Where is the best place to hunt down an elusive relative?

[classicgirl]

Hi
Yes have thought about false info on certificates, however both fathers were alive at time of wedding, although having said that, they were not the witnesses. the marriage was in St Pauls Church, Sheerness, Kent after banns.
We did consider false birth date to enlist in Royal Navy. However, he enlisted on 6th June 1893, so he would have been 20, his occupation was also a painter at the time. I have found an 1881 census where a George White is b1875 New Brompton, Kent, has a father named George as a ships carpenter and a brother Edward b1865 Poole is also a painter. Until proved otherwise,am keeping an open mind on it all.

Thanks for your input, all help and advice greatly appreciated 

[Sloe Gin]

That one sounds quite promising.  Ship's carpenters were shipwrights and learned the trade in the dockyard and worked either there or at sea.  This fits in with the dockyards at Chatham and Sheerness, there might have been confusion over where he was born and where he grew up.  If he was born in July 1873, he would have been 7 at the time of the 1881 census, so the discrepancy is only a year.

Also, young men did sometimes add a bit to their age when joining the Navy because the pay levels increased with age in some departments.  I'm no expert, mind!  have just come across this before.

[millymcb]

Had a look at the pages for the 1973 jul-oct quarter and couldn't see anyone surname White registered in Sheppey at all.

There is a George Richard in Faversham (1973 jul-oct quarter  2a 707) which is in Kent.... perhaps he grew up in Sheerness (on Isle of Sheppey) and didn't realise he was actually born in Kent itself. It's not that far to travel these days (although would have been a bit of a journey in 1873!)


Or ...his service records could possibly have 73 instead of 72 written down by mistake of course.

Milly

[classicgirl]

Thank You everybody for your Help.

You have all given me food for thoughts and pointers. I will not give up looking for him. Thats what what makes this all fun too.

Happy Hunting

Carolyn

[marcie dean]

You were asking why they would bury him so quickly.  Had he been really ill for a long time.
Burials usually take place or cremations due to the fact that if someone has died say of cancer and they have been given morpheine for the pain, the last dose is usually fatal and is a mercy dose, but people dont talk about it because they do not want to get the attending medical staff into trouble. So after registering the death, the burial /cremation takes place at the shortest notice possible.

marcie

Do not wish to upset anyone, but do know this from my own experience

[Sloe Gin]

Buried three days after he died, I wouldn't say that was unusually quick. 

There often is a longer delay, true, but there are usually reasons for this: post mortem, of course for one.  But often it's it's a case of having to wait for a vacant time at the crematorium or the church, or fitting in with the vicar.  Or the relatives are widely dispersed and it takes time to notify them and they need time to travel .... all that sort of thing.

But if none of this is a problem, why wait?

(Marcie - someone close to me died in the circumstances you describe, but I can't agree that it affected the timing of the funeral in any way.)

[classicgirl]

Interesting theories being put forward. Will have to locate the death certificate and order a copy, to see what it holds in store for us to learn.

Thanks for your responses

Happy hunting

Carolyn 

[Sloe Gin]

Keep us up to date, won't you!  I have some Sheppey shipwright ancestors myself, so it's interesting. 

I see Colin's site is back up, have you had a nose round it yet?

[classicgirl]

Will keep you posted, have just paid through the nose for the death cert just now, shocked at how much its gone up in price since the last time I ordered a cert!! Still, I will get to the root ( pardon the pun) of the puzzle.
Have had a quick look at Colin Penneys site, and am going back on it in a mo to see what else he has to offer, Just glimpsed a list of misc names in old Sheerness papers, so will lose myself in it all now, time flies when you get engrosed in it all.
Thank you once again for the heads up on this site, etc

Happy Hunting

Carolyn