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Hello.

I am completely new and completely lost!.

I am trying to piece together my paternal family tree but information is SO sparse and there are no relatives to ask.

I have my late father's date of birth, place of birth.

I have his parents' names only, and his father's occupation and military address at the time of my father's birth.

This is all I have, no date of birth for them.

How can I find his parents' dates of birth, these would help a lot, I imagine.

Any advice would be so incredibly welcome. Please forgive me if I have overlooked any obvious routes for information, I am a novice here.

Kindest regards, thanks in advance. :-)

Aurore

Welcome to Genes and the Boards.

Very few of us use the records on Genes for research.
If your later father was born in England or Wales you can probably find the birth registration information on www.freebmd.org.uk. As the name suggests it is free.
You can then use the information it gives to get his birth certificate from GRO.gov.uk. This will give you the details of his parents.

If he was born in Scotland you will need to access Scotlands People.

If you want to give a few details there are plenty of people on here itching to help.

As you know the names of your paternal grandparents, you should look for their marriage record as your next step

Their ages and fathers’ names (if known) will be on the cert if you buy it.

Your post suggests that you didn’t actually know your father - forgive me if I’m misinterpreting.

Do you have your fathers actual birth certificate?

If you want some help then post what you know with names etc

Beware, Aurore - it's the start of a slippery slope!

I first became hooked on genealogy when I started to investigate my mother's family.

Although I knew a lot about my father's family (mainly thanks to an uncle who had researched it in pre-internet days), I didn't know anything further back than my grandparents on my mother's side.
I only knew my grandparent's names, and that they had come from Oxfordshire.

When I found their marriage record - I caught the genealogy bug and never looked back!
Many years and dozens of ancestors later, the fascination is as strong as ever.

Message sent asking Dawn / Aurore to return to the boards with any info she has in the hopes we can help. Asked for dates, names, places, all known.

Hello!

Oh my, THANK YOU all so very much for your responses!
Such kindness and generosity in wishing to help/pointing me in the right direction. I am so grateful.

Here is what I know about my paternal grandparents:

I only met my paternal grandmother once when I was very small back in the late 1970s. She was called Annie Wilkins née Davis.

I never knew my paternal grandfather, I do not know if they were perhaps separated or if he had died. He was called Frank Sydney Wilkins.

In 1939 Frank was a Private in the Royal Army Service Corps and the address of "Granby Barracks, Devonport" is written under both the 'rank/profession' field and the 'residence of informant' field of my late father's birth certificate, which I have.

My Father's date of birth 12th June 1939, Plymouth. Ronald Eric Wilkins.

Frank and Annie had four children, I believe: Douglas, Ronald (my father), John and Lily (possibly Lilian).

My father was a very troubled artist and I had extremely little contact with him after the age of 8, but we did have contact by phone and by good old fashioned airmail letters (I live abroad) in the last few years before he died, as I found him via the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.

Extra information that may or may not be true:

Annie had a Spanish accent, there was apparently some connection with Gibraltar.

John was married to Sheila, they possibly went to live in Australia.

True information:

Lily's married surname was Goss and she had a son named Stephen/Steven who sadly died in the early 1990s.

I do have a pile of handwritten letters that my father wrote and I recall some mention of family, so I will find them and see if there is any additional information at all to tell you.

Thank you in advance, I felt very daunted but you have given me hope!

Kindest regards

Aurore :-)

Welcome back Dawn.

This is possiby your grandfatehrs death registration.as its before 1969 only given age is supplied as later a date of birth would be listed.


ViewEngland & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Order death certificate for Frank S Wilkins
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Name: Frank S Wilkins
Death Age: 59
Birth Date: abt 1900
Registration Date: Jan 1959
[Feb 1959]
[Mar 1959]
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration District: Plymouth
Inferred County: Devon
Volume: 7a
Page: 755,



and possibly with his family in 1911,

Name: Frank Wilkins
Age in 1911: 11
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1900
Relation to Head: Son
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Southsea, Hampshire, England
Civil Parish: Portsmouth
Search Photos: Search for 'Portsmouth' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection
Country: England
Street Address: 6 St Edwards Road, Southsea, Hampshire
Registration District Number: 90
Sub-registration District: Portsmouth and Mid Southsea
ED, institution, or vessel: 25
Piece: 5617
Household Members:
Name Age
Frank Wilkins 41
Esther Wilkins 40
Frank Wilkins 11
Bessie Wilkins 9
Nellie Wilkins 8
Alfred Wilkins 7
Save Cancel

Franks father Frank is a Coach Builder.

Edit-- not the right person.

Annie’s DoB was 22 Mar 1904, as per 1939 register

Lily 1 Jan 1926
Douglas 21 Apr 1936

Douglas’s birth shows MMN Gater on freebmd

Annie died in November 1994 in Plymouth - surname Wilkins

Name: Lily Wilkins
[Violet Goss]
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 1 Jan 1926
Residence Date: 1939
Address: Granby Barracks
Residence Place: Plymouth, Devon, England
Occupation: At School
Line Number: 20
Schedule Number: 3
Sub Schedule Number: 21
Enumeration District: WEVI
Borough: Plymouth
Registration district: 276-3.
Inferred Father:
[No Name]
Inferred Mother:
Anna M Boyle----assumed Anna later re-married.to Boyle or its been mistranscribed.//mixed up.

The info posted above is not as per 1939 image as there is no female named Boyle on the page

Frank S Wilkins married Annie Davis or Gater in 1931 in Gibraltar

So Lily was not a Wilkins by birth - unless she was Frank’s child by a previous marriage

Explains the MMN on Douglas’s birth entry

You need the cert for factual info

Annie Gater age 25, occupation Cook, travelled from London to Gibraltar in 1929

Two closed records in 1939 between Lily and Douglas - and one (Ronald?) after Douglas

Connected.?subs needed for full details.


Doc True
A GIBRALTAR MARRIAGE.
A GIBRALTAR MARRIAGE.
made by the Jusuce3 at tto Gibraltar Police Court. for the payment by him of £1 per week mr the main• knance of his wife, Annie Gater, and their two children, ehould not be confirmed. The Magistrates' Clerk (Mr. 1). B. Mist read the evidenee giyen by the
21 June 1926 - Staffordshire Sentinel - Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,


This is Annie death registration.1994.

England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007No Image
Text-only collection
Order death certificate for Annie Wilkins
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Report a problem
Name: Annie Wilkins
Death Age: >>90<<
Birth Date: 22 Mar 1904
Registration Date: Nov 1994
Registration District: Plymouth
Inferred County: Devon
Register Number: E48A
District and Subdistrict: 4161E
Entry Number: 105

Harry Gater married Annie Davis in Gibraltar in 1922

1939 register has Harry Gater, DoB 3/9/1901 DIVORCED in SoT

He died in 1977

Stephen J Goss, MMN Gater, was born in Plymouth in 1957, which confirms that Lily was a Gater - NOT a Wilkins

Geoffrey Goss married Violet Gater in 1952 - as per freebmd
Actual date 5th July (FMP)

Possible birth for Harry Gater, MMN Bailey, in qtr 4 1901 in Wolstanton

BUT….that doesn’t help with your line

You need one of Annie’s marriage certs to find out if she knew her father’s details