French ancestry query

[callmecharlie]

Wonder if anyone is able to assist in doing a French search for me?..  I have a Lilian Mary Valentine Octavia Barrett born 19 Sept 1919 (possibly France) to a James Arthur Barrett (sometimes transposed as Arthur James) and to a French mother Yvonne Emilie Valentine (maiden name not known).  Lilian Checkley nee Barrett died in Birmingham in 1983.  James was born circa 1891 (not confirmed where) and Yvonne was born 29/02/1892 and died in 1970 in Birmingham, England.

Any information about the births and/or lives of Lilian and Yvonne in France would be extremely helpful.

Many thanks

[brigidmac]

I put in a search on ancestry with just the first names and birth dates and came up with
Yvonne Amelie valentine MICHEL born in Liege Belgium

I don't have worldwide membership so couldn't see the record

[isobelw]

Born Liege24th June 1894
Father - Francois Toussaint Michel
Mother -Amelie Marie Catherine Mathieu

[callmecharlie]

Many thanks for taking the time to search 

[jorose]

Do you have the death certificates of Yvonne and Lilian, and do these give any indication of birth location (or just "France")?

Do you know what James Arthur Barrett was doing in WWI? I cannot see a British overseas marriage for him or a birth for his daughter, unfortunately. There is no national bmd index for France and the usual pay sites have very limited coverage.

[callmecharlie]

Hello and many thanks for your reply

No I don't have their death certificates but the elderly daughter of Lilian tells me that she was born in France. 

James Arthur is also a bit of a mystery - he is sometimes found with his name transposed as Arthur James (found from Midland Electoral Rolls).

[jorose]

I would suggest getting the death certificates - perhaps Yvonne's, presuming that Lilian knew whereabouts her mother was born.

Have you seen them on the 1939 register?
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1939register
 Look for "Valentine Barrett" (Yvonne's name has been registered on the index as ?)
Using the free search options, I can narrow down the birthdate of "Arthur James Barrett" to 24 May 1891, although there doesn't seem to be a likely birth from him in England and Wales.

Electoral rolls:
At http://www.midlandshistoricaldata.org I can see James Arthur aka Arthur James together with Yvonne in 1930 and 1939, 8 Roydon Road,  and Yvonne staying there afterwards (Lilian and various others - boarders maybe? - at the same address), but without JA/AJ after 1939.

[callmecharlie]

Many thanks