BobB1, It depends how important Albert/Alfred is to you. Any research as you will agree is only "good" if evidence is found. If your finances allow Joan Margaret's birth in 1926 could draw the net tighter.
I do not think rc's can offer a lot more than all the great info posted. If Albert is the father of Joan then there is only a small timescale between 1926-1931 when Eric was born.
SS
SS. The answer is simple. Its very important to my Mother and therefore, important to me. I've promised to find out what I can. As the decades have passed, she has increasingly felt his loss and the lack of knowledge about him. She has no family photographs of either parents, nor of the children themselves in those years. No family holidays or other occasions to remember - nothing.
Her last memory is of her Father visiting for the weekend, sitting in bed mending shoes for neighbours (presumably a skill learned in the Sanitorium?) but not being allowed beyond the foot of the bed. No hugs, no cuddling, no comfort. Then his death.
She sees glossy adverts on TV for Ancestry and Find my Past that make it look so simple and easy; ''maybe there's a photo of my dad somewhere?'' I know that's unrealistic.
I have even employed a professional researcher to investigate, but that only found his death certificate (more than I started with) and very little else. If I have to spend more money, I will, but there is a limit to how many false trails I can afford to follow - but any logical avenues of enquiry will not be disregarded.
RC, yourself included, has been enormously helpful and filled in some blanks and opened up more new possibilities. As a collective group, they have the experience and knowledge to see things I wouldn't ever find - and that's RCs power.
I greatly appreciate the effort many have put in so far - and I don't even know if I am dealing with professional researchers or keen amateur genealogists etc, but I am very grateful.
I remain confident that I/we are inching closer and someone will find the key to tracking Alf down
Bob
