Genealogy Chat

I wrote to the law society to ask if they could help me with details of an ancestor who was a solicitor in London btwn 1885 and 1920. I got my reply this morning. They charge £117.50 per hour for this! (min fee 1 hour). As i provided all the details needed, ie date of passing exams, address, etc. the search would take them all of 1 minute. They should be wearing masks and and carrying a gun. It's reinforced my previously low opinion of the legal profession. I wish I could get a job that paid over a hundred pounds an hour. Blesse them, they must be on the bones of their a***. Ian

You should have chartered engineers for your rellies instead. I asked the Institution of Civil Engineers about an ancestor and they sent me pages and pages of stuff for under a fiver!!! LOL Are you jealous? That is a terrible amount though - obviously designed to put you off bothering. What info were you hoping to gain? Merry

Well, you should have guessed, we are talking solicitors arent we. In our current neighbour from hell action, ours charge £160 per hour. Thats after I have drafted the letter because they are so damn slow everyone is losing the gist of the case. Outrageous and very poor value all round. Talk about cowboys.

I was hoping to get an outline of his career and is business. He is a bit of a mystery and married in India, I think. He may have been in the Colonial Service. Just after background really, to put flesh on the bones. You're right, I should have guessed that anything to do with the legal profession would result in an extortionate fee and poor service. Par for the course. There's no doubt that the fee is just to discourage such enquries. I've written back politely pointing out that I don't actually want a gold framed certificate or details written on vellum or calfskin, just a few details would be nice. As they are obviously so strapped for cash, I wonder if I could refer them to a charitable organisation to help them out over the xmas? And yes, I'm jealous! Ian

Ian, being a solicitor, chances are he left a will?

Ian Do they allow people to go in and search for themselves? I'd be willing to make the trip for you for £1 per minute (or part thereof - we can discuss per-second billing if you so wish) seriously - if they let researchers in I'm sure someone on here would be able to pop along for you Zoe

Thought about a will, but can't find his death anywhere. Can't find his marriage, either. His brothers are all listed as executors of his fathers will, which I have sent away for in the hope it might shed some light on matters. Can't find him in any directories. All I know is that he passed his exams and lived in Richmond in 1901, next to Kew Gardens. Lost him altogether after that.

Put his name and details up, Ian, just in case anybody on here can find anything. When you say you can't find his death, do you mean in the death indexes, or have you actually searched the National Probate Calendar for his will? (Because for example my great-grandmother died in N. Ireland so I couldn't find her death in the GRO indexes, but I did find an entry in the National Probate Calendar.) Kate.

We have wills going back to 1906 so it might actually be worth contacting Solicitors in the area he would have worked. Solicitors firms usually get passed on from partner to partner so they may have records going back to the year dot!!! It would be worth asking around. Our last partner was still here at the age of 78! Julie xxx

Kate His details are Fank Watts, b 1865 at Blyth, Northumberland. In 1901 he was residing at The Elms, Lions Gate Gardens, Richmond, Surrey. The Ancestry transcription for this is wrong - he is listed under the wrong family - you need to look at the original to see it correctly. His wife is Alice Constance Marshall, b @ 1856 in Calcutta, India. Apart from finding his exam pass in the Times archives, in 1886, and seeing him on the '81 and '71 census, thats all I have on him. Can't see him on the '91, Zoe - they don't allow private researchers unless they are members of the law society. Ian

Have you considered looking for his marriage in the overseas bit of 1837online?? Merry

Yep, done that with no joy. Ian

A friend researched her (English) rellie who was born in Calcutta in 1880. She was sent his baptism and those of his siblings, details of his parents, inc his and his father's work record and quite a few other bits and bobs - ALL Completely FREE and GRATIS.....Have just been looking back over her emails to see where she got this from. She keeps refering to the ''British and Oriental Office''. I know the full name was in the earliest email, which I have deleted!! Assume ot's a Whitehall Government Dept - definitely somewhere in London. She dealt with them entirely over the phone......... Merry

Do you know whether he continued to live in Richmond? The Richmond online burial registers have a Frank WATTS buried 9/6/26 aged 62 years in Richmond Cemetery (V-4809). The site is at http://www2.richmond.gov.uk/burials/regenq.asp if you think it's worth checking. Linda :o)

Ian I'm not that far from Richmond so I can try and track down where they keep local directories and see how long he appears in those for. No guarantee that when he disappears from the directories he's died as he could of just moved but at least you'll know when he was alive. I'm off work next week so I'll check and see if they're open. Zoe

Hi Zoe and Linda Thanks for that. I think you might have hit the jackpot with that burial. I'll search for a death around then and see what I come up with. I'm pretty sure that will be my man. Zoe, if you find anything from the directories, send me your bill. Just make it slightly less than the law societies charges! I can afford a bag of salt and 3 bags of shiny beads...... Ian

Ian could we make two bags of salt? I can use that on the front path during the frosts but I'm not sure what use I'll have for shiny beads Z

Glad to be of help. At least you should be able to find a GRO reference for that death - fingers crossed that it's the right one. Linda :o)

OK, deal. I'll throw in a CD of Ahled Jones greatest hits for good measure. Found his death notice in the Times now, thanks to Linda. It must be him, his address seems right. Thanks to everyone for their help and suggstions :-) Ian

as I'm trying to use up my 1837 credits before I storm off in a huff: 1926 June quarter, Frank Watts, aged 63, Richmond S 2a 588