Looking for my grandmother Joyce V Thompson

[simsbabe]

Hi,
My grandmothers name was Joyce Veronica Thompson. She was born 04/04/1918 in South Africa and was raised by Catholic nuns in South Africa. She then left South Africa and moved to Bristol, where she met my grandad, Dennis Michael Crockford, and they married in 1939 and had my father in 1940. I have looked all over on the net and cannot find a way of finding anything else out about my grandmother, we know her fathers surname was Thompson, and think her mothers name was Julia Moore, but apparently she married more than once. I'm really hoping someone here will be able to help me.
Many thanks
Melissa

[avm228]

Hi Melissa - I don't know anything about South African research but there may well be information at the English end which helps you on the way.

Have you obtained her 1939 marriage certificate to identify the (full) name and occupation of her father? I notice she married as Joyce V.M. Thompson but died (Surrey, 1998) as Joyce Veronica Crockford. There's no sign of any previous married name in the marriage index but the 1939 certificate should tell you her marital status at that time. (Perhaps it was Julia Moore who is thought to have married more than once?).

Have you had a look at immigration records (shipping lists) to see what they yield? Do you know when Joyce came to the UK?

[simsbabe]

Thanks avm228...yes, it was Julia that married more than once (if that was indeed her name). Joyce's father was a docker in Avonmouth when they came back over here apparently. I have found an entry on a shipping list for a Veronica Thompson traveling from South Africa in 1938 so she would of been 20...x

[avm228]

So they came over as a family, did they? That could be useful. 

I have found an entry on a shipping list for a Veronica Thompson traveling from South Africa in 1938 so she would of been 20...x

I can't easily see the 1938 passenger list for a Veronica Thompson- have you got more details?

Another question: did Joyce have any known siblings, and did they come too?

[Lostris]

The Joyce you mention was accompanied by an older Susannah & younger Shirley - final address in the UK was to be in Morecombe, Lancashire.


Name: Joyce Thompson

Birth Date: abt 1918

Arrival Date: 11 Apr 1938

Port of Arrival: Southampton, England

Ports of Voyage: Beira
[Durban]
[Port Elizabeth]
[Cape Town]  - embarked here

Ship Name: Grantully Castle

[simsbabe]

Thanks Lostris, thats the list...my uncle doesnt remember any siblings, but if that is the right joyce then it looks like there were 2 sisters x

[avm228]

Thanks Lostris, thats the list...my uncle doesnt remember any siblings, but if that is the right joyce then it looks like there were 2 sisters x

Going to Lancashire - are you sure they're the right people?

Also Susannah was 35 and Shirley 15 - a broad age range for sisters.

[simsbabe]

Thanks Lostris, thats the list...my uncle doesnt remember any siblings, but if that is the right joyce then it looks like there were 2 sisters x

Going to Lancashire - are you sure they're the right people?

Also Susannah was 35 and Shirley 15 - a broad age range for sisters.

No, not definite that its her, it was the only one that I could find of a Joyce Thompson coming to the UK from South Africa though x

[avm228]

They appear likely to have been mother and daughters.

This group had earlier (October 1931) travelled Liverpool to Cape Town on the Euripides:

Susannah Thompson 50 [sic] Housewife
Joyce Thompson Scholar 11
Shirley Thompson Scholar 8

Last address in the UK: 29 Green St, Morecambe.