WHO LIVED WHERE /WHEN?

[Alva]

Hi all:  This may be an impossible task but here's hoping.  I found an old address book of my mother's(passed away 2002) while going through her things.  It has a few addresses  from Blackburn, Manchester and Liverpool.  She only listed the first initial and last name then the address.  I  have no idea who these people were  only that they would be her aunts, uncles or cousins, probably long passed away also.  Since I live in British Columbia I don't have the resources that you would have across the pond.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about finding out this information? I am so envious of BarryBear finding his long lost cousins.  Hopefully I can do the same one day.  Any information or advice much appreciated, Alva

[JDG]

Hi all:  This may be an impossible task but here's hoping.  I found an old address book of my mother's(passed away 2002) while going through her things.  It has a few addresses  from Blackburn, Manchester and Liverpool.  She only listed the first initial and last name then the address.  I  have no idea who these people were  only that they would be her aunts, uncles or cousins, probably long passed away also.  Since I live in British Columbia I don't have the resources that you would have across the pond.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about finding out this information? I am so envious of BarryBear finding his long lost cousins.  Hopefully I can do the same one day.  Any information or advice much appreciated, Alva

Hello,
How old do you think the address book is?

Just doing a bit of brain storming here and typying what comes to mind - You can not post here or on a mailing list a list of the names and addresses incase anyone is still living, but you could perhaps post the road mentioned and an approx date. I know that if I saw a road where I had family living at one time I would contact the poster.
Something like this.... (these examples are genuine!)

Manor Farm Wanborough Surrey upto 1930
Walnut Tree Close Guildford Surrey 1900+

Do you get the idea? - Perhaps at the start of the posting or perhaps produce a web page with details, state that you haven't given the surnames involved because of data protection, and ask that people contact you.

Have you done a Google search for the name of the roads involved?
Depending on the dates, Directories may help - Perhaps even inserting the road name into Ebay incase there are any postcards of the road for sale.

There is a book, recently published, the author was doing some research and ended up writing about all the people who lived in her house. It sounds fascinating and I must try and get hold of the book.  ( Now I am digressing here, I read several months ago, of a chap who has registered his date of birth as a domain name, and asks that people who were born on the same day as him, ( and I think this includes the year too) to contact him), that would be fascinating, and certainly very diverse. I guess we really are only limited by our imagination!

Let us know how you get on.

[Alva]

Hello JDG:  Thanks so much for your reply and your thoughts.  This address book is likely from the 30's to the 50's.  I'm  pretty sure these people would be long dead as my mother was 93 in 2002.  If these were aunts or uncles they would be long gone.  The only living relative that I ever heard about was a cousin Alec (no last name) who lived in Mellor.  My aunt visited him in 1966, she was 60 at the time, so if he were anywhere close in age he would no longer be here either. This is one that there was no address for!
All addresses appear to be from the north, Liverpool, Blackburn, Hale and Manchester.
I'll start doing a search on Google and others.  Thanks again for your ideas, Alva

[JDG]

Hello Alva,

You are very welcome. I enjoyed pondering over your posting. You could also have a look for the newspapers online for the area you mentioned, and perhaps write to the editior, and see if they will publish a letter. Really make it clear though that this is genealogical research, Editors tend to be very careful regarding privacy issues.

Please, let me know how you get on, & if I think of anything else I will post it here.

Good luck!

[Alva]

Hi Jdg:  Just found an older posting from ange in June 2004 telling of how you can find out about who lived at an old address by looking at the electoral rolls.  How would I go about doing that from here?  Is there a site that would allow that information or do you have to get it in person?
Alva

[JDG]

Electoral rolls would need to be accessed from usually the library, with the older ones normally at the Records Office. You would need to ask someone to look for you, either a look up on Rootschat for the relevent County or via the mailing lists. The other option would be a paid researcher.

Have a look online for the address of the local studies library/records office, they may be able to look for you for, usually a fee.

[RootsChat]

Hi Alva,

To add to JDG's posting I thought I would add a bit about the Local Newspapers.

The main newspaper for Manchester in the Manchester Evening News which has a massive distribution base around the wider areas of Manchester. They also have a free sister newspaper called the Metro.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/

Liverpool it is the Liverpool Echo
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/

not too sure with Blackburn if it is the Lancashire Telegraph but will check and let you know.

Best Wishes

RootsChat

[JDG]

Hi Alva,

To add to JDG's posting I thought I would add a bit about the Local Newspapers.

The main newspaper for Manchester in the Manchester Evening News which has a massive distribution base around the wider areas of Manchester. They also have a free sister newspaper called the Metro.
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/

Liverpool it is the Liverpool Echo
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/

not too sure with Blackburn if it is the Lancashire Telegraph but will check and let you know.

Best Wishes

RootsChat

Thanks for posting the details of the newspaper.

It reminds me that a member of the Anglo Italian FHS had a letter published in the paper, giving the address of the membership secretary, The AIFHS had numerous letters from people who wanted info. So letters in Newspapers do work and the Liverpool Echo certainly publishes these kind of letters.

[JDG]

Hi Alva,

The book I mentioned is called:

Home, The Story of everyone who ever lived in our house, by Julie Myerson, Published by Harper Collins.

ISBN 007148224