genealogy, I cannot find my great grandparents anywhere!?

Question

I have posted this question a couple of times ages ago and no luck! so Im trying again.

James Alfred Moore married Maud Hodder, england

thats all the info I have, I know it sounds stupid.

I got that infomation off my grandfathers birth certificate. So now I have their names, how do most people go futher from there with no dates ??

Answer 1

try the graveyard

Answer 2

You can have an educated guess and assume their age based on their own children's. The oldest one would be born while the parents are in their 20s on average. So if somebody is born in 1890, there's a good chance the parents were born around 1860 or earlier, that'll help you eliminate anybody who could be too old or too young to be having a baby.



I just done a quick search for Maud Hodder in the free British BMD and there's births for Maud Hodder, from 1870, 1880, 1883, 1889 (2), 1891, 1903 and 1904, also 3 marriages in 1915, 1921 and 1927.



Also ask your oldest relatives if they have heard mentioned or if they know which part of England the family originated.



Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Your grandfather's birth certificate will show a date and a place of birth. Check the marriage records there for his parents, for up to say 10 years earlier. Church records can be very useful, so find out which churches were in the vicinity then. If you can find a baptism entry, then you may find other details too. Parents' names and addresses, maybe just the town or parish, perhaps even occupation of the father. Godparents were often siblings of the parents.



Many old newspapers are on microfilm at libraries, so try them too, for possible birth announcements.



Have you tried census records for the census years before and after your grandfather's birth? If after, you will have details of other children alive at the time of the census, plus ages of those children and of the parents. That will guide you back to a year of birth. And could you check the school records in the town where your grandad was born, if they are still available? Could be useful info there too.



You don't say where you are searching from. If USA, I have looked at http://www.ellisisland.org/

and there were 586 x James Moore but no James Alfred Moore listed. There was just one for Maud Hodder, from Chard, Somerset, England who arrived in US in 1922 aged 20. Assuming your great-grandad was a couple of years older than your great-grandmom narrowed down the James Moore entries to a possible 14. You need to register with the site to see the detailed entries, but it is free (or so it says).



Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Ancestry is not the be-all and end-all of genealogy research. It is the best site out there by miles, but there are still a lot of things you won't find there or anywhere online.



The first thing is to figure out where your grandfather stood among his other siblings - was he the youngest, oldest or a middle child. Who was the oldest child? Where were they born and when? Have you found the family in the census? That gives you a good clue as to where the marriage took place. Most children were born surprisingly soon after marriage. Many of my ancestors were already quite heavily pregnant by four or five months when they walked up the aisle, and that is by no means unusual. A husband wanted to know that his wife was fertile and could provide him with heirs!



If the marriage was after July 1837 and before about 1915 then it should be very easy to find on the indexes at http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl, though I must admit I'm struggling to find any hits with these rather wide search parameters and no precise county. It needs to be narrowed down to have more success with a search. If the marriage was after about 1910 then you might have to search Ancestry's own BMD indexes quarter by quarter. I suggest you search Hodder first as there won't be as many (if you're sure on the spelling and you should be flexible on this anyway) - it'll be cross-referenced with Moore anyway in the marriage index after 1911, and then you can go ahead and order the certificate from the GRO. I wouldn't have thought they'd be that many Moore/Hodder marriages. Before 1837, you'll need to consult the church registers, and that will mean a trip to the local County Record Office most probably, but your info sounds rather vague.

Answer 5

It doesn't sound stupid, Townie! :) What you really should do is good a good book like "The Idiot's Guide to Genealogy" (any book store). It will help a lot.



The birth certificate probably says WHERE he was born, right? It should say town and country, and maybe county. That means the day he was born, they were in that county. So perhaps they were living there. Then you check the census records in that county, which often state where people were born.



For example, if the census record lists "John Alfred Moore" and wife, for that year, living in a certain town, it may also state where John Alfred Moore was born. Let's say he was born in Sheffield, England. Then you need to search birth records in churches in Sheffield, England. And so on.



Common names made it tougher, but you know you have the right person when dates and places start to match up.



Really, get a good book as a guide, and good luck!

Answer 6

The closest I've found is a James Alfred Moore to a Maude Annie M Hayman in Lewisham in Jun q 1903 1d 2075. Do the place and dates etc. fit?

Answer 7

On thing I discovered while studying geneology especially from England, is that a lot of times families kept naming their children after their fathers.



If you have an LDS church close by, they have the entire Geneologiacl Library, and should be able to assist you.



I have a lot of relatives I've never met around Hempstedshire and Devonshire England that I would love to correspond with, it's just finding them that is the hard part.



Also check the family Bible. A lot of families recorded important dates like birth dates, anniversaries, childrens birth dates, also dates of death.



Another location would be the local Parish where they attended Church. Sure geneology research is hard work, but well worth the time and effort.



I met a gentleman who had traced his family all the way back to Adam and Eve ... Now THAT's doing some research.

Answer 8

As others have said, if you were to give a place to go on or a County even then perhaps we could help you. But by just giving two names is hopeless.



There are many people here that will try and help you if you give a bit more information.



The Place of Birth must be on your Grandfathers Birth Cetificate, and also his mothers, or fathers name. That will lead you to more information, and if you were to share that with the people who you want help from, I am sure someone will come up with what you are wanting.

Answer 9

Get one of the many fine " How To" books that are available. Since I am in Texas and have done my family research in the United States my knowledge of research sources in England is very slim. However, I am certain that the sources that I have used here have a counterpart in your country. Visit a library in your area and ask the people there to see some of their genealogy research books. Read the birth certificates that you have very carefully as they have many clues to where and what your next source will be. Best of luck to you.

Answer 10

With hard work and a lot of searching I'm afraid.



You'll need Genes Reunited or another form of tracing.



I know - been down this road a number of times -



Ancestry.co.uk is another one - there are fees but in the long run you can trace your family back a long way

Answer 11

Never say 'stuck'! Scanned the answers entirely too rapidly, and didn't see (perhaps it was there) any suggestion that since you have his birth certificate...you will also have the names of his parents...and what town in England they were living in.

Use that to try to pull together where the family might have gone.

(Sorry guys, as I said...I only scanned the replies...all good I might add!)

Answer 12

The trick is to work backwards. Presumably you know details of your parents and probably their parents, so you are only one generation away from solving your puzzle. Use the advice on tracing your ancestors you will find on the internet or at your local library to proceed. Good luck.

ps. I have traced my paternal line back through the generations to the 1700`s by going one step at a time.

Answer 13

If you can come up with a date or even an approx. year of birth for either of them or where or when married or where and when they lived somewhere you might get somewhere? Maybe next time you can add another detail or two.

Answer 14

I'm from the USA, but I went to my local library where they the genealogy of the county I live in and that's how I found who my great great-grandfather was.



Try a genealogy center or a library perhaps.

Answer 15

There's all the information and links you need on www.cindislist.com

Have a really good surf on this site, it's brilliant and has been nominated the best genealogy website.