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Good afternoon

I am hoping to find out any possible extra clues from these two photographs of Charles Holmes.
His nephew John wants to know what happened to him.

He became estranged from the family after WW2 and these are a couple of the only photographs that survive (one showing Charles, his policeman father and his civilian brother, the other of him on his own. We know he was alive at least into the 1970s as he did back to the area briefly.

Charles was born on 5th August 1919 in New Row, Bebside, Blyth. When he signed up he would have been living at 15 Merton Cottages, Embleton.

I have looked at military records as best as I can and as far as I have established, the following men with the name of Charles Holmes were in the RAF – one of these may be our man.

Service Number: 2303208 enlisted at Padgate, Cheshire after February 1946
Service Number: 1456846 enlisted at Cardington, Bedfordshire, after April 1941
Service Number: 1493905 enlisted at Padgate, Cheshire after April 1941
Service Number: 1152614 enlisted at Cardington after April 1940. Was appointed as a Class F Reservist.
Service Number: 1440207 enlisted at Cardington after April 1941. Militia

And I found a Charles Holmes who was an airman/radio operator, who may be one of the earlier mentioned men, or a different man. There is no service number for him. Enlisted 1941, left 1942 - forced to retire due to injury. Rank: Aircraftman 2nd Class, Radio School Madley, Herefordshire.

There are also a number of men with the initial C, that are not necessarily a Charles

Service Number: 1030117, Royal Air Force Police
No service number - Pilot Officer of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Service Number: 1644294 - class F reservist, enlisted Cardington after October 1941
There was a Flight Sgt with Bomber Command but he died in 1942 so we know that can't be our man
There was a Substantive Flying Officer of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1945 (no service number)
Service Number: 949925, Sergeant Aircrafthand who had been in the Mediterranean and was coming back from Italy in 1946.

I wonder whether there are any clues in these attached photographs that might suggest whether he belonged to any particular squadron or job role. That might then help me to narrow it down.

There is also a fascinating suggestion that he may have been working with “the Americans” on propaganda films, somewhere in the South East, I don’t know whether that was as part of his RAF role, or as a civvy afterwards.

I can't find his death anywhere with that date of birth, there is a suspicion he might have gone to America (perhaps as a result of working with some colleagues) and maybe the oil industry.

Thanks to anyone who can assist

Good evening

I am looking for the birth record of my grandmother Dorothy Wilson Benn (middle name possibly may have been added later). She was born August 29th 1910 in Wynberg, South Africa.

Her father was a soldier and he and her mother (and siblings) were on the move with the regiment at that point from England to Singapore, she was born en route.

I can vaguely recall looking in a big bound volume of Overseas births in St Catherine's House about 30 years ago. I don't remember whether I found it, although I probably did find it otherwise I would still be looking. It would have been either UK citizens birth overseas or Army births overseas, something of that nature, this book I looked in. I did find her siblings in such a book, I do recall that.

I have an account on Ancestry which I use every day and generally see myself as quite competent, but in this instance I can't seem to find the right index to search in.

Any help anyone can give me would be very gratefully received. It has become really important that I find this entry and order the document.

Thanks very much!

Good afternoon

Does anyone have a copy of this book, hard copy or CD?

MITCHELL, BRIAN. Irish Passenger Lists, 1847-1871. Lists of passengers sailing from Londonderry to America on ships of the J. & J. Cooke line and the McCorkell line. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. 333p.

I  have linked to it on Ancestry and saved it. It tells me the person I am looking for is on page 105 but the link won't open for some reason. He is Charles Austen aged around 20 years. I simply want to know his town of origin, I know where he went and what happened to him next, I just want to know where he came from. I think it was probably Northern Ireland rather than Eire.

Thanks very much, I appreciate this.

Good afternoon from a rainy Stockton on Tees

I have an ethical dilemma for which I feel in need of your wisdom and advice.

Sometimes after laborious and detailed research, I discover something elusive about an ancestor - it could be their spouse, parentage, birth, death, all manner of things, and then I see that other researchers looking into the same person have taken another route and come up with a different and wrong answer. Often I can see they have simply copied from someone else, or they have taken the easy option - it happened in the same county, or it's the only thing that came up in the first search, and it is something I know for certain is wrong, something I have been able to rule out during my own research. Maybe I have the certificate in my hand at that point, so I know for sure.

On Ancestry in particular the hints nearly always show at least one another researcher who you know has made a mistake.

Generally I have not done anything about that, just noticed it, possibly a wee bit smugly if I am honest, and then ignored it. "That's really not my problem".

However, having just cracked someone's parentage after 33 years of research, and knowing that many other people have the wrong parents on their tree, I suddenly feel as though perhaps I should say something. I could send people messages to alert them to the new information but I don't know if it is the right thing to do.

I think some genealogists would be angry, or at least cross, would challenge the facts, would doubt me, would feel it a personal slight that someone should suggest they had made a mistake. It's a bit like criticising the way someone drives I imagine.

On the other hand they are family tree enthusiasts who have cared enough to do the research and load up their tree, so wouldn't they care enough to want it to be a true reflection of their roots?

What would you do? Have you tried it? What happened?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you in advance for your engagement

According to family legend, Ethel Mary Sach eloped with "Henry Truelove" to Australia (edit).

It is unclear whether Henry Truelove is a real person's name or a pseudonym for any lover one might run off with.

Her ageing niece would love to know the truth, and to learn what happened to her. I have volunteered to help but I am stuck now, perhaps enthusiasts might assist?

Ethel Mary Sach was born 1873, Reference: Lexden, 4a 350, Q2 1873
 
On the census in 1881 she is with her parents and siblings in Wormingford aged 8

In 1891 she is a boarder aged 18 (born Wormingford) with the Askew family in Colchester

In 1901 she is a servant in the home of Lady Clayton, in Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone aged 28 (born Wormingford)

She then disappears.
 
I had a look at the 1911 census for Lady Clayton but she is not with them any more.
 
I have checked the shipping records and found three.

None of them are her. The ages are wrong and they are all with wider families.
One describes Ethel (or Ettie?) and her husband Mr Sach as “foreigner”
One is a 13 year old girl with family
One is a housewife born in 1928

I have searched for anyone born 1873 in Wormingford, of any name at all, first or last, anywhere on the 1911 census. I found some records but none are her, even with a misspelt name.

I can’t find a marriage, or a death, or a shipping record.

This leaves me to think that she must have changed her surname and possibly played down the Wormingford connection.

I am not sure where else to look. There are at least a dozen records in people’s private family trees but most of them incorrectly think she married David Garrod (see note below), or else don’t know any more about her than we already do.
 
I have also searched for Henry Truelove travelling with someone else, just in case it was a real name. There are a few travelling alone but none that match at all.

I have had help before from some of the greatest genealogists in the world, on this site, so I hope you can give me some pointers again. Thank you

NB. Despite a number of researchers trying to suggest otherwise, Ethel was not married to David Percy Garrod
Our Ethel was still in service in 1901 as a single woman
His wife Ethel was 23 in 1901, living with him, and they had  been married in 1899 and was living at Woodfield Cottages), Broad Street Green, Heybridge, Maldon