John Ross who is his mother

[dinkey]

My father was born in The Maternity home in Blackpool Lancashire July 1923. I have his birth certificate showing his mothers name as Sophia Ross. Her address was 99 High Street Blackpool which is a boarding house. The Maternity Home later became Blackpool Victoria Hospital and all the records from the were destroyed in 1932, so unfortunately  any paperwork has now gone. After the birth,  his mother I am told,returned to Scotland.

My father was fostered by Gerald & Bertha Humphrey who were from London & Norfolk respectively. I was told by my mother that a doctor known by the Humphreys made the arrangements. They settled in Fleetwood Lancashire and they baptised
my father in November 1924 naming him John Ross Humphrey so he retained his first name, and his surname as a middle name. I did make some enquiries with a genealogist in Scotland a few years ago
and narrowed the birth mother down to 3 possibilities but I do not
know how to take this further to obtain conclusive proof of who my
grandmother is.

Sophia Ross b 1900 Glasgow daughter of Joseph Ross & Mary Goldfinger she married June 1931 to Louis Youngman Carpet traveller age 25 son of Woolf Youngman& Clara Shine. At the time of the marriage Louis address was 254 Oxford Street Glasgow. He later changed his name to Young. Sophia died 1986

Sophia Milne Dargie Ross born 1905 Perth daughter of James Rattray Ross Mason & Ann Smith Marr-  she married 1925 to David Moncrieff Tractor Driver. Sophia died 1983 in Perth.

Sophia Aitchison Ross born 1907 Glasgow daughter of James Ross Ironfitter & Agnes Aitchison- married 31 December 1928 to Thomas Cameron Template Maker. Sophia died 1989.

If anyone recognises any of these names as being the mother of my father John Ross. Please contact me, or if anyone can give me any advice on what action I should take I would be
very grateful.

Regards

dinkey
 ______________________________

[ryan]

I'm curious to know: did your father put Gerald Humphrey as his own father on his marriage certificate to your mother, assuming they did get married (no offense intended in any manor at all)?

[dinkey]

Hi Ryan

No offence taken. No, my father did not name anyone as his father on his marriage to my mother. I believe he was only told that he was fostered during his engagement and that was only because my mother was told this by a neighbour of the Humphrey family.

Obviously this came as a great shock to him at the age of 24 and his parents were of the generation that did not feel able to discuss this or provide any further details, presuming they had
such information regarding Sophia. 

dinkey

[ryan]

I see. That's quite unfortunate.

I wish you the best of luck with your search!

[dinkey]

I agree it was very unfortunate. My Dad did try to find out about his mother but was met with a brickwall, rather like I am now unfortunately.

If anyone can suggest how I can narrow down my search, (I know I am like a dog with a bone) but aren't we all when searching for our ancestors.

I really would appreciate any pointers as to what to do next.

dinkey

[carolineasb]

Probably an extreme long shot - but would her signature be on the original records for his birth certificate at the Blackpool Registry Office & then could you look possibly at records for the 3 marriages at the GRO in Edinburgh (or at the area where they married)to see if any match?

Good Luck

Caroline

[dinkey]

Hi Caroline

Thanks for the suggestion, I would never have thought of that. Is it likely that his mother would have signed a birth certificate in 1923, or was that a requirement that is peculiar to Scotland. I am afraid I am rather ignorant about these things.

I do have a copy of the birth cert. and there is no mothers signature on it. 

dinkey

[dinkey]

Janie

I am confused now(not difficult) You said you can look up the family on Oxford Street. Where do you get Oxford Street from? The three Sophia Ross's that are possibilities.2 are from Glasgow and 1 from Perth. I do not have addresses for them. I have no idea what religion any of these are.

You also asked whether I have checked the 1871 census for them. Would that not be too early a census for any of these families?

Regards

dinkey

[carolineasb]

Hi

I'm not sure abt england but in Scotland signatures are shown in the Registers that you can print out for births on Scotlandspeople.

May need a request to the respective registry offices to see if they hold anything with a signature on - might narrow things down though!

Rgds

Caroline