Find Living Relatives

I'm not sure I've enough infomation to have any success but I'll try anyway.
I'm looking for my biological father whom I've never known. Only infomation I have is from my birth certificate. I've no idea where to even begin looking so any advice would be appreciated.
Details I have are;
John Henry Clarke. Lived in Leicester in February 1978 (Modbury Ave). Worked as a bakers production controller at that time. And of course was at some point in relationship with my mother Joan Adams (maiden name Joan Allen ).
I was born /12/1977. Dean Clarke.

And that's every scrap of infomation I have available. If it's an impossible search please feel free to tell me so.

Thanks Dean

Welcome to the boards Dean.

As these boards are not secure, you might want to remove your full date of birth. Just month and year should be enough.

As you can imagine, there are a number of births for a John H Clarke.
Since you have an address, even if it's only the road, it might be worth tracking down the historical ER for 1977/78 to see if he is listed with any other Clarkes.
We might be able to work out the relationships between them and follow through with any other relatives he might have.

As he held a supervisory position, he was unlikely to be a youngster and may well have been married. For this reason alone, discretion is necessary as any other children may not know about you.

Hi Dean.
Well, you have a fair bit to go on, so don't despair!
First things first. Have you checked out his address on the electoral register? If he happened to be living at home, names of relatives might help you.
And do you have an approximate year of birth, names of any family members, friends of his? (Do not put those names on here).
Jan

Were you adopted away from your birth family? You can apply for access to your file.
The following link tells you how, and also mentions the adoption contact register. This is intended to link adopted and birth relatives together.

https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records

Hello. Thanks so much for the quick replies. I'm afraid I've no idea on birth years or other family. Where is the best place to search for 77/78 electoral register

No not adopted. Just my mother always refused to give any infomation and we haven't spoke in ten years. Just had to order a birth certificate and got full one which contained fathers details xnd it git me thinking.

Hello Dean,

Most central libraries hold electoral registers.

I'm not sure what area you live- but you could either visit or send a message to Leicester Central Library to see if they have the records you need, or to see if they can search for you.

Contact details:

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/libraries/find-a-library/leicester-central

Dean, you would need to look at the electoral register in person, or ask a member of staff to look for you (they may charge).
Registers are normally kept at the nearest main library.
I would google Leicester Main Library, find their contact details, and ask for advice. They will probably have the registers, if not, they will be able to point you in the right direction.
Jan

Thank you for that. I'll get down there this week and see if I can find any additional infomation. Your help and advice is very much appreciated thank you

Good luck Dean - be sure to let us know how you get on.
Jan

Hi again
Been to the library and was told what I need is kept at a separate records office :-( I'm now waiting on hearing back from them.

I've seen lots of online services that claim to be able to trace family. Can anyone recommend any reliable (and not too overpriced) companies that do this? I suspect someone who know what they are doing will have much better success.

Thanks

Short answer: No. :-)

At least, not unless you have exhausted your own resources and the help you can get here. And then, if you do decide to try such an agency, you want to know exactly what they think they can do to find someone for whom the details are, unfortunately, so fuzzy. Generally, people are looking for someone for whom they have a date of birth to start with, for example - that is, a known person rather than an unknown person.

The only thing I might consider a third party for right now is approaching your mother for help with more information. Do you know a family member (a brother or sister of your mother maybe) that you are on better terms with, who might talk to her on your behalf?

You knowing how old your mother was when you were born, have you had the impression that your father would have been around the same age? To give us a general idea, say for example she was in her early 20s in 1977 - if he was the same, he might have been born in the early to mid 1950s.

the two John H Clarke-s on the electoral register in Leicester since 2002 are likely too old, both are over 65 and they married in 1951 and 1960.

Thanks for the reply. I'm currently waiting on a response from the records office as they are doing a search on the address on my birth certificate see if I can get anything from the electoral roll.
I have however had remarkable success just from this site tracing some history on my mothers side, (her birth year was 1955 so 27 when i was born) got her parents plus two brothers details so far.
Just I shame I'm not having better luck with the elusive John Clarke

Dean,

On your opening post you say you were born 12/77.

Your last posting at 00: 10 on 29th Aug says your Mum born 1955 so 27 when you
were born. If you take 1955 from 1977 that makes her 22 when you're born.

Thought I better point this out in case you may have been chasing up the wrong
family.