I'm trying to trace my Mother's side of the family. After 4 weeks i've only managed to establish her Father's name was Leonard Cousins and Mother's Ivy Gamble. When "stuck" and you feel the need to start ordering the official documents, which would you recommend in order to gain the optimum information? I'm ordering in the UK so it is all from the GRO.
I'm currently thinking that perhaps a marriage certificate is best as it gives the fathers names of both people, BUT, useful as that is I'm starting to find that the female line is much more difficult to track, so would the birth certificate be better which lists the Mother's name?
I'm at a bit of a loss and as i'm struggling with everything past my Mother's name it could be expensive so need to try and optimise what i order, it isn't helped that the area which this branch of my family lived (Ibstock leicestershire) have not been put online well, according to the councils website they are working on it but there are huge blank spaces. Any advice would be wonderful please.
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I don't see any posts from you on the Leicestershire board about Leonard COUSINS or Ivy GAMBLE. Try posting on that board (with some dates, please) and -- fingers crossed -- someone will point you in the right direction.
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The reason I advent posted is because I don't have any dates... there is nothing for anyone to go on. It took me ages just to get those names. But never mind, I'll do some more googling to maybe find out which documents are most informative to order.
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Hi Clare,
If you're absolutely certain that the names of your maternal grandparents are correct, the next step is to find out as much as you can from the GRO indexes, BEFORE you decide what to buy.
The first step is to try and find their marriage entry, and from a quick search, here's the only one which looks promising:
1941 Jul-Aug-Sep Leonard A COUSINS & Ivy M GAMBLE, Market Bosworth, 7a 251
Now, you could leave it there and order the certificate, as it will not only give you the fathers' names, but also the reputed ages of both bride and groom, thus giving you rough years of birth. However, because you now have middle initials, the search for further information can be narrowed down, and you can try looking for likely birth entries (mmn = mother's maiden name):
1919 Apr-May-Jun Leonard A COUSINS, mmn GREASLEY, Ashby de la Zouch, 7a 128
1922 Apr-May-Jun Ivy M GAMBLE, mmn DEACON, Market Bosworth, 7a 147
At this stage, I would still order the marriage certificate to be absolutely sure that the ages match the years, but you could also try looking for entries of death:
1992 Oct Leonard Arthur COUSINS, dob 19 Apr 1919, Leicestershire Central, 6 1387
1972 Dec Ivy May COUSINS, dob 10 May 1922, Market Bosworth, 3a 2228
In my opinion, this makes all of the above entries match up. You could try and take it one step further, because you now have the maiden names of the mothers from the birth entries, and look for Leonard's and Ivy's parents' marriage entries:
1910 Oct-Nov-Dec Arthur COUSINS, Ethel A GREASLEY, Ashby de la Zouch, 7a 210
1913 Jan-Feb-Mar Elijah GAMBLE, Sarah DEACON, Market Harborough, 7a 29
1920 Oct-Nov-Dec Percy GAMBLE, Eliza DEACON, Market Bosworth, 7a 231
As you can see, there are a couple of likely entries for Ivy Gamble's parents - personally I would favour the second one given the registration district, but you're now into the realms of guessing.
So, as I say, if you are absolutely certain (and I can't stress that enough) that you have the names of your maternal grandparents correctly, and if you think the dates look plausible, the first thing I would recommend is showing this information to anyone whose memory it may jog. Then, personally I would be reasonably happy to skip ordering the COUSINS / GAMBLE marriage certificate and go straight for the birth certificates of Leonard and Ivy.
I'll also stress that the by-the-book way of doing things is to work back from what you know, buying certificates as you go, because you may never be absolutely certain otherwise, so it's up to you!
I hope that helps
Chris
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Hi, thank you Chris. That is actually very helpful advice. I am certain that my maternal Grandfathers name was Len Cousins. All I know of my maternal grandmother is that she died before I was born, the name, Ivy Gamble is a good guess. I'm more confident that her last name was Gamble than her first name being Ivy.
The main issue for me is that I don't really have anyone to ask. My only living relative is my paternal Grandmother who sadly has dementia so information is scattered and in no order, on the subject of my Mother's family she didn't really know much, she mentioned the name Ivy, which is why i'm uncertain of its validity. Oddly enough this entire thing arose due to my Gran. The way her dementia is means that all the information is there, all the memories, all the stories but they are in no order. So in her memory she remembers all of her siblings and all of their spouses but easily muddles them up as to which is spouse and which is sibling and who is married to who, etc. By starting to trace her family tree it has helped her and my myself to chat, bond and clarify things. She lives in a tiny care home close to where I live (only 10 residents), all the carers there have been commenting on how much good this is doing her. How she is more animated chatting, how both of us are in fact. We always have something to talk about! It is a struggle though but overall I have had far more success on my paternal side of the family mainly due to the help from my Gran. Just writing down names and information she mentions means that when I'm searching if something matches those it is a good sign that I'm on the right track. My Mothers side is for my own curiosity but I have no such help like my Gran on my mothers side and although I don't mind ordering some certificates, etc, it could get very expensive very fast which is why I was wondering which certificates are best to order for maximum information. Otherwise I could be looking at ordering both and marriage certificates for each person...
Anyway thank you loads, Chris, that was wonderfully helpful :)
Clare
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Hi Clare,
You're very welcome. On the basis of what you've added, it might be an idea to buy your mother's birth certificate, just to confirm once and for all her parents' names, although you might feel you have enough to go on without this, such as remembering when your grandfather died. Best of luck anyway. :-)
Chris
Edit: Actually, scratch that. I've just seen the other query you posted about your father's side, and I'm now almost certain that the entries I've listed are for your mother's side of your family, so I don't think you need her birth certificate!
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I have been on and off my family search since 1984. You must locate records with family, tomb stones, birth records and residents about where you think they lived. The system "ancestry" only was useful to a limited extent after I secured names and places. Yes females name is "lost" but I was able to discover my 4 generations after "oral history from family and visiting tomb stones. It is okay to struggle at first I did and put it aside have 300 names on my tree currently and growing. Good luck
Respectfully Perez-Maymi
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Work on census for all immediate family members also, I always do the whole family of the direct line. I list everybody and ages in the description (they are visual and eye catching easier to track them in and out. I have even gotten pretty good at calculating the pre-1850 census talleys. I don't waste time on copies, except when trying to prove facts. Too many men and juniors by a paternal 2x Great Grandfather name, who also died around the same time (actually have 2 like this) I can track one till the Civil War all other 2 states and poof every 5 years if you can believe that.
GOOD LUCK
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