Morning all.
I don't usually have a brickwall but this little problem has been my undoing for three years now, it's research into my birth family on my paternal line and i'm really at a loss as to where to look next;
The partners in this genealogical crime are John Townsend and Annie Turner, did they ever marry? Where are they from? When where they born? All this (and more) still to be uncovered.
1919, Lincoln;
Birth of John Townsend to John Townsend and Annie Townsend, formerly Turner.
1923, Lincoln;
Birth of James Townsend, 12/05/1923, parents as above.
1925, Lincoln
Birth and death of Joseph Townsend, parents as above.
1945, Middlesborough
Marriage of James Townsend, residence Newland St West, Lincoln, father noted as John Townsend, deceased.
1984, Worksop
Death of James Townsend or Turner dob 12/05/1923, informant John Townsend, brother, resident in Lincoln.
The 1921-1927 voters roll show John snr and Annie living together in Lincoln at the address shown on the birth certs, 1928 onwards John snr appears to be alone, 1929 he is living elsewhere and the address is unknown, Annie has vanished too.
Post 1928 is a mystery, a rumour suggests Annie lived with another man, the only document after 1928 to hint at anything is a marriage cert for James in 1945 which states his father is deceased and the death cert mentioned above.
I haven't been able to pinpoint a Townsend/Turner marriage, James was a ladies man and had kids all over the country but his death cert entry seems to suggest that either his parents were not married (or was he possibly using both names to avoid his whereabouts being discovered by the mothers of his children?)
I had a search on the 1911 for John and Annie, the only John in Lincoln who is old enough is listed in an institution, there are 3 possibles for Annie but i haven't gone down the route of looking at images. I suspect John and Annie were not together in 1911 so i doubt the expense will answer the question. Expanding the search to Lincolnshire just compounds the problem and there is no gaurantee that Lincolnshire plays a part anyway.
The only other clue is the surname Goddard connected to a fleet of lorries in Lincoln but that may be before and/or after WWII.
So what next? What do i try (bearing in mind i no longer have an Ancestry sub), the 1911 doesn't look helpful because i know so little about them, no age or pob so the result could be top of the list but i wouldn't know.
Any suggestions or snippets from anywhere please?
