nd husband, and changed his name, they would not accept his identity.

I have traced various John Mullens in the Lanarkshire area which might well fit the details of JM senior but as we have no information about his parents or his place of birth it is difficult to decide which of these to pursue - there are quite a few of them.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the fact that John Mullen junior was in the Cameronians and married an English lady  in London at the beginning of the war, might just ring a bell with someone. 
 
We would be so grateful if anyone has any information that might help us in our search as we have now hit the proverbial brick wall.

 

[t mo]

surely if your friend has a birth cert it will have his surname as mullen regardless of the fact he was adopted by this other chap that should be proof enough for the reg surely
trevor

[t mo]

sorry should also have welcomed you to rootschat  whoooooops
trevor

[CabSauv]

Hello and thanks for the welcome and for replying so quickly.

What you say is quite correct and yes his name Mullen was the one on the certificate.
To be honest, he had already contacted the Regiment as the obvious place to find out his father`s details before I got involved in trying to help him.  I believe his birth certificate was not in a good condition and  that and the fact that the surname that he had been using for the past 70 odd years was different, made the regiment refuse his application. He is getting on a bit in years and not terribly good at writing/filling in forms etc. and I think he had some difficulty also in taking the first step, at his age, of approaching officialdom shall we say. When he was not able to get information from them, I think he got very despondent and was ready to give up.   To make matters even more difficult, I gather he had been completely estranged from his mother for many years for reasons that I will not go into, therefore he was not able to get any info from her at all.

Although I am very new to RootsChat I am not quite so new to genealogy and having had some small success with other searches, I would dearly love to be able to help him.  We are at the opposite end of the country to the area in which I believe his father was born i.e. Lanarkshire, and I cannot see him travelling to Scotland to do research, though if I did manage to find some family for him I am sure he would make the effort.

Thanks again for your interest.

Best wishes,

Linda.

[t mo]

hello linda
it sounds like petty bureaucracy  gone mad to me poor old fella , have a look at this site it,s for all things armed forces wise www.veterans-records/service_records/service_records.html it will take you direct to the sec where you /he can download the forms to send off for them again he,ll need a death cert for his dad and while he,s at it get a new birth cert for himself , this way you,ll bypass the museum but it will cost £30.

for death and birth certs www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/  you probably already know this part if your used to genealogy ,also have you thought about posting in the scottish section of rootschat give them as much detail as pos especially dates and places i,m sure someone will come up with something for him ,if you need any more help just ask and did you know that once youve made 3 postings then you can use the pm facility as well i,m always about and you,ll find lots of willing helpers on here that,s for sure .
best wishes
trevor

[CabSauv]

Thanks for that Trevor, I will have a look at that site and also try and make an entry on the Scottish site as you suggest.

Best wishes,

Linda.

[t mo]

hello linda
any problems feel free to ask for help always happy to be of assistance , please give the old boy my best and i want him to get what he is entitled to .
very best wishes
trevor

[deebel]

On FreeBMD

Dec39 Emily A Clements married Mullen  Shoreditch 1c 260

Also

Jun49 Emily A Clements married Confrey also Shoreditch 5d 1177

deebel

[deebel]

PM