October 6 2010
2.20pm
So I have now completed my dad’s side and
have full names, dates of birth, marriage and siblings for my great
grandparents on his side.
I now need to go back to looking at my
mother’s maternal grandparents who I started with at Gilroes cemetery. Knowing that Charlie Grocock was born in
1893/1894, my mother’s uncle also remembers that Charlie’s mother’s name was
Emma and that she died in 1942/43 so this will hopefully help with this
search. I look at the 1901 census and
found an instant match helped by his mother’s first name. My great great grandmother Emma was married
to Thomas and they had 3 other children.
They also lived on Burleys Lane and it
shows a family with the same surname living next door so I imagine they are
relations of theirs (and mine!)
August 11 2010
2.55pm
Sorry, it's been 6 weeks since I last wrote but after short break I am back onto my family history again...
I have tried the same approach as with my other great grandparents of looking at the Free BMD register however there are numerous William Sharps and none of them matches with Sarah Clay.
I try a different approach of looking at more recent records to see what I can find out and try the 1911 census search for William Sharp and Sarah Clay. There is a charge for credits but hopefully it will be worthwhile.
What a great surprise… I have found them both, having married in 1910, living with Sarah’s sister, her husband and their 2 children on Burleys Lane. My great grandfather is down as a carter which I have no idea what that can be but will see if I can find out later on. Also I am starting to get really interested in the area where my family all seem to live. From what little I know I don’t think it was the nicest area but it’s something that I would like to find out more about once I have got all the information I can on my great grandparents.
June 22 2010
10.30am
Next up is my dad’s other grandmother Sarah Clay married to William Sharp. As before I have started by searching the 1901 census with the birth date 1892 +/- 10 years, which give me one match. Again though my dad is unable to confirm if this is the correct one.
He rings his aunt to see if she can remember anything about Sarah Clay, such as did she have any siblings but he is told that his aunt is quite ill in hospital. This reminds me how important it is that I at least get to record my great grandparents whilst my parents are still alive as soon it may be too late…
May 17 2010
2.15pm
Have received the marriage certificate, can’t believe how excited I feel! It confirms that the Margaret Kelly I found on the 1901 census is the correct one as it names her father and her age. When they got married she was a hosiery machinist and he was a fish salesman. I recall that he worked at Leicester Fish Market later on in his life. It has their own signatures on which is fascinating and names their witnesses, one of which is her sister but I am not sure who the other is but they have the same surname.
May 7 2010
4.15pm
Have taken the form to Leicester Register Office to request the marriage certificate, it costs £7 and will take a few days.
April 20 2010
10.10am
As you can see, it's been a few weeks since I wrote anything. Researching your family history can be very time consuming (as I have been finding) but the results are definitely worth the time & effort!
I have spoken to staff at the Information & Learning Library and they suggest I try to find the marriage certificate of James Frederick Percival and Margaret Kelly as this will confirm if the match I’ve found is the correct one.
Something really simple but that I am not sure I would have thought of so I am glad for their advice.
They suggest that I look at the ‘Free Birth Marriage Death’ record (again on Ancestry*) and estimate that if my grandad was born in 1892 he would have been married in approx 1915 (+/- 10 years). Result…I find a marriage record for 1914 for when he married Kelly in Leicester. I now need to use the date of marriage to obtain the marriage certificate which I can download from Leicester Register Office.
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March 2 2010
7.00pm
I am now looking for my dad’s grandmothers; all I know is their names so again I start by searching the 1901 census for the first one, Margaret Kelly who was married to James Percival. I have made rough estimate of her birth date at 1895 +/- 10 years who lived in Leicester. This brings me up a match for someone aged 7 in 1901, roughly the correct age, however my dad is unable to confirm that this is his grandmother as knows little about her. I have been advised that I need to verify every piece of information before moving on, be it by an official record or by family members. I am not sure what to do to confirm this…
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February 15 2010
10.30am
Next up is my dad’s other grandad, William Sharp. Again I have started to search the 1901 census and find 2 matches. Dad said he also lived in Leicester St Margaret’s (as it seems my whole family did!) and I know that my great grandfather came from a family of publicans, an occupation he took up and so did my grandfather. This is confirmed by one of the matches for him, which states his father (my great, great grandfather) was a beer, wine spirits retailer living on Archdeacon Lane.
I assume that they lived in a pub as there are other people named in the property and one is a barman. This will give me something to look at later to see what pubs were in that area. I am beginning to realise how the census records are full of clues and useful information.
My great grandfather was 10 at the time of the 1901 census so I have also looked at the 1891 census to see if he is on there. I have found him aged 2 and half months.
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February 2 2010
3.15pm
Have been researching my dad’s grandparents, as that is where I need to do most of the work, and I have begun by searching for his maternal grandfather.
James Frederick Percival is all I have to go on so I have been searching the 1901 census through Ancestry*. This brings me two matches who lived in Leicester, 10 years apart in age, one living in North Evington and one St Margaret’s.
I checked with my dad and based on their age and residence we worked out which is the correct one, the one who lived in St Margaret's. In 1901 my great grandfather was approx 9 years old with 4 siblings. His father Alfred was a shoe finisher, his older brother a shoe operative and looking at the page of the census most of the neighbours were factory workers so I am already starting to get a picture of the sort of place they lived and the life they had.
My dad also said that his grandfather served in World War 1 and was wounded which is something I would like to look into at a later stage. My mother’s family also lived in the St Margaret’s area, which is interesting as I wonder if their families knew each other?
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January 17 2010
5.20pm
I have been using the Ancestry* website via the library which I am finding incredibly useful, so I've decided to join to give me access to records for my great grandparents. I am paying a monthly amount but it can also be accessed free in the library, see Library Resources for more information.
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January 5 2010
2.55pm
Happy New Year! Have had a bit of time off over Christmas and made a bit more headway during the festive season.
Over Christmas I have found that my mother’s American father’s side is easy to do...I have relatives who have already researched part of this and they have passed on their documents to me. This is a relief as not sure I am ready to embark on a search in the US just yet!
My mothers mother’s side is helped by my mothers surviving relatives who have full details of name and dates of birth and death for my great grandmother. They couldn't provide much information for my great grandfather, however they told me where his grave is.
Over the holiday my mother and I visited Gilroes Cemetery to see the grave of her grandfather and my great grandfather. Although it just gives a date of death and age at death it was really helpful as I can estimate he was born in 1893 or 1894.
My father knows the names of my great grandparents and estimates a few dates but nothing concrete. I think this is where the real search will begin and I will have to find out a bit more information about them.
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December 7 2009
8.34pm
I have now begun drawing my family tree and have plotted my grandparents details and other information that I have gained such as their siblings. It feels like quite an achievement already!
I am now going to work back to my four sets of great grandparents. I am really keen to get on and search further back in particular my mothers maternal side however I am going to stay focused on getting a full tree back to my great grandparents first. I am conscious that I can gain a lot of information from living relatives so want to make sure I document this before it becomes too late. Then once I have more confidence I can venture of and research one side of the family.
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December 1 2009
7.30pm
I have begun by speaking to my parents and asking them for information about what they already knew. This has provided me with a lot of initial information such as my grandparents’ dates of birth and full names. Something so simple but which in itself was an interesting thing to do, now rather than them just being ‘Grandma’ and ‘Grandad’ they are starting to become people with a history.
I have also enlisted my parents’ help to approach older relatives to see what they know or can remember.
My parents have been a great help, in particular my mother who is really keen to help me on the search. Her mum was born in Leicester and her father was an American GI who was based in Leicester during the Second World War. Her parents never married, her mum remained in Leicester and her father returned to the US - both later married other people.
My mother has two surviving aunts and uncles and they have been a great source of information. Although some memories are blurred it has brought up some emotional memories for them of things that they had not thought of for years, of their childhood and life for them when their own parents and grandparents were alive. Just from talking to relatives I have managed to get information to as far back as my maternal great-great grandmother whose name I found out was Emma.
I have typed up everything I have so far, names, dates of birth etc so I can make sense of the information I have. Already it all seems rather daunting so I have decided to start of with something simple and plot my grandparents names/dates of birth and when they died.
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