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The mystery of disappearing ancestors

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ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Karen in the desert

Karen in the desert Report 6 Aug 2008 17:12

Anything, Julia,.
I'm at the clutching at straws stage!!!!!!

But the one who has disappeared off the face of the earth married a Whittlesey, he wasn't one originally!

I do have rellies on granny's side from Cambs, the Whittlesey side, so I have an assortment of Parish Records and all sorts (Cambs), so if you'd like to PM me I'd be happy to help you out if I can.

K

P.S. Thanks Anne from Berks.

Karen in the desert

Karen in the desert Report 6 Aug 2008 17:15

George, I wonder if she remarried quite soon after the death of her husband in 1877, which would mean a change of name, but then there should be a marriage record. Hmmmm.
Perhaps she went overseas???

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 17:15

I assume you have checked marriages George, in case she re-married after her husband died?

Ann
glos

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 17:17

Perhaps they are all in France!!

Anyone know if there are passenger lists for Europe? c 1842?


Karen, sounds like a brick wall to me!!

Karen in the desert

Karen in the desert Report 6 Aug 2008 17:37

Perhaps a whole group of people went off to live in some French Commune - they happen to be all of our missing rellies. And they're looking down on us now and laughing their socks off !!!!!!

K

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 17:52

Aaah! a conspiracy!

Kate

Kate Report 6 Aug 2008 17:55

I have loads that seem to just vanish - more often than not they are girls that vanish. I can usually trace them to, say, the age of 18 on a census and then it gets to the next census (by which time they could reasonably have married and had families of their own) and there's nothing.

It is very odd - often I will come up with several potential marriages in the right location for them but they just will not be found in the next census. If I'm lucky, I find that they died after marriage but before the first post-marriage census but I can never tie them down to a potential husband.

And that's usually the point when the mistranscriptions on Ancestry get more annoying than usual . . .

Just read Susan's suggestion on page 7 (very good idea) - the girls I am particularly looking for are Elizabeth Branston (b. 19 Mar 1845, Bottesford, Leics, disappears after 1861 - have eliminated an Eliza Daybell and an Elizabeth Charity in 1871 who match the description) and her sister Sarah Anne (b. 18 Mar 1852, Bottesford), disappears after 1861 (checked up on Sarahs who married William Peet and Joseph Coley).

jean,300171

jean,300171 Report 6 Aug 2008 19:27

yes i have that problem to Ann my g,g,grandparentsCatherine and Henry Dwyer married 1839 no sign on 1841only census they are on is 1851 with two daughters and one son Henry jnr not on 61/71 but old Henry turns up dead 1875,Henry Jnr marries in 1871 Pelsall Staffs next sighting of him is in london on 1881 with wife Hannah and their two Daughters,then he turns up dead in 1888,no idea where they all were in the inbetween years god they certainly knew how to dissappear off the face of the earth and make life difficult eh??Jean.

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 20:08

I am sure if they wanted to avoid the census they managed to somehow.

ann
Glos

Richard

Richard Report 6 Aug 2008 20:16

My Great Great Grandfather has three brothers that just vanish off the census's 1 births registered and the other two christened then absolutely nothing!

David Fardoe Christened at St Oswalds Oswestry 01/01/1843 vanishes after 1861 census.
James Fardoe Christened at Selattyn on 18/08/1844 born 27/07/1844 vanishes after 1851 census.
Peter Fardoe Born Dec Q 1860 Oswestry

I have looked at the burial records at the local churches and can find nothing.

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 20:35

Keep adding, you never know somebody might have 'found' them.

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 6 Aug 2008 21:50

Nobody else lost anyone. Nudging up as it is a real genealogical thread. Just in case anyone missed it.

Here

Here Report 6 Aug 2008 22:19

Thanks Ann, yes I've lost one!! :-)) My grandmother Eunice Annie Dawes had 3 illegitimate children, 1 was adopted and 2 who were fostered when she disappeared about 1930 (she could well have more children that I don't know about). She was last seen in Wem, Shropshire on her way to Ruewood!! Have tried on and off over the years to find her but nothing, zero, zilch - I thinks she's been beamed up!!

Jxx

Tudor

Tudor Report 7 Aug 2008 02:27

Richard, there are a number of Fardoe's in the Kinnerley/Knockin/Knockin Heath, Shropshire areas. I don't recall seeing any headstones in the yard at Knockin Heath chapel yard, but you could try there. also the one at Dovaston (just down the road from Kinnerley), St Mary's in Knockin and the church of the same name in Knockin. There is also St Peter's in Melverley. As far as I know, the Fardoe's still live in the general area. I have a Jack Fardoe in my tree, though no date of birth.

None of those places are more than a few miles from Oswestry.

sealyham

sealyham Report 7 Aug 2008 02:55

my grand mother keeps vanishing
no not her ghost
got her in 1901 with family in kent
then 1914 in Edinburgh having my dad
then 1926 in Westbury Wiltshire getting married to an army major
after that she seemed to stay in Devon at his family home
but what or why she was in Edinburgh for dont
know
or why she was in wiltshire
on dads bc says she was a mental nurse so perhaps she travelled about doing that
am now trying to see if there were any nursing records of her
she liked to move about I think

CRIPES_A_MIGHTY

CRIPES_A_MIGHTY Report 7 Aug 2008 08:36

Could it be they traveled alot on ships?
So out of the country alot of the time and so may have not been in UK during the census period...but returned for following censuses.
Sailing to distant lands took alot of time in those days...so you could be away for months or even years! depending on the work you did on ships.


Just a thought!

CRIPES_A_MIGHTY

CRIPES_A_MIGHTY Report 7 Aug 2008 08:40

Plus...If born during a year when a census was taken...( i believe they are taken in the month of March?) And born after the month the census was taken. Theres a good chance the person will not appear in the census taken that year.

Ive had this in my family...expect to see them in a particular census but dont.

Again just a thought

Anne

Anne Report 7 Aug 2008 08:41

My two x great grandmother vanished with one of her sons while they were living in Kent, she had run off with the family lodger to Hull, taken his name as a common law wife, changed the son's name as well, had another daughter, her other two daughters were still in Kent boarding at a small school.I only traced her on the 1871 census through her christian name, date and place of birth.By the time of the 1881 census she had bigamously remarried in her maiden name to someone else entirely and returned to kent with the son but no sign of the daughter born in Hull.
The son had now reverted back to her first husband's surname.Although he kept the lodger's name as his middle name The lodger was still in Hull and was now married, with another family .I descend from her first son who had left home before 1871.Her first husband was still very much alive with a common law wife when she remarried.
On the 1841 census while she was still single the family name had been entered incorrectly as well, so she was a difficult lady to keep tabs on.

AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 7 Aug 2008 09:20

Anne well done for tracing her!

Paul thank you for your suggestions and welcome back from 'holiday'.

I am hoping people are checking back, especially Richard as there is a suggestion re his Fardoes.


Maybe we should all abandon our own lost souls and see if we can find somebody elses on here. Well. those who have given enough details.

Ann
Glos
Ann
Glos

Susan719813

Susan719813 Report 7 Aug 2008 11:10

Some other thoughts.....

Has anyone tried asking for help on rootsweb.com mailing lists?....just subscribe to the County/Parish/place you are researching. They are very helpful people on them and a mine of information.

Re: Census......On the main page of each census year there is a list of those towns/villages that were either missing or illegible......This may be one of the reason's that no matter how you search, your anscestor will never be found......

Back to missing ancestors.......It seems that one of mine never died..... Daniel Lawson.....he would be well over 150 by now :-))


Another, John Scott was allegedly born in Gateshead. 1861/1864......have you seen how many of them there are?......on my 4th 'wrong' one so far........I leave it for a few months before ordering another.......many of mine are catholic so their baptisms are not published on the IGI


Susan
x