tracing mother's side of the family

[SuperFlyHigh]

My mum is interested and has the time to research her maternal grandmother/grandfather (she knows a lot more about her paternal grandparents due to a relative doing research.

She has checked Census records online for the period her great or great grandfather was around - knows about her maternal grandfather, his surname, where he was born, when he moved to London (from Strawberry Hill/Fields (?) near Taunton in Somerset and one of his brother has or had a book on laundrywomen and published, apparently in British Library.

She was put off Ancestry.com websites etc due to cost I think she posted some details on a free site but so much info.

she/I live in London area (quite near each other) - should she visit the National Records/Archives at Kew? Any other info/advice I can give her? I don't have as much time but could help out as and when free.

The surname by the way is Paull, father's name was Sidney Paull, a tallyman, moved to Ladbroke Grove area, had 2 children, Lillian Jeanne (Jean) my grandmother and Betty (abbreviated name) her sister. His wife was Daisy, who was illegitimate but had an Irish mother, we don't know much about her, Daisy was said to be a maid who came to UK from Ireland. Sidney Paull's family were said to be French Hugenots, tailors by trade, possibly Jewish due to the name and my grandmother said her 'nose' was Jewish and she apparently got hired by Jewish solicitors pre and post war as they thought she was Jewish (she didn't tell them otherwise but they weren't they were Anglican!).

thanks for any info!

Super - sending you a PM

The surname Paull has a higher concentration in Cornwall than anywhere else in the UK according to my surname distribution map (based on 1881 census), with another smaller concentration in Somerset/Dorset, and of course some in London (every family seems to send somebody to London at some point), and a few elsewhere.

Her local library or record office will likely have a subscription to Ancestry / Find My Past if the cost is putting her off!

Yes, and local libraries often run courses and workshops about family history too. The staff are usually knowledgeable and will be able to help.

What she needs to do is to start with the present, and work backwards in time, taking information from birth/marriage/death certificates and official records and checking those against what she already knows, rather than finding someone online who has posted their own family tree - if you do that you can sometimes find that you are barking up the wrong 'tree' altogether!

One site to look at is FreeBMD, which you can search, and gives you details of births marriages and deaths. From that information you can order certificates either from the actual register office where the event was recorded or from the General Register Office (which you can do online). Make sure that you use the official GRO website for this though, as there are many companies who offer the service and look 'official' but charge more.

Is freeBMD only for England and Wales ?

Hi, I came across this thread by searching for names associated with my family. I'm a grandson of Constance Paull. I've done quite a bit of genealogy work on the family. I've traced the the father's side back a long time - in every branch at least to the 18th century - but haven't had so much luck on the mother's. That's the part I'm working on now. I'd be curious to know any other facts you might remember having heard about Daisy. Her surname appears to have been Bunce. On her marriage certificate her father is listed as "James Bunce" and his profession is given as a farmer. I'd really like to know where she was born, which makes your comment about her coming from Ireland most helpful.

If you'd like me to share the info I have about Sidney Paull's family I'd be happy to.