Genealogy Chat

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When my father turned 40 he was informed that of his 5 brothers only 3 were whole brothers and 2 were half brothers. Apparently his mother had been married before she married my grandfather and had the two oldest children with the first husband. He passed away and my grandmother married my grandfather and had three more boys and a girl. I'm attempting to find either the marriage for my grandparents, my grandmothers first marriage (so I can find her first husband). And the birth records for my uncles which might help lead me to this first husband. I've been unable to find a marriage for my grandparents, even thinking that grandma may have been put down on the record with her first married name not maiden name. And I can't seem to find a record for my two older uncles Richard and Patrick. They would have been born sometime between 1945ish and 1953 which is the year my father came along. My grandparents also should have been married in this time frame as it would have been between Richards birth and my Fathers birth. Details for the family are : Mother Hannah Mary James b.1926 Unknown Father Patrick Gilbert oldest son Richard Gilbert youngest son Father William Roy Gilbert b.1926 Christopher Gilbert b. Aug 1953 Steven Gilbert b.1954/5 ish Colin Gilbert b. 1955/6 ish I'm guessing the oldest two would have been born with the unknown fathers last name. Either adopted or had a legal name change to my grandfathers last name. The family came from the West Ham area of London and ended up in Essex. I can't ask the living rellies about this as it's hush hush and none of the cousins, me included, is supposed to even know. Helen --x--

Have you considered there might not have really been a first husband (first two might be illegitimate), or that if there was, maybe he didn't die? (Just ideas for you to mull on!) If the story is true you would normally expect to find the first marriage surname James, to Mr X and the second marriage Mrs X to Mr Gilbert, but all the children should be registered with the mother's maiden name James. Merry

I can't see your father's birth registration. (UPDATE - because I looked at the wrong year!) Hang on.... Merry

Hi Merry, I've been mulling over a lot with this lot. Maybe she never married my grandad as I can't find a marriage. Maybe they didn't tell the truth about the first husband or i remember the story wrong. It was only mentioned once, briefly about 15 years ago. But I can't even seem to find richard or patrick born with mmn James in the right time period. So I'm wondering if the records aren't online for some reason. This is why i brought it to you guys lol. Helen --X-- p.s. as we speak I'm trawling through the marriages looking again.

OK, so your dad's birth is where it should be (W Ham) and the right date. What years have you looked for the marriage of his parents. Have you looked after dad's birth as well as before? Merry

Dad's is definately there. I found that on Ancestry the other day.

That I haven't done I started at 1953 and worked backwards.

You won't be able to find the older boys without either your dad's birth cert or his parents marriage cert (to find out the olders boy's surname). Your dad's birth cert should give any previous surnames for his mother, so.......''Gilbert, late Snodgrass, formerly James''....or whatever. Is your dad involved in this search (you really should have their permission for this thread!!)? Has he got his birth cert? At this date, I THINK the marriage entry for your grandfather will say, Spouse name James or Snodgrass if she had been married before.....so it would be worth looking for that. Merry

Yes my dad knows I'm working on this, i did talk to him about it already. I didn't think to ask about his cert. Funny you should mention Snodgrass it's 'Possibly' my husbands last name... but that is a whole nother twisted story lol.

Thanks Laura, looking into it right now.

Yes! The Bohan is a Hannah M :) That looks good. Now off to look for the kids then maybe I'll be lucky enough to find the first marriage.

Snodgrass! Sorry about that....had to read your message twice when you mentioned husbands, as I forgot I was talking to Helen and thought you were Philip! A good name to search on, Bohan.....nice and unusual! merry

Oh you're a dear! i was still on 1950 working backwards lol. Slow connection speed is not fun! H

lol Merry, sorry for the confusion! Yes, Snodgrass is Hubby's dads last name but he has mums last name. Unfortunately the county records in the last 8 years have changed from havings mums last name to dads so though he's spent his life with his mums surname we now don't know what it legally is. needless to say when we married I kept my maiden name to keep it simple lol. Helen (not Philip) ;)

hmm theres another Richard Bohan mmn James 1947 West Ham 5a 1077 But no patrick yet and I swear he's the eldest though I could be wrong.

Which Q is the 1947 record? Merry

I think it was the 4th Q Found a patrick 4th Q 1948 also.

Laura was the Richard you mentioned before the marriage? Thought you meant a birth lol. Just found the marriage 1946 Q4 West Ham Richard Bohan to a James

Doh, so did I!! I was just looking at the marriage and thinking - that's unusual....same Q as the birth!?? NOT! Merry