Genealogy Chat

Hi all Thanks again for your suggestions. I'm one of those who like a cup of coffee on the go and the odd ciggie, which is why I do this from the comfort of home! I'm going to have to go to the local records office/library though, to check out all those years and all the possible spellings of Moyes (I've already done Moyse) and Giles. Do local records offices open on a Saturday, because I work full time? I've started trying to find information from the appropriate police museum but haven't heard back from them yet - I'll chase that up. The directories I have access to have no mention of him - records office again! I could of course go to Brighton and see if he's with that other missing chap! This chap may have to wait until I have annual leave. Thanks for all the help - it's really appreciated. Maggie

Do you have any entries with the right age but wrong christian name? I ask because I searched from 1913 to 1942 for my gt grandfathers death - DAVID King born 1842. He was baptised David, was David on ALL censuses from 1851 to 1901, was David on his marriage certificate and records of his children's births. His son, Alfred, registered gt grandma's death as Fanny King, wife of David King. Eventually someone found an obituary for David King in 1925 in the right area, I double checked the GRO but no luck so in desparation I asked the local office to check King deaths for that period. They came up trumps. The same son, Alfred, had for reasons known only to himself registered the death of AMBROSE King. It has to be gt grandad - same address, age, occupation and of course same son's name and address, but WHY AMBROSE?????

Have just been looking on the Royal Sussex Regiment site. Under the heading of Soldiers Stories there is one about Walter Message and a Rose Moysie is mentioned who had moved to Sussex from somewhere.Don't know if that can help you at all.Sharron.

Are you able to get hold of his Police service record - or something like that? I had a g-great-uncle who was in the City Police, and the City Archives(?I think - not at home to check) gave me info about his City career and also told me he'd served with Surrey Police - and their museum sent some really great info about him. There was nothing that would have given me a death date - but info which told me he was still alive at a particular date. And when he retired he became a tobacconist on the Caledonian Road - so he was in Trade Directories, too. Some such approach might help you to narrow the dates down a bit. Christine

Looking again at the surname, you have checked MOYS as well? This is likely to be miles away from Moyes in the index. Oh, and MOYSE for good measure. Surnames ought to be spelt correctly by the 1900s, but it does depend on what paperwork is around when the death is recorded. Not to mention the fact that while his first Christian name was Philip, he may have been known by one of his other names.

I know we all find our computers conveneient but why pay for 1837 online when local libraries and records offices have all the bmd on fiche for free .good luck with your research. I too have relations that not only didn't die but they never married or even got born!!!

Could it be that someone thought his surname was GILES and indexed him with the Gs? Sorry Perhaps I shouldn't have even mentioned that possibility but something similar happened to one of my relatives.

PS I fogot to say that if you want a lookup on a Moyes death from 1901 to 1955 then I'm your woman!!! Maggie

Hi everyone Thanks for all your replies. I've just got back in from work - earning the money to pay for the search! Margaret - luckily I've printed them all out (I must be mad) and have checked them all twice - it took hours - Ill probably check them again when I have the energy. Gwynne and Lal - The Moyes lot are often mistranscribed as Mayes in the census - this means another £15.00 or so to check that. Aaaagh (but it's a brilliant idea!) Elizabeth - step 1 if he continues to be elusive will be to get his wife's death certificate and try and find out where she was buried. Kate - I presume you just type 'unknown' into the search engine for these? I'll try that if all else fails! (more dosh). Jeannie - the local office isn't the most helpful as far as certs are concerned; they just direct everyone to GRO on their website! I'll give them a go by phone, I think. Grace - Philip was a policeman so I hope he didn't go to sea - do you know where I can checks deaths at sea just in case? Gwyneth - I checked for a Philip Moyes in all registration districts - there are very few of them so this was quite easy. The electoral lists are a great idea - thanks. Philip could have remarried but the age at death of all the other Philip Moyes was at least 20 years out. I'm really grateful to you all for your ideas and will follow them up. Could you bear to know the outcome!? Maggie

Did Philip register his wife's death? If so you could maybe check him in electoral lists at the address given and see which years he was there. Could he have remarried and moved to another area, so that the Philips you found could be possibles? If he died in a hospital, the death may be registered many miles from an expected area.

Maggie, I thought the same about my great-grandmother until I found out she died in Belfast. Also, if somebody died with no family members around their death could have been registered as 'unknown' or with the wrong name. Kate.

Maggie if you can find out where his wife was buried see if you can get someone to check the cemetery as he may have been added to the plot Beth :)

Hi Ken, 1837online has the full GRO index. Maggie, Have you tried looking for him mistranscribed as Mayes? Gwynne

Is 1837 complete ? I thought it was similar to freeBMD and was not fully transcribed, please correct me if I am wrong.

Maggie Did you save the pages on 1837 online? If so, go through them again. I was looking for a marriage last week and searched over 15 years and couldnt find it. I looked again tonight and found it in pages I'd already checked. I just missed it. I didnt save the pages and had to pay again!!! Margaret

He's probably living with Charles Green who was born in Sidlesham in 1805 but said it was 1795 on the 1861 and subsequent census returns.I know it is him,I've double checked everything.He was in Brighton in 1901,claiming to be 106,when he was ONLY 96.Apparently he never did die,I can't find him.Somewhere there are some amazingly old men.

Thanks, both of you. I don't think he emigrated - his wife died in 1902 and one of his daughters in 1941, both in Plymouth. I don't think he emigrated, but it's possible and I'll explore it. I'll probably end up looking at another 5 years of 1837 first though! As to his age being wrongly transcribed there are only about 3 other Philips on there and none of them died anywhere he is likely to have gone. There weren't any Jacks at all! Anyway, I really appreciate you having a think about it. I wondered if I was missing something - stir crazy from looking at all that small text! Maggie

Might he have emigrated, or died at sea? All my great granny's brothers born in Devon emigrated to Canada. Bits of the 1906 census are freely available on the web, as is the Ellis Island site for people going to America. Alternatively, whoever recorded his death may have got his age wrong. The snag with emigration is that he could have ended up anywhere.

may sound silly but he may have lived over 100 years someone in my tree was 108

I have looked at ALL the 1837 death records on 1837 online from Q2 1901 (he was alive for the 1901 census) to 1955 for a Philip John Giles Moyes who was born in 1855 in East Stonehouse in Devon. I know he came from a family who lived long once they got past childhood, but this is ludicrous. Does anyone have any ideas about what I might try next? (I've even looked under his apparent nickname of Jack). Maggie