Genealogy Chat

mgnv. Many thanks for the copies of relevant entries in the 1920 Census and the 1930 Census. Most helpful.
Whilst I note that John Stanley Lowe appears to be married to Gertrude Lowe do you know whether it would it be possible for me to access USA marriages in California relating to this couple between 1911 and 1920? I seem to be drawing a blank through Worldwide Ancestry membership but perhaps I am not accessing correctly. I have noted that Gertrude travelled back from a visit to England, arriving back in the USA on the 25th August 1926 and at that time it was stated that she was naturalized by virtue of her husband's naturalization so presumably she must have been married to someone with USA citizenship at some time. John did not always marry when he described himself as married!!
Many thanks for your observations regarding birth registration. However, John Samuel Lowe's birth registration in December 1968 is nearly 4 years earlier than the d.o.b. given for John Stanley Lowe in the US - 26th August, 1972. He left a number of smokescreens in England and I wonder if this is possibly yet another one!!
Regards,
Susan

Susan, I'm thinking you don't know his actual b'day, and all you've seen is the GRO index entry:

Births Dec 1868 (>99%)
LOWE John Samuel Oxford 3a 611

This just indicates his birth was registered in the quarter ending in Dec 1868.
One normally has 6 wks to rego a birth, so if the full 6 wks was used for an Aug 26 birth, it would be rego'ed in early Oct, i.e., the Dec quarter.
Actually, a birth can be rego'ed years after it happened - it needs a higher and higher approval as time goes by, eventually needing approval from the Registrar General for England.
It also needs a qualified informant, so if 50y has passed, and everyone present is dead, it can never be rego'ed.


Magnify 4 clicks, then save image
http://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu106unit#page/n724/mode/1up
[addy=1840 Highland Ave, (Santa Monica - between the Pacific Coast Highway & Venice Beach) occup= Salesman (Bonds)]
http://archive.org/stream/californiacensus00reel137#page/n339/mode/1up
[addy=954 N Croft Ave (5km S of top of Laurel Canyon) Gert (div) & Marjie]

Through the help of MGNV and Detective I have now discovered that passports were not mandatory for British travellers until 1914.

Susan

His date of birth was wrong - actual birth was December 1868 in Oxford, named John Samuel Lowe and d.o.b. given on USA Declaration of Intention was given as 26th August, 1872 born in Oxford and named John Stanley Lowe. He was granted USA citizenship in 1919. I found him on the UK 1911 Census and also on the US 1920 Census. On both of these registers he was named "John Stanley Lowe". However, I could not find him on the US 1930 Census. He was a passenger on "the Baltic" departing from Liverpool and arriving in New York on the 26th June 1911. On the ship records he gave his closest relative in England as being "Mrs. Lowe of 153 Walton Street, Oxford". This was the address of John Samuel Lowe's wife and children so this is why I am 99.9% sure that "John Samuel Lowe" and "John Stanley Lowe" are one and the same person!

I will certainly explore the National Archives re a possible Passport.

Most grateful for your suggestions and observations. My search for this man has been very complicated over a very long period of time and I hope that eventually I will find all the missing pieces to the puzzle!

Regards,
Susan

You could explore the National Archives to see if one was issued

http://goo.gl/zpdK7

I would worry if his birthday was wrong - I wouldn't be too concerned if the year was out, though.

Have you found him on the UK 1911 or the US 1910/20/30 censuses?

I'm not sure abt passports pre-WW1 - my guess is they weren't necessary.
I think the need for a passport to enter parts of the British Empire is even less likely - this would include Canada. It isn't necessary for a Canadian resident to have a passport to enter the US, even today, although entry as an immigrant is different.

If you've got him on latter US censuses, you can see if he's started applying for, or has been granted, US citizenship, or is still an alien. Naturalization records from some states are available online, alyhough it reads like you know this.

It's still worth checking if he has a UK passport, though.

Many thanks for your valuable information. I was 99.9% certain that this was my ancestor - despite birth date difference and a slight middle name change. He settled in Los Angeles in 1911. Just another thought, perhaps you might know if he would have been able to leave England and enter the USA by giving the same inaccurate information and were passports required as early as June, 1911?

It obviously couldn't be a requirement - there are just too many people who didn't have one for whatever reason - e.g., in 1912, a 50 y old Irishman was born before civil registration began - in 1912, I'll bet there were parts of Canada and the USA where civil registration had yet to start. Even if he was recorded, there were places where all records were destroyed - fires in Chicago and Atlanta are 2 US examples - Hiroshima is a more modern example. Even today, though they may ask for one, they must have the power to proceed without it.

Hi, I should be very grateful for help to find out whether it was a requirement to provide a copy of a birth certificate at any stage when someone was applying for USA naturalization between 1912 and 1920. An ancestor of mine lodged a Declaration of Intention in 1912 and became a naturalized USA citizen in 1919.

Unfortunately there is a discrepancy in the date of birth recorded in the relevant papers relating to my ancestor and I am trying to clarify whether or not it was possible to give inaccurate information. This ancestor has proved very elusive during his lifetime!!

Regards,
Susan