Help finding a "Guest" ancestor

[Xecrio]

I'm trying to find my great great grandfather, who shares my last name. For complicated family reasons, my great grandfather, grandfather, and father all had the last name "Guest" until the late 1990s when my father changed his to Bradley.

I can tell you what I know. Firstly, I know that his last name is Bradley and that he was born in the 1890s around the Dudley area.
He had some sort of romantic relationship with a women named May Georgina Guest, and he had a son named John Thomas Guest born in 1922.
My grandfather tells me that he attempted to visit the Bradley man in West Bromwich where he worked at a photography shop, but to no avail.

Essentially I'm looking for someone with the last name Bradley, who was born in the 1890s, lived in Dudley in 1921-1922, and worked at a photography shop in West Bromwich. I know this is a wild goose chase, but I feel that I have exhausted all other options.

[Girl Guide]

Welcome to Rootschat 

Yes, this is going to be hard to solve.  I cannot find any birth record for a May Georgina Guest in the 1890s.  There is one for a Georgina:-

GUEST, GEORGINA       PARKES 
GRO Reference: 1898  S Quarter in DUDLEY  Volume 06C  Page 80

The parents married in the June quarter of 1888 Dudley registration district.

If I have the correct Georgina she is in the 1911 census with parents and ten siblings living at 34 the Belper Dudley, Dudley, Worcestershire & Staffordshire.

I assume that John's birth certificate gave no father's name.  I notice that on the 1911 census she has an older brother called John Thomas.

Have you made any attempt to check electoral rolls for 1921/1922 for Dudley to see if there are any likely looking Bradleys on it?

[CaroleW]

Welcome to Rootschat

Georgina was born 29.6.1898 & baptised 17.7.1898 parents Joseph & Mary.  Don't know where the May has come from

[Ayashi]

I had a look to see how many BRADLEYs there were in the area in 1939- answer: a lot. I doubt the occupation would help here, as I'd assume he worked there a lot later than that (especially for your grandfather to speak to him).

I was going to say "at least the 1921 census might be useful!" but I think you might be spoiled for choice. It certainly would give you a list of gentlemen in the Dudley area around the time of conception though.

Have you (or your oldest living GUEST/BRADLEY) considered doing one of the Ancestral DNA tests? You may end up matching with a BRADLEY family.

Rather than "for complicated reasons" I'm actually more curious about why your father decided to change his name back. Illegitimacy isn't complicated- rather common, in my experience. I actually have the 'wrong' surname as well, since my great grandmother ran away with her lodger before having her final child (my grandfather) and gave him the lodger's surname despite being biologically her husband's child. A cousin jokingly sends Christmas cards with the biological surname on it, but none of us have been inclined to go to deedpoll.

[CaroleW]

There is a marriage in 1931 Dudley between Georgina Guest & Joseph Nicholls but the birthdate for Georgina on the 1939 register does not correspond to a 1898 birth.  However - there is no matching birth reg on freebmd for the birthdate given by her in 1939

No children to the marriage

There is a death reg in 1945 for Georgina Nicholls aged 44 and a probate entry showing she died 7th May.  Administration to Joseph Nicholls

As Ayashi says above - too many Bradley entries to determine the right one without a christian name

[Xecrio]

Sorry for not getting to this sooner. I have tried to incorporate all of my responses to your messages into one bulk message.

1. Georgina lived at 34 Belper, alongside her brothers and sisters.
2. John's birth certificate lists no father (I have a copy) and Georgina does have a brother called John Thomas.
3. I haven't looked for the electoral roll 1921/22, but I looked at another record a while back, but I can't recall there being any Bradley's on it that made sense.
4. I have no idea where the May comes from either. Her parents are Mary and Joseph Guest, but John's birth certificate lists her name as "May Georgina"
5. I mentioned that he worked a photograph shop in West Bromwich, but that's all I know about his occupation
6. I have taken a DNA test, and have gotten in contact with several people with the Bradley surname, but have never heard back from them. Most of them are distant cousins.
7. I don't know why my father changed his name to Bradley. When I asked my Grandfather, he just said that it was "to put things right, at least."
8. I have no idea if Georgina remarried, but its a possibility.