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Original poster

family tree, can anyone help?

100 replies

cheeryface · 18/10/2006 21:25

i am pretty clueless really. i have been to all the sites recommended in past posts on mumsnet and i have paid a fiver on genes reunited to look at records.

thing is they don't really give me any info.
tried looking up my great grandmothers death certificate but all it tells you is there age at death which i already know anyway.

so, how should i be going about this? it's something i have always been curious about but i don't know how to go about it!

OP posts:
80sMum · 19/10/2006 22:44

Dolally, sadly a great many Irish records were destroyed in a fire at the Public Record office in 1922. There are virtually no records remaining for 19th century, for example. However, don't despair, as there are plenty that survived. You might find this a good place to start. There's also Irish Origins . Not having Irish ancestry, I haven't tried these, so don't know what records you migt find there. Good luck with your research.

NastyNemo666 · 19/10/2006 22:45

just a quick query..if you find someone then it gives reference to volume xxx page xxx what is it actually refering to??

80sMum · 19/10/2006 22:46

It's esentially an index reference. If you know the reference, then it makes it much easier to order a certificate.

dolally · 19/10/2006 22:55

thanks, 80's.

That's really useful, I've found Scotlandspeople website really excellent for the scottish side but the Irish side has proved very tricky, especially as half of them were born in India.

zephyrHellcat · 19/10/2006 22:59

Where do you have to order certificates from?

merlotmama · 19/10/2006 23:02

I've been reading through this thread and don't think anyone's mentioned this free census site

It's being put together by volunteers so building up gradually, so if the parish or year you want isn't there yet, keep checking.

merlotmama · 19/10/2006 23:12

Also, you can access LDS Centres. (LDS= Latter Day Saints i.e. the Mormon church) You don't have to be a church member to use the centres. The folk are helpful and will order records in for you if they don't have them on site. The centres are all over the country, so there may well be one near you. There's no charge but it is customary to give a small donation.

Very handy if you are researching an area some distance from where you live.

80sMum · 19/10/2006 23:12

Get your certificates here

chubbleigh · 19/10/2006 23:28

I would love a bit of help with my efforts. I am trying to put something together for my dads birthday. Need help with my great grandfather Cornelius Nelson Bolt, born in Bedminster, Bristol. Do not know his year of birth with any accuracy but his first child was born around 1908 presumably as a youngish man. Need information about his wife, my great grandmother, I do not know her full name but think her maiden name was Rousseau or a variant spelling. Would love any pointer on either of them or their families further back.

80sMum · 19/10/2006 23:47

Your great grandmother's name was Malvina Angelina R Rousseau. She married your great grandfather in April, may or June 1900. Here's the reference.

80sMum · 19/10/2006 23:52

There were two people named Cornelius Nelson Bolt born in Bedminster in the 1870s. I would think that it's most likely your great grandfather is the younger of the two, born in 1876. Look here .

You can see that there were also 2 marriages, one on 1894 and one in 1900. You know that the one in 1900 is yours, because you already knew your great grandmother's maiden name. It's very likely that the two Cornelius Nelson Bolts are cousins.

80sMum · 20/10/2006 00:10

It looks as though Cornelius and Malvina Bolt had a daughter, also named Malvina, in 1906. Look her up here .

Cornelius was definitely born 1876, as their entry in the 1901 census states his age as 25 and Malvina's as 23. Malvina had a brother, Alexis, aged 17 who was living with them in 1901.

Found Malvina's birth record. Mistranscribed as 'Melvina.' She was born April,May,June 1877 in Bristol.

Hope this helps. As you've probably gathered by now, I'm quite keen on genealogy!

chubbleigh · 20/10/2006 00:28

Thanks 80sMum, I have made a bit of headway since posting. Remembered story about my grandmothers name it goes something like this: 3rd child is born on 18/01/1913 and is a girl after 2 sons. Malvina Angelina borrows a coat from a neighbour when child is 3 days old and goes to church and has ber baptised Malvina Rosena Bolt. Father gets home from work and says 'she's called WHAT? She was supposed to be called Jane after my mother'. From that day on she was called Vennie by her mother and sisters and Jane my her father and later my grandad. The Jane thing is why I think I know which one he is in the 1891 census.

I thought that they might have got married 'over the brush' as it were but according to your information about the marriage that is not the case. Apparently he was a very good looking man and there are lots of stories of his philandering ways, they separated in the end which was unusual for he time.

What I find amazing is that is seems my family has moved half a mile in 150 years on both sides.

chubbleigh · 20/10/2006 00:33

God your good at this. Have a go at Jane Harriet Fryer, born 9 January 1874, think her parents were George Fryer and her mother was also a Jane. Siblings were Laura Florence Rhoda George and William. Anything else, especially about the parents? Jane the younger married Charles Derrick but when?

chubbleigh · 20/10/2006 00:40

Having trouble veiwing the freeBMD pages that you are trying to link me too. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

chubbleigh · 20/10/2006 00:44

Cornelius and Malvina had the following children in this approximate order:
Maurice, Ernest, Malvina, Lillian, William, Iris, Gladys, Florence and Lulu who I think was Louisa, do not know her position in family as she died as a child.

minder34 · 20/10/2006 07:34

chubbleigh...Jane Fryer and family are on the 1881 census at 24 Murray Rd, Bedminster. Details are: George Fryer - Head - Age 27 - Tanners Labourer. Jane Fryer - Wife - Age 26. Jane Fryer - Daughter - Age 7. Florence Fryer - Daughter - Age 4.

There is a marriage registered on Freebmd too. George Fryer/Jane Avery, bristol District. 1873. Vol 6a. Page 164. Looks likely to be your folks!

Hope this helps. I'll try to look a bit further after the school run.

minder34 · 20/10/2006 08:19

More for chubbleigh
1871 census
Harriet Fryer - Head - Age 43 - Widow
James Fryer - Son - Age 21 Groom
Laura Fryer - Daughter - Age 19 Tailoress
GEORGE FRYER - SON - AGE 17 - COLLIER
William Fryer - Son - Age 11
Alice Fryer - Daughter - Age 7
Thomas (lodging) - Age 17
Henry Phillips - Age 2 (nursing child)

All at 18 Catherine Mead St, Bedminster.

zephyrHellcat · 20/10/2006 10:30

I forced dp to ring his Mum last might (they don't really speak to each other) and get some info, so we got a tiny bit further but now I'm stuck and even more frustrated with it!! I have the names of dp's grandparents on his mums side and would like to find them on the census but the harder I look the less I'm finding! If a\nyone can help their names were Jim (James??)Stanley and his wife was Alice Maud(e)Stanley and they lived in the Shepherds Bush area of london I think ............ would I need more info than that to find them on the census?

minder34 · 20/10/2006 11:50

zephyr...do have approx dates of birth. There is a James stanley in Shepherds Bush on the census but his year of birth is 1883. Would this be too early?

minder34 · 20/10/2006 12:05

and more for chubleigh:
There is a marriage registered between Florence Annie Fryer and Charles Derrick in 1897. Ref is Quarter Dec 1897 - District Bedminster. Volume 5c - Page 1223. Are you sure Charles married Jane the younger?

1901 census states:
Charles Derrick - Head - Age 23
Florence Derrick - Wife- Age 23
Florence Derrick - Daughter - 3 months
Jane Fryer - Mother-in-law - Age 40
All living at 32 phillip Street, Bedminster.

80sMum · 20/10/2006 13:00

Ah genealogy - the thief of my time!
I wonder how many 100s of hours we 'keenies' have spent doing our own and other people's trees! I find it quite fascinating and totally absorbing.

Chubbleigh, you stayed up later than I did last night! Sorry I didn't reply to your later posts - but luckily others picked them up for you.

zephyrHellcat · 20/10/2006 13:08

Minder that could well be the one.... I found a James Richard Stanley born Dec 1882 - no idea if it's the right one but his son is called Richard so hoping that's the link between them.... Do you have a link to the census?

zephyrHellcat · 20/10/2006 13:16

I've just tried the census on GR but I'm not sure where he was born - could have been anywhere in London I guess! If it's the James Richard stanley, he got married in Fulham in Dec 1902, which would be about right, but I can't find anywhere that tells me who he married (it should be Maud Alice Stanley)

80sMum · 20/10/2006 13:25

zephyr, James Richard Stanley married Alice Maud Buckingham in Fulham, Oct-Dec 1902. This sounds likely to be yours.