My Wooldridge brick wall

[Jeffo W]

Hello everyone,

My names Jeffrey Wooldridge, I'm trying to trace information on my Grandfather Dommenick(born Demetrius) Sydney Wooldridge b26 Oct 1892. From the 1911 census his place of birth says Russia, but on all other official documents it is shown as Malta.

From DNA testing (Autosomnal and Y-DNA) I know that my only male line link is John Wooldridge b1769 in Ashurst in Sussex who emigrated to Pennsylvania USA in 1820, and I am in contact with this side of my distant family.

Basically this is as much as I know of my parental line and there are no relatives left alive to ask any questions of, so I've basically hit my genealogical brick wall at only my grandfather...

If anyone has any knowledge depth of the Wooldridge's in Sussex I would really appreciate their help in trying to find this link and the missing pieces in my families tree if possible, for myself and my newly found American cousins.

Yours

Jeffrey Wooldridge
GEDMATCH Kit# A548209

[PaulineJ]

So in 1911 he is 19-y-old pupil in Margate.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW67-SQK

Did he wed? Any parental info on that? ID-d the witness names?

[LizzieL]

Welcome to Rootschat. I see a marriage in Co Durham to Winifred Firth  - is that him. If so if you get a copy of marriage cert from GRO It should name his father

[Jeffo W]

Thanks for the swift replies,

He was married 19th May 1925 to Winifred Firth at St Peters Stockton on Tees county Durham.

His father is listed as Sydney Frank Wooldridge (deceased) a merchant.
His father in law Thomas Firth an engineer.

The witnesses were Charles E Firth, but the second one is quite illegible.

I have had no luck so far in finding any Sydney Frank Wooldridge in any records...

Regards

Jeff...

[LizzieL]

Have you got any details of his WW1 service, he's coming up as Dmetrius Sidney on searches A/Sgt (maybe Acting Sergeant) in Royal Field Artillery as a Driver. He got Victory medal and British medal.

[Jeffo W]

Hi Lizzie,

I've been to Kew and scoured online sources and from what I can see his records were lost or burnt during WWII bombing, apart from roll cards etc.  I have his medals and a case of his WWI memento's but there is very little information we can glean from this.

On discharge from the army he changes/Anglicizes his first name and he joins the Foreign Office where he stayed until he retired in 1953/1954.

He also has a medal from Holland for WWII, Knights Order of Orange and I know from past chats with relatives before they passed away that he worked for one of the MI's (Military Intelligence).

I have been in touch with the Foreign Office archivist but there are no records/records that are allowed to be seen.  I know from his passport and other documents he spent a lot of his time in Tallinn in Estonia for work.

This is really as much as we know, he was a very private person, quite the enigma really.

Thanks

Jeff...

[avm228]

Which documents say he was born in Malta?  Could that have been a convenient lie in later life, if he was doing sensitive work involving national security for which a Russian birthplace might look odd?

Did he speak Russian?  That would no doubt have been an asset in his line of work.

[avm228]

Interesting that there is a DNA link to other Wooldridges - which suggests it was not an assumed or adoptive name.

[Jeffo W]

Hi AVM,

It's his passports that state he was a British subject born in Malta, although from relatives that knew him he sounded Russian to them so we think this is fictitious.

We also have nothing else apart form his entry on the Marriage certification that his father was who he says either.

So at the moment I only have the DNA evidence to base my search on, and it point to Ashurst in Sussex.

Thanks

Jeff...