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Is there a way of checking to see if someone changed their name? I'm having enormous trouble tracking back further than my grandfather's name [!] other than his marriage...there's no trace of anyone of his name having been born. I've checked the records up to six years before his supposed irth and then years after. Nothing in the records. But there is a batch of people with a similar surname born in the place he was married...
If there's a record somewhere of name changes between 1905 and 1930, that might break the ice finally...

Thanks
David

Hi David

There are no formal records unfortauntely, people could call themselves anything they liked. Even if he changed his name by deed poll, there is no central register.

You could try the London Gazette website, on the off chance that he did it legally and registered it.

Sam x

Hi David
Have you looked for a birth registered under his mothers maiden name?

Oh. This rather stops me in my tracks.. Trouble with the Gazette is that I've no idea which issue to look at as I don't know when he changed his name, if he did. hmmm

I don't have his mothers maiden name I'm afraid...

Do you have your grandfathers, parents names or marriage?

All I have is that he married Rose Thornton and at that time, was called Edward Kitching. I'm grasping at straws with the name change theory simply because his birth is otherwise not registered which seems odd.

Do you have the marriage certificate? It should name his father, was his name Kitching? How old was Edward when he married and where did the marriage take place?

Sam x

All I have is what I've mentioned. I think he was married in Manchester though because he's thought to have owned an engineering firm there. There was a story that his father was a Canadian General, but this has proved a fallacy as I've traced the General and he was contemporary with my grandfather. I've written to a couple of people on here in whose tree the general appears asking about brothers of his father to see if I can work it through that way but am waiting for a response.

Hi David
You will need to find your grandfathers marriage cert first and purchase it from the GRO and then you will be able to work back from that to find your grandfathers birth.

OK. I'm going to have to get a clearer idea of where he was married though. manchester is a big place, especially as I have no date. Anyway, many thanks for all your help everyone.

David

Try lancashire BMD...for Manchester

Hi David
I have a similar problem with my grandfather but i did a search 10 years either side of my dads older sister and couldn't find a marriage for them. Someone else kindly found the marriage for me and it was 5 years after my dad was born. I purchase the marriage certificate which gave me my grandfathers age at marriage and his fathers name which then enabled me to find them on the 1901 cencus.

Hi David

Not sure if you have a marriage certificate but I found this

Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page

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Marriages Jun 1913 (>99%)
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Kirtland Walter C Timms Chipping N. 3a 1965
Kitching Charles E V Thornton Chipping N. 3a 1965
Thornton Annie Kitching Chipping N. 3a 1965
Timms Sarah A Kirtland Chipping N 3a 1965

cheers

Tks Ingrid but my father was born in 1933 so these would be too soon.

frankly, it's all a bit odd not only that my father doesn't even know, but neither does his brother or sister. In fact they all have different versions and myths. And yet he was a solid figure in their lives. I myself met him when I was in my teens. But the man remains a mystery. I think I'm going to have to go to Manchester...

Hi David
Sorry to sound morbid but do you have an approx date of death, age at death and area that your grandfather died in?

Also did your grandfather have any middle names?

Reaonable. He died in about 1983 [and is buried in Bristol] He died either in or near Bristol or Taunton.

Oh, and his middle name was Richard [supposedly]

david ive found his death record

Name: Edward Richard Kitching
Birth Date: 7 Jul 1904
Death Registration Month/Year: Jun 1984
Age at death (estimated): 79
Registration district: Bristol
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 22
Page: 736

Does the age look right to you - now you have a time frame