Looking for info on my grandfather

[MissHaley]

All I know is my grandfather ( Russell Denson) was born in London England in 1913 and died in alberta canada in 1984. In England his parents passed and he and his brother ( Alfred) got adopted into a family with the last name Nicolls then came to canada. I don't know the name of my grandfathers parents and was wondering if anyone knew of any sites I could start looking to maybe get some answers and names of great grandparents.

        Thanks!!!

[Cell]

Hi MissHaley,
It maybe worth posting in the Canadian bit of this site with your query too and posting a link to this thread within your post.
I  don't know anything about Canadian Marriage certs, but if the information on a Canadian cert gives the parent (s)  name, I think that your first step would be to acquire/purchase your grandfather's marriage cert( If he married in Canada) It would make your search  for his birth in the UK a lot easier, plus when you find a birth you'll know it will be the right one by matching his parent or parents from his marriage cert.

I have looked for his birth in the  BMD indexes for England and Wales  (both on ancestry http://home.ancestry.co.uk/ and Free Bmd  http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl). There doesn't seem to be any Russell Denson birth registered in England around 1913 i. I have tried it with a wildcard search of Russel* and  Den* to allow for misspellings )
 Are you sure it was his first name, and Russell wasn't a middle name that he was just known by?

  Do you know when his brother Alfred was born? If he is older than your grandfather there are a few possibilities in the England census for Alfred. There is one born in London abt 1897  and living in London with a widowed father and an older brother Thomas in the early 1900's. Father's name Robert Jackson Denson
Did Alfred have a middle name? Do you know of anymore siblings?

 Do you know what time frame they emigrated to Canada? Did they emigrate as children or when they were adults? Did they emigrate when they were single or married? If when married , you can search for a marriage in the England and Wales BMD indexes.  By purchasing his marriage cert from the GRO of England and Wales , it will give you his father's name if known. and the occupation of his father, plus any witnesses (who sometimes turn out to be family)
All info helps

I guess you have seen this on findagrave?
Birth:  1913
Death:  1984
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=127540190&ref=acom

Is this him in the voters lists?
1968
38th street Close:
Russell Denson
Occupation: Kitchen Helper
Location:Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

1974
35th street
Russell Denson

Occupation:Cleaning Porter -
Location:
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

Don't know if this is the same man, but will post it anyway:
1949
Ponoka
Russell Denson

Occupation:Farmer
Location:
Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada

Kind Regards
 

[karenlee]

Hi

I have been looking around for this guy for a while today and have managed to find a few little bits and pieces that might... or might not... help. 

The only DENSON born about 1913 that I can see arriving in Canada is this family...

Arriving in Saint John New Brunswick aboard the
January 1920
DENSON
Mr Reg aged 35
Mrs Eunice aged 31
Charles aged 7 ( thus born about 1913 )
Alfred aged 5


While trying to find the births of these two boys, I discovered the marriage certificate of their parents..

Marriage Register
Christ Church North Brixton
Lambeth London
6th January 1919

Reginald DENSON 33 Bachelor Commercial Traveller of 4/24 6th Avenue East Calgary Alberta Canada Father = Alfred John DENSON (Dec) Draper

Eunice Christine CASON 30 Spinster of 4/20 Cranworth Gardens Brixton Father = Henry CASON (Dec) Contractor

Both bride and groom signed
Witnesses were Lawrence James BRADLEY and Rosa THOMAS

Given the marriage date it is pretty obvious that both boys were born prior to this event.  Which begs the question - was their birth name actually NICHOLLS and did the DENSON'S adopt them??

Cheers
Karenlee

[crisane]

Could the boys have moved to Canada with their parents and then their parents died there?
I am not finding any records for a Russell Denson in Canada until the 1949 voters lists where he is at Ponoka with a Mrs Evelyn Denson and a Charles Denson.
 
There is this marriage
Marriages March 1/4 1919   
Eunice C  Casen  to  Reginald  Denson  Lambeth  1d 355

And a shipping record
Vessel - Scotian
Port of arrival St Johns Newfoundland
Destination -Calgary
Date of arrival 21 January 1920
Mr Reg Denson 35 born England In Calgary previously  for 7 years.
Mrs Enice Denson 31 Ireland
Charles Denson 7 England
Alfred Denson 5 England

There are no birth records for either this Charles or Alfred in the correct time frame on FreeBMD using  the surname Dens*n with or without the mmn  Casen.

Having seen your post just now karenlee I have come up with the same results as you
Also
Births June 1914 
Russell E Nicholls mmn Arnup  Blofield  4b 336

Two other boys born to this Nicholls marriage - 1912 Jasper and 1916 Horace 

[karenlee]

Me again

Interestingly enough, in 1926 aboard the "Montcalm" there is a Reginald DENSON aged 39, Commercial Traveller,  from St John New Brunswick to Liverpool England. Proposed address was 20 Gladstone Road Chester.

Then in 1929 a death is registered in Chester Cheshire UK, for a Reginald DENSON born about 1886 ( so aged about 43 so fits with the above ). ADDED have seen a few baptisms for children to Alfred John and Annie DENSON in Chester in the late 1880's ... Reginald gave his father as Alfred John at his marriage.)

There is also a burial for a Eunice DENSON in the Burnsland Cemetery Calgary Canada that might be worth further investigation.

Cheers
Karenlee

[[Ray]]

For the notes pile . . . . .

1) Birth 1913 Dec Wandsworth 1d 1014 Charles A Russell (mmn CASON)

2) On FreeBMD 1919 marriage entry,
there is a note from "Ken Denson", "owning" Eunice Cason, with an email address

3) There is a Draper named Alfred J Denson, and son Reginald(4y), + wife Annie, dau Annie, son Alfred,
     in WrexhamDenbigh in 1891     ( RG12 / 4611 / 129 / p15 )

4) You may wish to search for Reginald+mother+sister+20GladstoneRoadChester in the 1911 census
 

Ray

[Sc00p]

Would seem to have been answered previously? http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=713817.0

[Cell]

Would seem to have been answered previously? http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=713817.0

Hi,
Thank you
Scoop

It would seem so, wish I'd looked at previous posts before I wasted  a couple of hours  of my time looking for a birth name of Denson .
MissHaley, perhaps it's an idea to answer your previous thread, or when posting  the same query putting a link in your post  to your previous query - it saves others wasting their time finding info that others have already kindly searched for you and provided you with in your other post. Have you investigated the birth of Russell LePage and ruled him out?

"It would seem, therefore, that Denson was Russell's stepfathers surname and not the 'adopted' name at all"
His mother is Eunice Christine Cason birth reg'd Mar.qtr.1888 Leicester.  By 1911 (not allowed to post details) she appears to be working in Brighton, Sussex.] "Russell Lepage birth reg'd Sept.1912, Brighton, Sussex - mother maiden name Cason"  quotes taken from the other thread by Annette7

wondering if anyone knew of any sites I could start looking to maybe get some answers and names of great grandparents.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp

Kind Regards

[MissHaley]

Sorry if I wastes anyone's time It was not intentional i have only used this site a few times and since I had a little bit more info I thought I would try again.  I appreciate everything you all have done in regards to this topic :-). Thank you !