Genealogy Chat

I have a feeling she is wrong about him being in the 'Royal Engineers', however, she told me she used to write to him, and that is how she knows. She may have got it a bit mixed up, I can't be fully sure.

I forgot that my Oh was a member of the Forces War records site so I have just been in and had a look.
No success I'm afraid. The only W C Hitching was a private in the RAC.
No W Hitching listed for the Royal Engineers so still as stuck as we were before.

Thanks for the added info Potty, need to be a bit of a Sherlock Holmes on family research now and then... lol :-D ;-)

There doesn't seem to be another death that fits. We really need to know where the DOB and POB come from. I am wondering if her son found the birth we have found in 1895 and assumed that was the man we are looking for. Her mother's death cert in 1967 might give some clues - if William was the informant at least we would know that he was still alive then. Also, the 1969 death cert should help to show which William that was. The wife of one of them, Sophia Sarah, didn't die until 1982, so if she was the informant on the 1969 cert that would eliminate that one.

One of these William Charles Hitching died in 1969, I think. What about the other one ? ( Her mother died in 1967.)

Had a chat with her today, also her birthday! :-D She was pleased once again with the family info I gave her. :-D Anyway, it turns out her house was bombed during the war, probably a fire involved too, so her family documents were destroyed! :-( I asked her about other family members having info, but was unsure about this at the moment; apart from her son also trying to find out family info. I told her if she can find any info to help establish who her grandparents were, please bring them in... to show me. :-D I did also ask whether her father was still alive after her mother died, and she told me he was. Anyway, still on the case, hope to give your more info later on... I'm sure the grandparents that you found are probably correct, just need to confirm which ones out of the two possibles.

I did go to see her today... but she has a cold I was told. So, have to wait now... nevermind.

Ok thanks for that added info, makes you think about your own family tree, have I got the correct family members... hope so! :-D

It would be especially helpful if she could say where she got the DOB quoted in the OP. Possibly the Ancestry tree holder found the baptism posted above and assumed he had the correct William but if that date came from somewhere else it would be very useful to know where.

If we could find his death, it might be possible to obtain an Army record which should detail his wife and children.

I think that because the Ancestry tree belongs to a close family member who is most likely Winifred's son and it has no details of William at all that she knows very little about him.
The evidence we have so far suggests that there were 3 children and 2 are still living according to the tree. We know john died a few years ago.
There is no evidence of a marriage and we have to take into consideration that it maybe didn't happen.
We know they were together until around 1935 from the electoral registers.
There is so far no death for William that can be proved.
We know Ekaterinas age from her death but have no idea of the age of William.
He may have been older than we think.
It may be wise to ask Winifred the last time she saw her father.
Did he attend her wedding?
I have a feeling that she doesn't know much about him because he wasn't around so maybe a little gentle digging with Winifred may turn something up.
Purely personal thoughts and I may be completely wrong.

Bit of a mystery this one, ideal for Sherlock Holmes. lol :-D The William Charles Hitching who married a person with the surname: Vickers, adds to the puzzle. Anyway. I will ask her further family info soon, she should know what year her father died, and have some documents about where he is buried etc...

I will have to write these questions down, and ask her them when I see her again, have to wait until Thursday once again... however, she did take my phone number, so she may ring me one day...

Where and which year? Was her father still alive then?

She knows when and where her mother died, on Christmas day, must have been terrible to died on this day!

patchem, there is a tree on Ancestry that could possible be the lady's son's. It has very little on it apart from Ekatrina (as Hitching) and the 3 children but only John's name is given as the other two are shown as living. It does have a source a birth for a possible nephew b1960 but I can find nothing else for him - no marriage or death.

Does your elderly friend have any children who may have better memory of dates?

She says she doesn't remember when her father died. Does she know where? Or when and where her mother died?

It does seem that William Charles Hitching parents were: Arthur William Hitching and H Louisa Cottrell or William Henry Hitching and Mary Ann, but the William C Hitching linked to them, married someone named: Sophia Vickers in West Ham. So, if I was to put a bet on it, I would go with the first one above, but need to be 100% sure!

Ok thanks for the added info.

If you know her fathers brothers or sisters, that can help to pinpoint him.

If you can find her cousins, or their children, or trees on here, they may have more knowledge of the family than she does.