Please, does anybody know how I go about finding out if somebody changed their name by deed poll in the UK after 1908.

Newspapers perhaps such as the Times

I did a search and found these words:

Contrary to popular belief, there is no central register of name changes in the United Kingdom. Deed Polls are not registered anywhere unless they are "enrolled" i.e. lodged for safe keeping, in the Close Rolls of the Chancery (from 1851 to 1902) and from 1903, in the Enrolment Books of the Supreme Court of Judicature, which is located within the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, London.

Enrolling a Deed Poll provides a public record of a person's name change and since 1914 the details of the name change are published in either the London or Belfast Gazette [What is the London Gazette]. Alarmingly, the person's name change details and home address are also published on the London Gazette's website for all to see. Fortunately, it is not a requirement to enrol a Deed Poll. Furthermore, because enrolling significantly adds to the cost and the time taken to change a person's name and because most people who change their name only wish to inform those who have a reason to know, only one in every two hundred Deed Polls is enrolled. All other Deed Polls are unenrolled, which is the type we issue.

Deed Polls that have been enrolled at the Royal Courts of Justice in London remain there for about five years. After which (and going back to 1851), they can be found at the National Archives, which is located at Kew in Richmond, Surrey.

Looks like you are probably not going to find what you want.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan for your help. I am now stuck and I have no idea where to go from here.

I am looking for my grandfather who disappeared 6th April 1908 after burying his wife. His 3 small children were raised by an aunt and the children never knew what happened to their father, if the Aunt knew she never let on. There is no trace of him on the 1911 census in England but as he was born in Wales he may have returned there and those records will not be available until later in the year. I have tried posting messages in USA, Australia, Canada, Yorkshire, where he was living when he disappeared, and Glamorgan but without luck. It is impossible to check the passenger lists as there are lots of Charles Johns without dates of birth. I have even tried the newspaper reports for Yorkshire.

Anyway, at least I now know what I can't do!

Thanks again
Rosemary

Try posting the information you have on the appropriate surname board. Someone researching the same family or links to it may have the information or some leads to the information you need.

Have you tried working backwards from 1908? As you presumably know the names of your Grandmother and her 3 children, you should be able to find them in 1901. This should also give you some idea of Charles' place and year of birth. Also their marriage certificate, if you can locate it, will give you his father's name. With a bit of luck, you should be able to find his precise dob. Then back to those passenger lists.
I hope this doesn't sound too much like trying to teach my Granny to suck eggs!!

Thanks but I have all the information you mentioned, I know his exact date of birth etc. The family was living in High Ackworth, Yorkshire when my grandmother died. I have a feeling there is more to this story. I am pretty sure my mothers brother knew what happened as he was 9 or 10 years old when his mother died, but he refused to tell his own daughter anything about it and said "it was best forgotten". I couldn't communicate with him face to face as he lived in New Zealand and I am in the UK. I cannot find any records of my grandfather on the passenger lists of the correct age or date of birth. The surname Johns is a very common name which of course makes the task of finding him harder.

As far as I know after he disappeared all communication with his family was cut off but I am trying to find descendants of his sisters just in case they know something.

I will not give up my search!

Rosemary

Try the Poor Law records for the Poor Law district where he was domiciled (if they survive). They might be closed until 100 years after the event, but try it.

Also search the archives for court cases.