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Hello, I've been researching my biological family from Liverpool/West Derby following my adoption in 1964.
I don't have a great deal of information but I'm really hoping I might be able to get hold of a photo of my mother, either as a child or an adult before her death.

Here's what I have so far:

I was born in Liverpool as Beryl May James in 1957.

Mother: Florence Elizabeth James (nee Nixon) 24/08/1916 - 09/06/1963
Married to John James who died 06/05/1952
Possibly also married 05/08/1935 to James Bourke/Burke born 1899/1900.

Father: John/Jack Holland/Hollins. No further information and he couldn't be traced after my mother's death.

Grandparents: Elizabeth Bell Bowling 1882-unknown married Thomas Walter Nixon DOB unknown on 25/06/1906

Florence's Brothers:
Thomas G S Nixon 1907-1970
Walter Nixon 1909-1984 (incapacitated)
David Nixon 1914-unknown

Florence's Sister:
Edith May/Mary Cattrall (nee Nixon) 1912-1972
Married in 1935 to Joseph Charles Cattrall
Possibly had 3 sons:
Raymond Cattrall 1941-1994
Joseph B Cattrall 1943-unknown
Edward Cattrall 1945-unknown

I've also got some details of grandparents siblings and great grandparents, but progressing down the family tree to people who may still be alive and possibly have photos is where I'm hitting a brick wall.

I also have lots of addresses for various members of the family, and rough dates. All around the West Derby/Liverpool area.

I have very little memory of my biological mother, so would love to find out more about her, and potentially find photos of her in some kind of archive.

Can anybody help?

Beryl

You have this request on a number of boards. Please could delete two of them.

Thank you for deleting the other requests. The researchers who enjoy the hunt will usually look at several boards and by keeping your request to one board will help by not having people doing the same research with the same answers.

Have you looked at search members trees for mention of the families and have you looked at the electoral rolls on 192com?

Added: it looks as though Edward Cattrall may have died in 2008. There is an obituary notice online.

I haven't looked at members trees yet but I will.

I've had a look on 192 and have found Joseph and Edward registered in Ashton-Under-Lyne and Ellesmere Port, but only up to about 2008. Although Edward's wife was still on the register in 2016-2019.

They're the only potentially living relatives I've managed to find so far.

1939 has only one married name for her ,and she was still single

Florence E Nixon
in the 1939 England and Wales Register

Name: Florence E Nixon
[Florence E James]
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Birth Date: 24 Aug 1918
Residence Date: 1939
Address: Canton House Lloyd Street
Residence Place: Llandudno, Caernarvonshire, Wales
Line Number: 41
Schedule Number: 18
Sub Schedule Number: 11
Enumeration District: ZDGL
Borough: Llandudno
Registration district: 632-2
Household Members Age
William L Jones Sr
40
Gertrude D Jones
40
William L Jones Jr
17
This record is officially closed.
Maysie Western
52
Helen J Western
22
This record is officially closed.
Leah Lagar
47
Rebecca Lagar
23
This record is officially closed.
Florence E Nixon 21

I don't think that's her, she was born 1916 and never left Liverpool

Coincidence on names in 1939 !


So

Marriages Sep 1935
Burke James Nixon Liverpool S. 8b 586

Nixon Florence E Burke Liverpool S. 8b 386


Page nos is 586 !

Not seeing a marriage of Burke to John James

Can you post the info

Am wondering if you have picked up the right Florence .

There were only two Florence E Nixons born in England/Wales:

NIXON, FLORENCE ELIZABETH mmn BOWLING
GRO Reference: 1916 S Quarter in WEST DERBY Volume 08B Page 1094

NIXON, FLORENCE ELIZABETH mmn SIMPSON
GRO Reference: 1919 M Quarter in SHOREDITCH Volume 01C Page 68

The second one died in infancy, in Shoreditch, later in 1919.

So the first one must be your mother as you say.
The woman in the 1939 Register must also be your mother, even though you didn't know she had been away from Liverpool.

The day and month of her birth , stated in 1939, matches what you say. The year of birth is often a year or two out, in the 1939 Register, so I wouldn't worry about that.

You will have to buy the Burke marriage cert to see if the bride was indeed your mother.
Perhaps the marriage didn't last, and she reverted to her maiden name by 1939.

On the 1939 Register, although her surname has been updated to James, there is no date beside it in the margin, which implies that she didn't marry him, but just changed her name.

There's certainly no sign of a marriage, as Shirley has said.

John James
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: John James
Death Age: 38
Birth Date: abt 1914
Registration Date: Apr 1952[May 1952] [Jun 1952]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Liverpool North
Inferred County: Lancashire
Volume: 10d
Page: 173


???
John James
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Name: John James
Registration Date: 1914
Quarter of the Year: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration Place: Toxteth Park, Lancashire, England
Mother: Devine
Volume: 8b
Page: 300

Parents' marriage:

Marriages Jun 1902 (>99%)
Devine Elizabeth Toxteth Park 8b 334
James John Toxteth Park 8b 334


Not with hi parents in 1939:

John James
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name: John James
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 27 Jan 1868
Residence Date: 1939
Address: 74 Devon Port St
Residence Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Occupation: Dock Watchman
Line Number: 41
Schedule Number: 178
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: NHIF
Borough: Liverpool
Registration district: 453-4
Inferred Spouse:
Elizabeth James
Inferred Children:
William James
Charles James
Evelyn James
Ada M James
Edward James
Household Members Age
John James 71
Elizabeth James 65
William James 31
Charles James 28
Evelyn James 26
Ada M James 22
Edward James 20


Ada Mary married Ronald Poole in 1941.
If they had children, they weren't born in Liverpool - so impossible to pin down.

Evelyn married Graham E Maynill/Meynell, in 1944 in Wallasey.
She died in Knowsley, Merseyside in 1982.
They had a daughter, born in Liverpool in 1948.
The daughter may have married in Wiltshire in 1970. If so, her husband died in Trowbridge, Wiltshire in 1994, and she herself may have been living in West Derby in 2015. She may still be living, unless she has died after 2019.

They do not appear to have had children.
The 2015 address has not been sold since 2015 - but she may not have been the owner.

Charles James died in Liverpool in 1994. I don't know if he married or not - it's a common name.

William Thomas James died in Liverpool in 1989.
He may perhaps have married in Liverpool in 1946, and if so, his wife Lilian (nee Worthington) died in Liverpool in 2005.
They seem to have had several children in the 1940s and early 1950s - possibly even in 1960 and 1971.

You can find the names on FreeBMD

a possibilty for grandmother

Name: Elizabeth Nixon
Death Age: 60
Birth Date: abt 1882
Registration Date: Apr 1942
[May 1942]
[Jun 1942]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Liverpool South
Inferred County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 210

1939
1939 Register
Florist Street, Liverpool, Liverpool C.B., Lancashire, England

Elizabeth Nixon 25 Jun 1886 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Widowed 99 1
Thomas G S Nixon 24 May 1907 Male Mattress Maker Single 99 2
Walter Nixon 06 Mar 1909 Male Incapacitated Single 99 3
David Nixon 13 Sep 1914 Male General Labourer Single 99 4
Eileen Barton (Nixon) 18 Jan 1920 Female General Domestic Worker Single 99 5 --- reg as eillen

Eileen
Volume 8B
Last name Nixon
Page 1502
Birth quarter 1
Record set England & Wales Births 1837-2006
Birth year 1920
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Mother's maiden name Bowling
Subcategory Civil Births
District West Derby

John A
County Lancashire
Last name Barton
Country England
Marriage quarter 1
Volume 8B
Marriage year 1944
Volume as transcribed 8B
Registration month -
Page number 989
MarriageFinder™ John A Barton married one of these people
Eileen Nixon
Record set England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005
Spouse's last name Nixon
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
District Prescot

?
Name: Eileen Barton
Age: 37
Record Type: Burial
Birth Date: abt 1921
Death Date: abt 1958
Burial Date: 22 Jan 1958
Burial Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Cemetery Section: Church of England
address 15 eustace street

is this david
Name: David Nixon
Age: 42
Record Type: Burial
Birth Date: abt 1914
Death Date: abt 1956
Burial Date: 13 Sep 1956
Burial Place: Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Cemetery Section: Church of England
address 35 plasent st

Regarding the Burke marriage, I found a newspaper article from 1935 which indicated that his marriage to Florence was bigamy, so I don't think it did last.

I've also wondered whether she'd actually married John James as I haven't been able to find records of the marriage, she just went by his name and these are the details I received from social services.

Interesting about her time in Wales, I've looked in to it further and it's definitely her, so that's something I never knew! I'm wondering whether that's where John James is from, and so that's why she moved there, then returned to Liverpool after his death and prior to my birth.

Hi Maddie

That sounds like it could be him, I have addresses for a number of them at 38 pleasant street and all of the siblings seemed to follow each other around in terms of living on the same streets at different times.

See my post at 14:28 for probable details of John James, his siblings, and their possible children.

EDIT:


But actually, thinking about it more, if his age at death is accurate, he must have been born May 1913 - May 1914, in which case the Toxteth man won't be him.

And sadly, there were lots of John Jameses born in that time-frame all over England/Wales.


Do you have his death cert?
Who was the informant?
Age stated at death is only as accurate as what the informant believes to be true.

Beryl

It may be she went to wales because of ww2

Lots of people relocated from vulnerable areas

I went to Kent from London and then to Birmingham,and a younger sister born 1939 ended up in Colne Lancashire

ArgyllGran I don't have the death certificate unfortunately, the information I have is what was in my file from Social Services, and his date of death is cited a lot throughout the paperwork.

Shirley, I hadn't thought of that, would certainly make sense. It's also had me thinking, I'm sure I recall mention of my putative father being born or having some kind of connection to Wales, so depending on how long she was there, it could be where she met John/James Holland/Hollins.