Find Living Relatives

I am trying to find my grandfather on my mother's side but having very little success. Unfortunately, I know very little about him but he was born somewhere between October 1924 and October 1925 and married my grandmother in Stroud, Gloucestershire in October 1949. Their honeymoon was spent in Alexander's home town of Oban in Western Scotland. Their marriage certificate records his father as being George Boyd. At the time, Alexander was in the Royal Navy. My mother was born in 1952 and it appears the marriage broke down shortly after this as my mother does not remember anything about him. She was told he had returned to Oban. It is a long shot but does anyone out there know who this man is and whether he is still with us? He would be around 89 years old now.

you need Scotlands People website for Scottish records

Born in the 1920,s you cant view his birth cert online but can order it through the site

Its not a subs site so you need to buy units to do any look ups

As he was in the Navy his naval records may be available

As his next of kin your mum can order them

this may help

Royal Naval / Marines Records
From 1924 onwards, contact:

TNT Archive Services
Tetron Point, William Nadin Way, Swadlingcote, Derbyshire DE11 0BB
Tel: 0128 322 7913

For those serving during and after World War II, contact:

Director Naval Personnel
Mailpoint G2, Room 48, West Battery, Whale Island, Portsmouth PO2 8DX

His father was George BOYD ??? do you mean George Boyd McIntosh ??

To obtain his records your mum would have to provide his death certificate.

Rose

The marriage certificate states that his father is George Boyd. We are as baffled by this as you are. I have not been able to find any birth certificate so far largely because we don't know his date of birth and the name is not entirely unusual. Thanks for the info though. I am just very keen to find out whatever happened to him because he has effectively been a missing relative for around 60 years. We have no memories of him or any photographs - he is just a name on a marriage certificate and a birth certificate.

I can't see any birth record for him in Oban. Perhaps he was brought up there and considered it his home town, but wasn't born there?

There's this possibility in Argyll, though not Oban. Kilchoman's on the island of Islay. You would have to buy the cert to see who the father was:

1925 MCINTOSH ALEXANDER M KILCHOMAN /ARGYLL 540/00 0009

Or maybe this birth? Kilmore & Kilbride is an old parish name for an area about 4 miles from Oban:

1925 BOYD ALEXANDER CAMPBELL M KILMORE AND KILBRIDE /ARGYLL 523/00 0004

Just a suggestion - this George Boyd who died in 1978 would have been a suitable age in 1925 to be his father - but of course Alexander's father might have moved away from Oban, who knows:

1978 BOYD GEORGE STEVENSON M 72 OBAN /ARGYLL AND BUTE 526/00 0014

I don't see a death for anyone of the right age, with any possible variation of Alexander's names, in all Argyll, let alone Oban in particular, 1952 to 2013.

He could, of course, still be alive. There's an A Mackintosh in Oban, in the phone book, and also an A Mcintosh in a village about 5 miles away.
Don't know what their first names are - maybe not Alexander.

ArgyllGran - thank you very much for your help. It is very kind of you. I will follow up some of your leads. They sound very interesting. I am most grateful as I am several hundred mlies away in Devon and do not know the Argyll area at all.

You're welcome.

If he's alive, but perhaps living with relatives or in a care home, then he won't have a phone number in his own name.

If he is still alive, I think it might be a bit much to phone him out of the blue in any case. He doesn't know that he has me as a grandson. I am now nearly 40 and my family's history is now beginning to intrigue me. I would just like to solve the mystery of whatever happened to him but my information is scarce for someone so closely related to me.

Bit of a long shot here, but have you seen the divorce papers? They may give an address for Alexander. I don't know why this is listed in The National Archives of Scotland catalogue as the records seem to be "not held". May be worth contacting them for more details.



Reference Title Date
CS46 Court of Session: warrants of the Register of Acts and Decreets, 5th Series 1830-1994
CS46/1960 Warrants of Register of Acts and Decreets, 5th Sub-Series 1960
Country code GB
Repository code 234
Repository National Records of Scotland
Reference CS46/1960/297
Title Alexander McIntosh (Pursuer) v McIntosh (Defender): Divorce
Dates 1960
Access status Not held
Access conditions The process or warrant under this reference was not transmitted to the National Records of Scotland. There should nevertheless be a corresponding decree under the same or similar date in the Register of Acts and Decrees, 5th series (CS45). Please consult Search room staff.
Location Off site
Description 16 Jun 1956
Retained
Level Item

You can get copies of this


Reference Title Date
CS258 Court of Session: Unextracted Processes, 4th arrangement 1935-1994
CS258/1959 Unextracted Processes, 4th arrangement - 1959 1959
Country code GB
Repository code 234
Repository National Records of Scotland
Reference CS258/1959/5305
Title Alexander McIntosh v or McIntosh: Divorce
Dates 1959
Access status Open
Location Off site
Description (1968)
Level Item

I have edited out your Grandmother's name on the above two posts as I realise she may still be living.

Thank you for all your advice. I have now got a copy of the divorce papers and these suggest my grandfather was still in the Royal Navy in 1955 and he was stationed at Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute. The papers also confirm that he had lived most of his life in Scotland save for the very short period that he lived in Gloucestershire with my grandmother. The next obvious step would be to approach the Royal Navy but it seems that without a date of death, indeed he may still be alive, it appears the records are unlikely to be disclosed. Any advice?

No help with finding his possible death date , but just for interest:

He may have been a submariner. The Kyles Hydro Hotel at Port Bannatyne became HMS Varbel, a shore base for submarines.

http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/HMSVarbelII

http://www.butesonsanddaughters.co.uk/navy.shtml

http://clydeside-images.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/port-banntyne-loch-striven-and-x-craft.html

https://secretscotland.wordpress.com/tag/hms-varbel/

ArgyllGran, I am sorry I should have added that he was a stoker mechanic and appears to have been on AFD22. A floating dock, which I understand moved to Sheerness in 1956.

Again, just for interest, re AFD22:

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/BPF-EIF/Ships/AFD22.htm

I think that there is a strong possibility that your grandfather was born illegitimate & registered at birth in his mother's maiden name..

There is no marriage in the Scottish Records as far as I can see

From a personal experience I have a relative who was born illegitimate,registered in his mother's maiden name but his father was named on the birth certificate.

He may have been called Alexander after his mother's father.

I would suggest that you take ArgyllGran's advice & purchase a birth certificate.

This will either open or close a door for you.

Doug