Searching for father. East London.

[Challenger]

This is worse than needle in a haystack. Trying to find details of my father. l was born in 1953 in Mile End east London. My name is David but was initally named John at birth. My mother was Frances Doyle who came from Ireland in about 1948. My father's name was Tommy and came from east London. They did not marry and may have separated before l was born but kept in touch for a short while until she met my step-father. The subject was taboo when my mum was alive. His name was Tommy, had a brother Kenny and l am told was in the printing business working with his father? Apparently he was tall, fair haired, played piano well and had a good singing voice. My first school was Guardian Angels, Mile End, and l am told he would come and look at me from the gates. Next to nothing to go on l know! Can anyone help. Thank you.

[jim1]

Have you got your birth cert?
I notice one registered March 1954 Stepney. mmn Doyle.
We're not allowed to name living people so this is going to be difficult.

[Challenger]

Thank you for your response for which l am grateful. I have a copy of my original birth certificate for the district of Stepney, dated 1954 but does not give the month. The space for details of my father are blank so clearly my mother did not want him included? I understand it is not possible to trace a living person on this site but l expect him to be dead.
l realise the prospect of tracing him with such limited information is somewhat hopeless but perhaps there might be a tiny chance that someone might read this and provide some information. From the speed of your response and reading some of your posts it would appear you are a professional researcher? David

[KGarrad]

For a father's name to appear on a birth certificate, he must not only give permission, but be present at the registration - at least where he is not the husband of a wife who registers the birth.

Is there anything on your baptism in the Parish Register?

[Craclyn]

If you cannot make any progress with the limited information you have available then you might try DNA testing to get an indication of what his surname may have been.

[Ruskie]

So presumably we are looking for someone with a birth name of Thomas who has a brother called Kenneth and may have come from the East End of London.

It could well be an impossible task, and it would definitely be time consuming, but lets presume again that Tommy was about the same age as your mother. Kenneth is probably not as common a name as Thomas, so lets assume that there are a few years age difference between Tommy and Kenny, and search for a birth for Kenneth.

As an experiment I entered into Ancestry births, the first name Kenneth, the district London, and an age range of 5 years either side of 1930. There are over 9,000 results but some of them are obviously from an area which extends beyond the East End.

So if we were to systematically enter each East End Registration district and make note of all  the Kenneths then cross check the surnames with births registered for  a Thomas with same surname in the same district, we might be able to narrow it down.

It may not be possible due to too many variables, such as the age guesstimate being wrong,  the boys being born elsewhere etc etc. However that is all I can think to suggest apart from quizzing any living relatives for further information. Some people are reluctant to pass on information they regard as irrelevant, but it can sometimes be useful, so if you are able to, I would follow this path first. Maybe your step father's family may know something.

The DNA route as suggested by Craclyn might also be worth a try.

[[Ray]]

Hi

Would you confirm how old your mother was when you were born?

Where was she living when you were born? (Address)

In order that you/we can use the PersonalMessage (pm) system on Rootschat you need to make 1 more posting.
Answering the 2x queries above will do that.

Ray

[Challenger]

Hello Ray, mum was 22 when l was born and she was living in Martello Terrace, Hackney E9. Thanks for your input. I'm finding this site rather difficult to use and not sure whether l'm posting private or public messages. I will individually message to thank everyone who has offered help and advice when l get more familiar with the site.

[[Ray]]

BTW

WELCOME  to Rootschat !