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Hi all,

I'm researching Lizzie Bradley for her granddaughter, who remembers her well but din't know her family name until recently. Lizzie (or Elizabeth or Eliza, depending on which record you look at) married Francis James White in London in 1909. Francis James was killed in action in 1917 and Lizzie raised five children on her own. She never married again and died in 1967 in London. I've been able to find some records for Francis James and his family, but Lizzie's family is not so easy.

The 1911 census gives Lizzie's birth place as Tobmore, Derry, but I think it's likely to be Tobermore. She was born around 1886. She doesn't appear in the 1901 England census so I had a look at the 1901 census for Ireland and found Eliza Bradley, aged 14, living in Tobermore Town with her father James (named on the marriage certificate of 1909), mother Eliza, and siblings Anne and John. All were Church of Ireland and born in Derry.

The same family was still in Tobermore in 1911 minus Elizabeth, who was in London with her husband by this time. James Bradley,who was 60 in the 1901 census, is now recorded as 80 and an old age pensioner. In both censuses the form was filled out by the enumerator because the Bradleys were not literate - maybe the enumerator had to guess his age because James couldn't tell him, I don't know.

I tried some Google searches for Bradley and Tobermore but I don't know enough about the family to be able to tell which ones are relevant. I'm not in a position to subscribe to Irish websites. I do share a subscription to Ancestry but have found the civil registrations unhelpful - marriage records don't give a spouse and birth records don't have anything helpful, such as parents' names. I live in Australia and know I'm spoiled with Australian indexes...

There are many hits for the Bradley + Tobermore search - is anyone else researching the Bradleys who might be able to point me in the right direction?

Many thanks...

Hi all.

I'm very confused and hope someone can help. I have a mystery ancestor in my husband's tree - his name is Nicodemus WIDDY, born 1830 in Caernarvon, Wales, son of Michael Widdy and Gwen (Winifred) Jones. We have his baptism, marriage and census records up to 1871, and records of his descendants by his daughter Mary Jane, but after that we don't know what happened to him. Every so often I do a Google search because, well, you never know.

This morning I did the Google thing and found a record I've never seem before. It's in Indonesian, of which I know nothing, but with the help of an online translation engine I've worked out the following:

Website name is "Pengadilan Negeri Semarang", which translates as "Semarang District Court"
Heading: SIDANG TILANG TANGGAL 01 MARET 2013 (Hearing Date Ticketed 01 March 2013)
POLRESTA BES SEMARANG (Police [...?] Semarang)
No. Urut (no. Ordinal): 767
No. Tilang (no. ticketed): 0474735 B
Nama Terdakwa (name of the defendant): NICODEMUS WIDDY N
Alamat (address): Rasamala Utr lll/157 Smg
Pasal yang dilanggar (article violated): 287 UULAJ
B B: SIM C H-3321-FZ

I've looked around but cannot find anything useful about the codes and article violated. I'd love to know more about this and why, with a date of just last year, Nicodemus shows up and/or who is using this name.

Hi all,

Does anyone know anything about a Robina or Rubena Kleehammer? I'm looking into a friend's ancestry and R. Kleehammer was the informant of death for one of my friend's direct ancestors in 1972. The address given for the informant is the same as the address in the 1980 electoral roll for a Robina Kleehammer. She does not appear before 1972 with the surname Kleehammer and I have no idea whether that is a married or maiden surname. There is no likely Kleehammer birth in the Victorian index for 1920, nor a marriage up to 1942. She could, of course, have been born elsewhere.

Ms Kleehammer lived in Prahran, South Yarra and St Kilda areas 1972-1980. There are no other Kleehammers with her. I suspect she may be the Rubena Kleehammer who was cremated at Springvale on 6 July 2009 (ashes collected). That entry also gives her birth date as 8 July 1920. She says she was a relative of Helen Galloway (nee Nichols, formerly McManus) on the death certificate and I want to try and find the connection.

Thanks,
Eve

Hi all,

I just posted this to the Essex board and felt like a right dill when someone pointed out that Godalming is in Surrey, not Essex.

My aunt by marriage was born in England in 1948. Her father died in 1954 and Pam and her mother moved from London to Godalming. Pam remembers her mother worked for a Lord and Lady Pildridge (or Pilderidge or similar) as their housekeeper.They had a little girl about Pam's age that she used to play with. Pam and her mother lived in in a flat above the garage - a very stately home, she thinks. Pam and her mother moved to Australia in 1962.

Pam is an only child and there's no family left to ask. She'd like to be able to find out more about her English childhood to share with her own children and grandchildren. Does anyone know of people or places that fit this description? Any suggestions or tips on where to look would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all,

This photo is believed to be John William HARDY in some sort of mayoral robes. John William was born in South Shields, Durham, about 1873, son of John HARDY and Jane REAY. He died on 9 March 1953 in Northumberland West. He married Elizabeth Mary MORRISS in 1899 in Durham. He and his family have been found in censuses and other records 1881-1991.

The family story is that he was Mayor of a town or city in Durham or Northumberland or thereabouts. I haven't been able to find any record of him being a Mayor of anywhere but the records available online are limited. I'm in Australia so I'm hoping that local knowledge may help solve the mystery of his outfit.

John does appear on a list of "Land Tax Commissioners' Names" in the London Gazette, Issue 33299 published on 2 August 1927. The list begins on page 24 of 114, with "John William Hardy, Kelvey, Bede Burn Road, Jarrow" appearing on page 30 under the heading of "For the County of Durham" (Kelvey was also his address in 1911). Would this type of position entitle him to wear such a costume? In the 1911 census his occupation is recorded as "Commercial Clerk, Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages."

The back of the photo gives the studio as Jerome Ltd. There's also a handwritten note that says "Jerome Studios, Edinburgh 1934".

Any guidance would be very welcome!