Family history stand still looking for help

[velvetcandy]

Wondered if anyone could offer me some advice. I've been researching my family history recentley and I've come to a standstill. On my mums side, regarding my mum's grandmother nobody in the family knows anything about, it's a serious mystery as to where she came from and who the father of her daughter my great grandmother was. There was a lot of discrepancies as to where my great great grandmother actually came from, my mum heard she was Irish but my auntie said she thought she was from London. And the major mystery is who my great grandmothers father was.
So after doing research the ONLY documents I could find for her was a work house admittance record of her being admitted into the work house, then a workhouse dismissal record of here being dismissed from the workhouse with child after having my great grandmother in the workhouse. The admittance record gives an occupation as servant and a previous address that I googled and cross referenced with press clippings from that time and it seems that the flat was being advertised for rent a lot and in the advert it always said would suit professional or married couple. So not sure if she was a servent at that address or if she live there with the husband and he maybe died or something which is why she ended up in the workhouse? She also said she was from London as a birthplace on the workhouse documents but I cannot for the life of me find a birth certificate?

I cannot find any other documents,.no birth certificate and on the death certificate I found the date of birth is different to the date of birth on the workhouse documents. The workhouse documents must be correct because they list both their names and surname and they have quite unusual names so it must be them. Also my great grandmothers date of birth is correct.

The only living family I have with info on the family is my mum and her sister and they know nothing, it was a shock to them when I told them about my research. Does anyone have any tips or routes for me to go down in regards to finding anything else about them? Thanks in advance x

Do you know if she was married to the father? Could you possibly look into marriage records for her name since you said it was unusual? Maybe that would give you his name as well?
Also if there is a chance she was Irish have you checked any ships manifests? You could look at each from say her birth year to when you know she was in the workhouse just to be sure.

Okay thanks. I did look into ship records breifly but I will go back and double check because she did have an Irish surname. But then again i'm not sure if its one of those things that because she had an Irish surnane people just assuming that she was Irish if that makes sense?

Have you checked census records? England has them from 1841-1911 and the Irish censuses are available for 1901 and 1911. Also have you ordered your Gt-Grandmother's birth certificate to see if there are any other info on there?

I can't find her birth certificate! The earliest record I can find is her admittance into the workhouse when she's around 30. This is why it's such a mystery.

If you'd like to PM me I'd be happy to help. I've been undertaking Genealogical research for 21 years and have solved a fair few mysteries in that time.

If you check ships manifests try all ports (not just London ifyswim). A lot of Irish immigrants would go to Liverpool.

MarchionessOfMayhem that's really kind of you.

Sometimes it helps to work sideways - maybe research her siblings or cousins if you can. I solved a mystery that way, and found my missing person living with her nephew and niece on a census. She was well into her 80's by then.

Witnesses on marriage certificates can be helpful, as are informants and addresses on the death certificates of other family members, and family wills.

Thanks