Genealogy Chat

Thanks for taking the trouble to let us know how it's all coming together. It's very pleasing to think that what we've done has helped you so much. Christine

Sorry - taken a while to get back to this one - I'm happy to help - if I'm stuck on one of mine I will quite happily have a go at someone else's! Plus, I have had so much help whilst I've been a member that it's great to be able to give something back. Glad to see you're making progress! Jill

Nudge for Jill and Christine.

Yes, it's brilliant Dea - it's what makes all the frustrations worthwhile!

Isn't it just GREAT when these things fit together ??? SSooo pleased for you - Well done ALL !! Dea x

UPDATE: I just want to thank Jill and Christine for your help on this query yesterday. When you both mentioned Cleethorpes and hotels, something rang a bell. I went to my mum's last night and rummaged through the box of photos and lo and behold, found a postcard of the Life Boat Hotel with 'Dad's birthplace' written on the back!!!! I can't tell you how excited I was! Silly thing is, it was there all along, but it took something to jog my memory to go looking for it. This has opened up a whole new branch for me to investigate and has also shown that Thomas had a first wife, which I didn't know about. I can't wait to investigate further! So a big thank you for taking the time to help me. I hope I can do the same for someone else sometime. Victoria.

Thank you Christine. I think between you, you and Jill have put me onto something. I seem to remember seeing a photo at my mum's which belonged to my Grandma (George's daughter) of a hotel in Cleethorpes, on which she'd written something along the lines of 'mother's house' or something. This had given me something to investigate - thank you!! Victoria.

historicaldirectories.org (Kelly's Lincs 1885) has Whitaker, Thomas, beer retailer & lodging ho, Sea Bank rd, Cleethorpes. and similarly in 1889

Check out this in 1881: Thomas Whittaker (b. Crowle, Lincs), age 39, widower, Inn Keeper. Living Bank Road, 'Life Boat Inn' Cleethorpes. with daughter, sister, niece etc. Jill

Phoenix - no, I haven't been able to find any census entries that I could confidently pin down as being them (plenty of possibles, but without knowing any birthplaces it was impossible to narrow it down). Everyone - thanks for all your comments and tips, I will see if I can now progress any further.

Can you find the parents in 1881? Can you find the same family in 1891? I don't think that a beer house keeper would have become a master mariner, but a master mariner might well retire from the sea and run a beer house.

The only bit of info that I can give is not to go too much by the father's occupation. I think we've all got ancestors whose occupations varied from certificate to certificate, or census to census. If everything else matches, including the father's name, I would think it's likely to be the right one. I would be useful to try and find another person of the same name and trace them on the census to see if there really are two people with the same name. Mandy :)

I don't suppose any or the Whittakers were witness at teh wedding?

Hi Victoria Think I've found George on 1901 census, living in Wellington Lane, Sculcoates (Kingston upon Hull) Yorks. He is boarding with Emma Bishop (widow) and her family and is an oil broker's clerk. Says he was born in Hull. Jill. p.s. I wouldn't worry too much about change of occupation of Thomas - maybe he kept a bar when he was not at sea or after he retired.

Hi all. I am trying to get started on a particular branch of my family about which I know very little. I am struggling a bit and wondered if anyone can offer any tips or help. The info I know is as follows: Dorothy Whittaker born 31/5/1912 in Hull E.Yorks. Her parents: George Edmund Whittaker and Maud Culver It is the Whittaker family I am interested in - I have plenty on the Culvers. I have George and Maud's marriage certificate (definitley them), which gives the following: 30/7/1908 Hull. George aged 27, clerk; Maud aged 25. Fathers - Thomas Whittaker (deceased) Master mariner; Ambrose Culver, grocer. I have what I thought was George's birth certificate 11/9/1881 Hull, but I have just noticed that his father, Thomas, is down as beer house keeper, not mariner, so now I am wondering if this is not correct. When you look up births for George Edmund Whittaker, there are not many, so when this one came up for Hull, I thought it was probably him. I have not been able to find any census entries for this family which I felt happy were them - of course, this is made difficult by the fact that I don't know where the family were from. All I know for sure is that George married in Hull, Maud was from Hull and their children were born there. I know this is quite sketchy, but if anyone can offer any tips about how I could start to piece things together, I'd be most grateful. Victoria.

See below.

1891 census - RG12/3931 Sculcoates ED 21 Folio 24 P7 24 Clifton Street, Sculcoates Thomas Whittaker - 48 - Baker - b. Cromle (?) Lincs Emily Whittaker - 26 - b. Hull, Yorks George C Whittaker - 9 - scholar - b. Hull, Yorks Tom (?) - 7 - scholar - b. Cleethorpes Mary A - 5 - scholar - b. Cleethorpes Ethel M - 2 - scholar - b. Cleethorpes Rose Healey - 18 - gen servant (daughters). Looks promising - although once again, Thomas has a different occupation! Jill

Zoe - no, they were both Culvers unfortunatley. Do you think this might suggest that the Whittakers weren't local??

Thank you Jill - I will have a look at this. I must admit, I hadn't thought of him having another accupation when not at sea - thanks for that.