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1881
Name: Frances Reay
Age: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Relation: Step Daughter
Mother's Name: Elizabeth
Gender: Female
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
County/Island: Durham
Country: England
Street address: Whiteley Head

Name: Elizabeth Gladders
Age: 40
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1841
Relation: Wife
Spouse's name: Willm. R.
Gender: Female
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
County/Island: Durham
Country: England
Street address: Whiteley Head




Willm. R. Gladders 29
Elizabeth Gladders 40
Frances Reay 18
John E. Gladders 5
Alice Gladders 3

1871
Name: Frances Reay
Age: 8
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Relation: Niece
Gender: Female
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: White Le Head
County/Island: Durham
Country: England

Name: John Reay
Age: 41
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relation: Head
Gender: Male
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: White Le Head
County/Island: Durham

Name: Elizabeth Reay unmarried
Age: 31
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1840
Relation: Sister
Gender: Female
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: White Le Head
County/Island: Durham

1891 with James
Name: Frances Reay
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Relation: Niece
Gender: Female
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: Whitlehead
County/Island: Durham
James Reay
Age: 4
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1887
Relation: Nephew
Gender: Male
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: Whitlehead
County/Island: Durham
Country: England


Name: John Reay
Age: 61
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relation: Father-in-law **elizabeth's brother in 1871
Gender: Male
Where born: Tanfield, Durham, England
Civil parish: Tanfield
Ecclesiastical parish: Tanfield
Town: Whitlehead
County/Island: Durham
Country: England


Household Members:
Name Age
William R Gladden 40
Elizabeth Gladden 50
John E Gladden 15
Alice Gladden 15
John Reay 61
Frances Reay 28
James Reay 4

Thanks jansmith for all your hard work. We definitely have the right family , I have found these records before (exept the 1911 one , which is very useful) I still don't have james' mothers name or the date of his death. His mum must have died v young , maybe in childbirth.

Hi Winnie, Do you have James birth certificate. Apply for it through GRO it only costs seven of your pounds. You don't need to know his parents names just approximately when and where he was born. GRO is General Records Office. Goggle it.

You could also start at the other end and check out records at the cemetery where he is buried. Don't know if you have the same cemetery search indexes over there as we do. However there must be some sort of records available.

Thanks , will do that now.

??i wonder if Frances is his mother and he used John as a fathers name as he does't seem to have one

This could be the birth cert as this is the registration district for where he was born
Name: James Reay
Year of Registration: 1887
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Lanchester (1875-1938)
County: Durham
Volume: 10a
Page: 300




http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/
link for ordering certs. £7 if you think it is the one use the details above

Yes ,I had thought of that. I wonder if frances was his mother.So annoying not knowing.I know there are relatives out there but they don't seem to wantto know. Perhaps there are too many skeletons in the closet!!!!

And thanks yes that looks promising for his bc.

you could try that birth cert asking for a check on her being the mother. If it is'nt they refund part of the fee £3/£3.50. If it is then they will send it.

Have you tried sending a message to all those with Frances in their tree ?(search trees on this site)

A few James's there as well

Have ordered cert . thanks again.will keep you posted.

nudge for later

Just ran a GR tree search for both James and Frances. There are matches there. It would be worth a try at contacting those people.

Aunty Sherlock, yes i also suggested that if people are not known rels.

Will be good to know if its the right cert!!!!

I have come across lancelot before , however I don't thimk he was part of my family....well not as far as I know. Thanks for message.

To jansmith and Aunty Sherlock
Have now received birth cert for james and as we suspected frances was his mother, but no father was named so he was prob illigitimate. Thanks again for all the help. I guess I have reached the end of the line on that one, unless anyone out there can shed some light. I live in hope.

Oh you haven't even begun. Don't give up now. Look to see if they had any other children and if the name of the father is there. Check the children's marriage certificates and see if the name of parents in on those records.

I had the same thing but in reverse. Knew the name of the father but when I received certificate it was not there.

Aunty Sherlock,
You're right , I shouldn't give up. I'm sure James had a sister , cos mum has spoken of an aunt iny , or that's what they called her , and when we asked who she was , mum said she thought she was her dads' sister.Iny or eny ,could be short for catherine or christine or similar.

Oh heavens. I am not thinking straight. You now know that Frances was his mother. You need her death certificate. I can't see where you said you had it. If you get the dc you need to be cautious about how much notice you take of the info it contains, and who gave that info. Sometimes people who don't really know the deceased give the info for that certificate.

Alo I'm not certain what info your dc contain. But it should give you whether she was married, and any childen (I think).