Electoral roll for Falkirk

[alisterc666]

Hi,

I am trying to find more information on my grandfather and great-grandmother. He was William Cumming, married in 1939 in Falkirk. He was illegitimate. I cannot find any information on his mother, other than her name (Elizabeth Cumming) and the fact that she gave birth to him in Kilmarnock in 1916.

He married my grandmother in Falkirk in 1939. In the marriage record, his mother is listed, and she is not shown as deceased. He is living at an address in Falkirk, and his occupation is listed as Stoker in the Royal Navy.

So, my cunning plan was to look at the electoral roll for Falkirk for the late thirties, and see if anyone else was recorded at staying at that address. Perhaps it was my great-grandmother's address, maybe she had married someone else and was living at that address, etc.

However, I emailed the people who keep the Falkirk archives, and they told me that the rolls are only accessible in person. I am in the US, so that isn't an option (and paying to have someone search is something I'd rather avoid given that I am not sure anything useful would be turned up). Can anyone suggest any other records that might be useful, or any online source for the electoral rolls?

Many thanks.

[CaroleW]

No online electoral registers for that period.  To search electoral registers you need an address otherwise it would take a massive amount of time to search electoral registers for every address in Falkirk - assuming she was living in Falkirk and not still in Kilmarnock

Is his mother shown just as Cumming on the marriage cert?  If so - it suggests she had not married by 1939

The Scottish 1901 has 2 possible Elizabeth Cumming entries both born in and living in Kilmarnock

b 1893 - parents Andrew and Mary
b 1894 mother Elizabeth - living with mother and grandmother Elizabeth (Carson).  SP has a marriage 1892 Kilmarnock - Elizabeth Carson to Robert Cumming

[alisterc666]

Thanks for replying. I actually do have the address.

The first Elizabeth you found is the most likely candidate, but I suspect I'll never be certain.

[Forfarian]

It doesn't take long to look a Register of Electors if you have an address. What takes the time is going to wherever they are stored, ordering the books and waiting for them to be delivered from storage. But as you say that's not much use if you're on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

Why not try the 1935 Valuation Roll online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk?

Also, if William Cumming was in the Royal Navy before his marriage, there must be official records of him somewhere that might list, for example, name and address of his next-of-kin when he joined up.

[CaroleW]

Long shot time

SP has a birth for an Elizabeth Caldwell Cumming in 1893 Kilmarnock plus an Elizabeth in 1895

Depending on exactly when those births were she could be either of the 1901 entries

Death for Elizabeth Caldwell Cumming aged 38 in New Cumnock 1931
Death for Elizabeth Caldwell Munro aged 38 in New Cumnock 1931
Marriage 1918 Elizabeth Caldwell Cumming to James Fyfe Munro - Kilmarnock

[CaroleW]

Possible for the other Elizabeth which if it is her - would rule her out of your search as she married before 1916

Elizabeth Cumming married Samuel George Parker 1913 Monkton & Prestwick

Death of Elizabeth Parker aged 33 Monkton & Prestwick 1927