Find Living Relatives

Hi. I am searching for my father and I have no idea where to start, so I am hoping this may be as good a place as any. I have very little information to go on. His name is Harry Jaques/Jacques, the reason I put 2 surnames is because Im not sure which is the correct spelling. He was roughly 21 or 22 years of age when I was born in 1975 although again I am not 100% certain of how accurate this is. I do know he was born in Bradford and lived in Buttershaw, Bradford at the time I was born. He was in the Army at that time too. I have checked the birth register and have found 1 Harry Jaques born 1954 and 1 Harry Jacques born 1952, no other Harry Jaques/Jacques born around this time. I really believe that one of these could be my dad and I have no idea how to proceed from here.

Have you contacted the person who has the 1952 Harry in his tree on here?

Welcome to the boards. Is your father aware of your existence?

Have you spoken with your mother? Can she remember if he had any siblings, or their names? That might help identify the correct person.

192.com is a pay-to-view for Electoral Roll entries. There are several Harrys listed under both spellings, some with a middle initial. Harry might be a diminutive of Henry or even Harold.

If you decide to access the contact details, your first letter should ask if he served in the Forces & knew your mother. Don't start off by suggesting he might be your father - wait for a reply. It might help to enclose a SAE. What ever you do, don't phone unless you are invited to. His current family, if he has one, may not know about you.

You could also try Facebook and Forcesreunited.

You haven't said if you were adopted. If you were, then you may wish to add your name to the Adoption Contact Register, and hope that he has too.

https://www.gov.uk/adoption-records/the-adoption-contact-register

Hi, Yes I have just seen that today and have sent a message to that person but no reply as yet.

This looks like the death of the 1952 Harry:

England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007 about Harry Jacques
Name: Harry Jacques
Birth Date: 5 Jun 1952
Date of Registration: Jul 1996
Age at Death: 44
Registration district: Bradford
Inferred County: Yorkshire
Register Number: B55A
District and Subdistrict: 0811B
Entry Number: 188

Hi, yes he does know I exist. My mum has told me he saw me once or twice when I was a baby but I'm afraid after that due to family circumstances never saw him again. I am not adopted. My mum was only 16 when I was born and doesn't remember much about him other than what I've mentioned. Only that she thinks his dad was called Harry too.

You can always check if the message has been read by looking in your 'sent messages' box on GR. An unread message has an envelope icon next to it.

Unfortunately there are a lot of dormant accounts on GR where the member has lost interest, changed their email address or are no longer in a position to reply. We are also in the holiday season now, so don't get upset if it isn't opened for a couple of weeks.

Fingers crossed that they have some information to help you, but exercise caution in what you say!

Patchem - oh no :(

Thank you for your advice detective. I would have no idea what to say if and when it came to it :/

As you have found the birth for the 1952 Harry, you can then look for the marriage of his parents to see what his Father's name was.

Similarly for the 1954 birth.

Harry born in 1952 looks to have parents:

Marriages Jun 1948
Jacques Harry Wall Worth Valley 2c 78
Wall Renee Jacques Worth Valley 2c 78

and several sisters.

Looks like Renee died in 1957.

Rose

Hi Rose, thank you for this. I have no idea how to do these searches, I searched for a death and found nothing so god knows what I'm doing wrong! Looks likes his dad was called Harry then? I wonder Is there a way to find out previous addresses? Just to confirm if they did live in buttershaw, Bradford.

Nicky

How did you manage to see his parents names? I don't see them on the birth register?You'll all have to forgive me, I am very new to this..

Use FreeBMD:

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

I searched for Wall/Jacques marriages.

Rose

Oh.. I see now :) thank you.

And the sisters??

To find siblings use the link given above.

Select births
Surname Jacques
Mothers name Wall
Choose a year range, say from the year of marriage to 20 years later
Then search.

If there are a number of results, primarily consider the ones in the same correct area. Births reg in the first quarter of a year might be for a child born towards the end of he previous year. There are 6 weeks before a birth has to be registered.

Ahh yes, thank you. Found a list that matches, apart from one which has me confused, listed as born in 1968 in a different area, however according to the deaths register , Renee Wall who is the mother died in 1957?!

Ignore the 1968 birth. There was another Jacques/Wall couple that married around that time. The child may be theirs.

Ok Christine, thank you. I'm new to this, it seems so complicated :(

Can anyone advise as to where I should go from here? I have sent some messages on here to those who have his siblings on their family tree but with no joy as yet :/