SOS! Tracing an ancestor's living descendants

[bramble9]

Hi everyone

So, can someone please advise... How am I best to find a living descendent of an ancestor?

Obviously I will not name names but what are the best places to start? All I have is the place the ancestor died (in the 1960s) - there are no living children that I know of, and I've exhausted most avenues with his siblings and their offspring.

Is there anything else I can do?

Thank you!

(Basically, I would LOVE to see a photograph of this ancestor - but it's proving so difficult!)

[chempat]

Death certificate for name of informant, who may be related?

Local newspaper to see if funeral reported, or any death announcements.

Look to see if he is in anyone's tree on any of the general genealogical web sites e.g.ancestry public trees

How unusual is the surname. to try and follow marriages etc?

As you say he is an ancestor, then you must have other information about him and his family to help in your search.

[bramble9]

Death certificate for name of informant, who may be related?

Local newspaper to see if funeral reported, or any death announcements.

Look to see if he is in anyone's tree on any of the general genealogical web sites e.g.ancestry public trees

How unusual is the surname. to try and follow marriages etc?

As you say he is an ancestor, then you must have other information about him and his family to help in your search.

Hello!

Thank you for your reply

Death certificate - have this; his second wife is listed. They 'married' (never found the marriage certificate so perhaps it was a common law arrangement) sometime in the 1940s/50s, so too late to have children. (This was his second marriage.) The informant is listed as her nephew, who has a very unusual name - but died about 10 years ago, seemingly marriage/child-less!

I will contact the local library to see if they have any way of finding a funeral announcement in the paper at the time (1960s) - fingers crossed!

He lost touch with the three children from his first marriage, so info is very limited 

[lizdb]

Did he leave a Will?

You say he had children from his first marriage, so they will lead to living descendants if there are any. If his second marriage did not produce children then there will be no descendents to find from that. His only descendents will be those children from his first marriage! (And their children etc)

[bramble9]

Hello!

Sorry for my slow reply. I am one of those descendants (from his first marriage) - no will that we know of. We just found his death notice in the local paper, but no extra info. So baffled 

Surely it can't be impossible!

[lizdb]

Do you know the names of all the children from his first marriage and looked for marriages for them?