Genealogy Chat

Hi guys I'm hoping you can help me out on this small problem :) My dad John Anderson was born to a May Anderson out of wedlock, she later then married a Reginald Procter and they had three children of their own. All four were later put into care and other than a few visits from their mother they then lost contact. I managed to find the marriage record and from that ordered the marriage certificate, hoping that May's father would be listed on it, unfortunately he wasn't :( the only information we got from it was confirmation of her age and Reginald's father. I've got absolutely no idea how I can find out about May's parents and I can't find a birth record on freeBMD. Here's hoping you can help :) the details are :- John Anderson born EPSOM, Surrey 22/04/1940 son of May Anderson married Reginald Procter on 06/02/1943 Epson, Surrey. May was 22 at the time of her marriage and we believe she was born in May. Any ideas? Keith

It is unlikely that you will find anything opn free bmd for this period as they are transcribing a lot of the older records. I would trawl the indexes currently free to view on ancestry. It is listed as the beta index and check through each quarter.

Just checked Anderson seems to be missing for June quarter 1921 so just checking on 1837....

Was she from Birkenhead or Hartlepool?

Did she have a middle name as I might have found it in Chorlton?

Well here are the Chorlton details: May M Anderson mother's maiden name Anderson Chorlton June 1920 page 1718 just checking the volume as hard to read..

It looked like 8 a, e or c. Is there anyone else that can read it?

Pippa you're fast just been trawling through ancestry like you said :) I'm pretty sure she was born 1922, but I also checked 1921 to be sure. There is only one May in the apr/may/june quarter for 1922 so thats looking like a likely candidate, but it going to be hard to know one way or the other as we've have no idea of her origins at all :/ Forgot to add i found a total of 5 May Anderson in those 2 years.

Did she die after 1984?

No idea where she died or when. In fact its entirely possible she's still alive.

Oh that can't help then. How do you know she was born in May?

If it's correct that she was born in May and true that she was 22 when she married at the start of 1943, surely that suggests a May 1920 dob, not 1922?? So the one Pippa found would be the most likely going on the evidence (which I realise might not be worth the certificate it's written on!) Merry

My Dad is fairly certain it was May and thinks it might have been around the 5th, I'm not sure where he got his information from though ;) I guess we might just have to order both the certificates from 1922 and hope that we hit a match on the day and keep our fingers crossed that only one if them was born in May. Said it was a toughy :) There is one slim glimmer of hope. My dad remembers living in a Park avenue/Road in Carshalton around 1942 and he believes his Grandfather was living with him and his mother, so they should be on the electoral roll, we may need to organise a trip South and to the library :)

May Proctor Birth Date: 2 May 1922 Death Registration Month/Year: Jun 1995 Age at death (estimated): 73 Registration District: Rochdale Inferred County: Lancashire Register Number: C45A Entry number: 67 that took me 45 seconds.............

I'd order the 1920 one first, as this matches with the age at marriage! Merry

Merry you're right, my maths stink it was indeed 1920 I had to find an online age calculator to confirm it to myself. Appologies to Pippa for not taking the hint :)

Name: Reginald Roland Proctor <<<<<<<<<<<<< Birth Date: 28 May 1923 Death Registration Month/Year: Jan 1998 Age at death (estimated): 74 Registration District: Rochdale <<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Registerded County: Lancashire Register Number: B51A Entry number: 32 now do you believe me ??????????????

Ok the only 2 queries that I have are: The spelling of Proctor and it seems a long way from Epsom otherwise I think you are right.

they married at wartime in surrey ........what they did after the war is anyones guess !! lots of people move round the country.My father was born in Mansfield and died in merseyside .My Uncle was born in woolich and died in Chester....and so on.

Procter was 32 in 1943 and they apparantly seperated a few years after the children where placed in care.