Finding family history from recent past

[kams5747]

Hi there, I am an adopted adult and have recently traced my birth father as a way of finding out about my genetic family history.  After having attempted contact very carefully and gently through an organisation, I have received no communication of any kind.  Not wishing to encroach on the life of this person, I would still very much like to research his (my!) roots in any way possible.  I have a name (a very common name!) current address with all current cohabitees, name of my grandfather and address from 30 years ago.  The area of residence is Portland, Dorset.  I have not had success in finding the correct birth certificate for my (suspected) father.  Does anyone have any ideas for where and how to get more background info? Is there a way of accessing recent census data from the last 80 years? Record offices seem to have lots of data for history of 100+ years ago, but not recent archives which are available to the public.  Any help appreciated.  On a steep learning curve!

[dawnsh]

Hi Kams5747

Welcome to Rootschat 

We have a clearly defined 'no living people' policy here so we may not be your best resource.

We do have hints and tips here though

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,489618.0.html

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,261434.0.html

You may find something like Genes Reunited more suitable.

The census is closed for 100 years and we have only just had access to the 1911 so it's a long wait for the next one.

You haven't updated your profile so we don't know where in the world you are but if you can get to Dorset, there might be resources here

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,261434.0.html

Telephone directories and electoral registers are useful.

I haven't used this myself but there is a free trial here

http://www.peopletracer.co.uk/

If you don't have subscriptions to Ancestry or FindMyPast at home check out your local library as many of them do offer access in house and then you can check out the lastest birth marriage and death indexes whcih are available upto 2006 online.

Hope this helps.

Dawn

[nanny jan]

Hi,

This is a very long shot but........on the Portland page of the Dorset OPC site there are Monumental Inscriptions which might yield some clues for you.

http://www.opcdorset.org/PortlandFiles/Portland.htm


Nanny Jan

[casalguidi]

If the family were quite settled in the area, electoral registers may be a help in indentifying the correct family if they remained in the same household at any time whilst over the age of 18 (21 until 1970).  Voting registers are usually in street order with no name index so do take quite a while to search through and they are held locally see http://www.dorsetforyou.com/dorsethistorycentre/collections

Telephone directories can also be useful in identifying an address or address to check in the electoral registers.  I think they go up to about 1980 on http://www.ancestry.co.uk

The Dorset History Centre also has parish registers for a number of churches in the Portland district which could be helpful with regards to church baptisms/marriages etc..

Facebook can be useful in seeking details of more recent events/relationships if people have opted to leave friends lists etc. public.

There are lots of living people listed on GenesReunited too.  If you can find people of the same surname in the same area being researched by the same person it is often quite possible to seek out the birth and marriage details from the General Register Office indexes.

Friendsreunited is another one to check out, finding all the schools in the area and then searching through those for a relevant surname.

I wish you well with your search.

Casalguidi

[Colin D Gronow]

Hi kams5747 & welcome to RootsChat.

In these instances, you would probably be better off trying to get a bit of one-to-one help off the board until you are far enough back that you can ask for help on this website.
If you would like some assistance feel free to PM me. (However you will need to post a few more times in order to use the PM system.

Hope you find what your looking for.

[weste]

Electoral roll/poll books might be useful as you have name and addresses. If they stayed within a defined area for a while.