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Shirley,

Thanks for the advice. I can see "Sunny Rosy's" surname when I click on her name here. This could be my mother's cousin! I happen to have been in touch with her on Ancestry recently, so I will contact her and ask if this was her.

Thanks,

Paul

Paul

As you have noted it's a very old thread and the poster isn't likely to be looking for any replies now

She is probably no longer a member but you can try and get it touch by clicking on her name and sending a message.

If she still has the same email address she will receive it and can then respond

Hi Sunny. It's 11 years since this thread was live. I found it by a web search for "Willie Vanham". If you're still watching, maybe you have found out a lot more in the last decade or so, but I have plenty of information to help you and we must be related. My great-grandmother was Mary Vanham, daughter of Willie. I have only the vaguest memories of Mary (known as 'Nana Blake' by her married name) as she died when I was 4. Her father Willie was born in North Lopham on 15 November 1865. Since this surname is so rare, combined with the fact that his given name on his birth certificate was Willie, rather than William (he sometimes appears as William or Willy), I strongly suspect this is the same Willie Vanham whose death was registered in January-March 1951 in the Mid Eastern district of the county of Surrey.

Willie's first wife was Eliza Butcher, who died 3 days after the birth of my great-grandmother Mary. Willie later married Katie Alice Bell (in 1897) and they lived in Diss, Norfolk according to the 1901 and 1911 Census.

I have Vanham records going back to the 1750s. I also have a photo of my great-grandmother with 'Granny Ringer' (Hannah Ringer, née Vanham). The photo must have been taken about 1891. And I have a copy of Willie's birth certificate.

As I said, the surname is very rare and also very intriguing. My thoughts are that it could be a variant of Venham (could easily be mistaken for this in the Norfolk dialect), or it is a Flemish name - quite a lot of people came from the Low Countries to drain the fens of East Anglia, among other reasons.

All the best,

Paul

Hi Found these births, so he was alive around 1916. Vanham Albert G Bell Depwade.4b 399 Birth Sep 1914 Vanham Laurence H Bell Depwade.4b 358 Birth Sep 1916 Checked War Graves and he didn't die in WW2. Val

unfortunately I have no certificates at all. Thanks for your help .

It could be a long trawl through the GRO indexes unfortunately. Do you have Florence's marriage certificate? This would tell you whether he was dead or alive when she married and would narrow it down further. Sam x

Sorry, Yes. He was on the 1901 with 2nd wife Kate ( Bell) and daughter Florence born 1900. He married kate after my G Gran died at childbirth in 1889.

only thing you can do is look in ancestry BMD its free to search and look from 1901 (after census) onwards http://www.ancestry(.)co.uk/search/rectype/vital/freebmd/bmd.aspx remove brackets Jeanette

Can you narrow it down at all, is he alive on any census? Sam x

Could anyone find my Great Grandpa's death? He was born North Lopham, Norfolk 18665/1866 name WILLIAM VANHAM, I did find him somewhere as Willie Vanham. Would be grateful. Sunny