Thread: New Here - hope I can get help with the minefield I'm up against!

Hi There,

I'm new here and hoping to get help in trying to get through the minefield that is researching family history! Thanks for having me.

My name is John Edward Philip JAMES and I go by the name of LEE JAMES. I'm married and living in deepest Sussex along with my wife and two children. I'm retired from 27 years in Aviation Security at Heathrow and trying to write a book about my experiences. This is taking a long time but you can have a look at what I am hoping to achieve, here if your interested:-

Heathrow Security - A Personal History - 27 years at Heathrow - HOME

My family history is a minefield since my Father was adopted (with a name change) and my Grandmother committing suicide when my Mother was six years old. I have three brothers - or so I thought until recently - but then discovered that there are six of us, two being given up for adoption at birth in the '60s. We have found one so far.

I intially asked a Researcher to look into my family. She found evidence of my family but wanted £250 per family line (£250 each for father and Mother), a separate charge for finding details of my lost brother and the costs would have totalled around £700 whuch i don't have.

I joined FindMyPast.co.uk and discovered that searching records will only get you a line or two on a scanned bit of paper - to see the actual record you must order the Certificate (of Birth, Death of Marriage or whatever) from the GRO at a cost of nearly £10! Nice to see the government ripping off its own people now that Geneology is becoming popular!

Anyway, I have so far managed only to find the marriage of my Grandfather, John Archibald JAMES to one Frances Alice HILL in 1937. My Grandfather, John Archibald JAMES actually adopted my Father, who had a different name until it was then changed (legally?) on the adoption certificate. My Father was originally known as Henry Gordon DAVIS, born as a result of an under-age encounter with my real Grandmother, one Dorothy Ellen DAVIS and then given up for adoption, he was then adopted by John Archibald James and his new wife, Frances Alice HILL.

I can find no record of a birth or death for John Archibald JAMES. And I can find no death details for my step-grandmother, Frances Alice HILL. Also, I cannot find any details for Dorothy Ellen DAVIS.

At least I cannot find records that allow me to definately identify my relatives.

So far, I have ordered a copy of John Archibald JAMES's marriage to Frances Hill and I have confirmed the death of my Grandfather on my mother's side, Thomas William JACKSON and have ordered a copy of that - total cost nearly £19!

Anyway, the above is for another thread, sorry to post it here. I'm glad I found a self-help forum as I'm going to need it!

Again, thanks for having me.

Kind regards,

Hi Lee!!

Gosh you have got an interesting Family Tree both past and present!

I think you need to take stock and make a decision on which bit of the family you are going to make a start on! I am always one for the easy option (!) and would suggest this is your Mother's side - whilst you are learning the research ropes so to speak! Is your Mum or any other living relative on your Mum's side able to give you information? Write down everything you know or find out. Aunts, uncles, cousins names etc etc. Where they lived and where they were born. For instance what was your Mum's mum called? Approxiate date of birth? I always start with a minimum of 20 years per generation (and of course it may be much more). It will be useful for you to get your Grandfather Jackson's death certificate as this should give date of birth, spouse, occupation, place of death. Then you can look for their marriage certificate that will give you their Father's names (hopefully!), occupations.

You will find that will good luck (!) you may get away with ordering few actual certificates although this will involve many hours of research on your part (and forums such as this of course!).

You will find that there are loads of people on here with many years of research experience who are only too happy to help you and advise you of your next step!

When you start a new thread, I would advise that you stick to one person/family group at a time - although you can post as many threads as you like researching various parts of your family!

So, if you start a thread on your Mum's give all of the details you get from your Thomas William Jackson's death cert, put all relevant info in the post ie date of birth, death, place spouse etc etc - oh and who registered the death too as that may give a family member clue - where he was born/lived (if you know it). From this you can ask for help is researching his marriage. Do you know your Mum's siblings names? Put all this in too but remember you should NOT post ANY NAMES OR DETAILS of someone who is living on a public forum.

You could also start a post on Henry Gordon Davis and Dorthy Ellen Davis (assuming they are no longer alive). Include approximate DOB (dates of birth) and places if known.

Regarding your question on adoption and name changes. Once a child is adopted into a family they are legally given the family name and are a legal part of that family. But come to think of it, when was that made law? Perhaps another member will know - although it will be simple enough to research if googled!

There are various free sites that you will find useful as your search continues! I have listed two below. With the family search site though please use this as information only and do not take everything as correct until you have done some background research yourself. Once we knwo the area of the country you are researching, there may be other sites that members can point you toward!

https://www.familysearch.org/

FreeBMD Home Page

Happy hunting - hope you have hours and hours of free time! I took so long from reading this thread, doing a bit of hunt around and then replying I missed Slizzy's reply before posting mine - sorry Slizzy for repeating the advise you had already given!

Greetings BAW9DV and a very warm welcome to Ancestry Aid..I really don't think I can offer any more advice as Slizzy and Rubina have covered it all..


Enjoy the site and all the very best of luck with your researching...

Have a nice day..



The Lady Marion

Slizzy, Rubina and The Lady Marion!

Wow, what a response! Thank you all for your help and comments.

I'm looking closely at my Grandmother (my real one) - Dorothy Ellen DAVIS. I have a copy of her marriage certificate (provided by my Father, John Edward JAMES - formerly Henry Gordon DAVIS before he was adopted) and I will try to establish some details where I can as there seems to be a lot now on the Marriage certificate, now that I'm getting down to it. Then I'll try to track my Mother's side.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Regards,

Great that you have Dorothy Ellen's marriage certificate! If you want any assistance post all detail on here and we will do what we can to point you in the right direction!

Hello Lee and Welcome to AA. Good luck with your family history. I hope you spend many happy hours with us on the site.

Rubina

Great that you have Dorothy Ellen's marriage certificate! If you want any assistance post all detail on here and we will do what we can to point you in the right direction!

Ok thanks for that. I have started a thread in another section to comply with the forum rules. Hope to get moving on this as time goes on.

Thanks to all for the warm welcome,

regards

Hi and welcome to a brilliant site.

Thank you Sally - good to be here.


Lee