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Hi all,

Just wanted to see if anyone has any oral history on any of the Ankrah family, probably from Accra, Ghana.

My partner's aunt married Reginald Desmond K'Otti Ankrah in Liverpool in 1933. She died 5 years later, and he then married Adeola Adetunji Joel, with whom he had a number of children (all in Liverpool). Reginald died in Liverpool in 1977 (he was born 17th November 1905 or 1909 - different records vary on age)

One of these sons recalled being told that "Roy" Ankrah (John Theophilus Otoo Ankrah 1925-1995 born & died at Accra), professional boxer, was his uncle.
After Reginald's death, Adeola put a notice in the Liverpool Echo recording the death of Emmanuel Cofie Ankrah (1900-1978) - he was a seaman, born and died Accra.

It seems likely Emmanuel was a brother, and possible that "Roy" was.

Reginald records his father as George Ankrah, Merchant in 1933 and as Joseph Ajabeng Ankrah, deceased, in 1940. There are a few records of a merchant named George W Ankrah, born c1866-1875 sailing into the UK and USA in the early 20thC

I'd love to find anyone who might have some family history to fill in some blanks

Impy

Hello all,

I'm trying to track down some information on a road accident that took place over the weekend 8th-9th November 1947, in which a woman was killed and 11 others injured.

I have access to the newspaper archive through my Find My Past subscription, but countless searches have resulted in only one reference to the incident in the Aberdeen Press and Journal of 10th November 1947 (attached) which states that late on 9th November, detectives were still searching for the driver of the lorry that left a car park, lost control down a hill and crashed into a hotel.

The victim isn't named, but we know her to be 34 year old Catherine, known as Colebourn (recorded as Catherine C Coleburn and Catherine C Colbourne in the death register and Catherine Clare Colbourne and Colbowine on the burial register for 14th November at Ford Cemetery).

Catherine was the common-law wife of George Colebourn (we don't know of a marriage and there's no record found for one, despite the death & burial name). George had been torpedoed & killed at sea in WWII. Catherine had remained in George's household with his parents and siblings after his death (having been disowned by her family after she took up with George, who was black).

To celebrate her 11th birthday, my mother-in-law (George's youngest sister) had an arrangement to meet Catherine in Liverpool town centre. She got there to find the scene of the crash, but no sign of Catherine (who she assumed had let her down), so she returned home unaware that her aunt was at the centre of the crisis she'd witnessed. (Her account was that they were meeting at Lewis's, and that the lorry crashed into the front of the store, so there's a slight variance between this and the newspaper account)

The fact that there are no Liverpool publications in the archive managed by Find My Past for that period doesn't help (I have tried the National Newspaper Archive as well, but no sign).

This is a story we've known about for many years and I would really like to get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding the accident and whether the driver was found (the lack of a marriage means I don't even have her maiden name). I assume there was an inquest and that this would likely have been reported in local papers.

Anyone got any creative ideas?

As we approach the centenary of the outbreak of The Great War, I thought it might be an appropriate time to consider the real life stories behind the facts.

My Great Uncle, John Hulm, an apprentice bootmaker, joined up on 4th April 1917, aged 17 years and 10 months. He was born in July 1899, the eldest of 8 children (my grandmother was the 7th child and aged 7 when he joined up). The family story was that he lied about his age, but his attestation papers demonstrate that this was not the case, as his accurate age was recorded (at the time of enlistment, he also appears to have been one inch shorter than the minimum height). However, he wasn't posted to France until he was approaching 19, in April 1918, and at this point had served more than the minimum 6 months in training (and possibly acquired the extra inch in height).

The family story was the Jack (as he was known) was wounded whilst on the front line on 18th September 1918. He was sent behind the lines to receive treatment. I was told that he was killed by shellfire . His parents received the "missing, presumed dead" telegram. My great grandmother couldn't accept his death, and believed he was suffering amnesia and was alive in France.
One morning, she got up and said that Jack had visited her in the night and told her not to worry about him anymore, and from that day forward, she acknowledged his death (I make no judgement of what actually happened here, as the subconscious can do some remarkable things, but she and my Grandmother always believed Jack's spirit had actually come to comfort his mother).

The family clearly had difficulty coming to terms with the loss, and a year after he went missing, my great uncle Jim, now the eldest son, wrote to the army seeking information on the events that led to Jack's death.

Below are the images of the letters that passed between the Hulm family, and the army departments dealing with the request, plus a photo of Jack in Army uniform (taken from a rather eerie image of the family where a gap was left on the back row and the photo of Jack pasted into the space)

The letters, contained amongst his service papers, consist of Jim requesting information about the whereabouts of Jack's body, a request between departments for this information to be passed on, and the brief reply that Jack battalion was at Gouzeaucourt on 18th September 1918.

I feel it's fitting to make public Jack's story this year. Anyone else have any family stories to share?

Reposting this message in its appropriate place...

has anyone ever obtained a Barbadian death cert? if so, I'd really appreciate a rundown of what details are included.

I currently have 3 known death and/or burial dates, and would like to know how valuable the information will be (i.e. marital status, name of informant, birthplace/date), which may help provide further information before seeking birth certificates (though we do have birthdates for two of them and an approximate year based on death age for the third, they may not have been born with the same name if the women married or if their parents married after their births).

I also have a bit of a problem with obtaining certificates in advance of our next planned visit in 3 years. The site does explain that postal applications can be made including a money order and self stammed addressed envelope - but this seems to assume that the applicant is in Barbados and has access to Barbadian postage stamps!!

Bajan certificates are very cheap, but very difficult to get hold of outside of Barbados (we have obtained one whilst there and it was a really straightfoward, cheap and speedy process)

Hoping someone can offer some help

Hi All,

This is a call for descendants relatives or anyone who knew/knows of a number of people hailing from Lancashire:

I'm looking for anyone related to John Henry Roberts, ship's cook/chief steward, born 1891 to Owen Roberts and Charlotte McConville. John Henry married Ethel Rutter in Liverpool in 1916.

Any descendants of his brother, James Roberts, born c1893 - clerk, soldier, tram driver, farm worker, electrician (and possibly more). James married Ellen May Caddick & had sons
James Leslie Roberts boirn 22nd Sept 1920 in Seaforth, likely death in the Newmarket registration district late 1972
John Victor Roberts born 11th Nov 1922 died 2 May 1973 at Newmarket General hospital and lived at Goose Hall Farm, Factory Rd, Burwell, Cambridge. The informant was Dorothy Patricia Roberts

Also seeking relatives of their mother Ellen May Caddick, born c1894/5, daughter of Joseph Caddick (and probably Maria) of Waterloo, north Liverpool died named Ellen May Cook in Southport 1955.

Also any relatives of Ellen May's 2nd husband, George Frederick Cook of Southport. George was born in Southport in 1893 and died there 1980. He first married Selina Pickup in 1918 (widow, unclear whether Pickup was her married or maiden name). He divorced Selina and married Ellen May Roberts (née Caddick) in 1936.

Known child of George & Selina's marriage is:
*

No matter how much or little you think you know about them, if you do know of any of the above or their relatives, please get in touch

* recent family details removed