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New last name just "appears"

New last name just "appears"

Posted: 30 Mar 2015 9:55PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Wallace
I'm hoping I am posting this to the right board. If not, please point me in the right direction! I just started getting into some genealogy of my family, and I don't have a lot of information to go off of. I found the death certificate of my grandfather, whose last name is Wallace, and from there I found the death certificates of his parents, and this is where I get confused. His father's last name was Lomas, and his mother's maiden name was Shaw. How would I go about finding out where Wallace came from?

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 31 Mar 2015 1:43AM GMT
Classification: Query
I would start with finding your grandfather in the census, to see how his parents are listed. Look for all of the census records that apply. Also, do you know any of your grandpa's siblings names, where you could compare records? Try to find your grandpa's marriage record as well.

Was his father's name listed as Lomas on your grandpa's death certificate? It could be he was your grandfather's step dad, he could have been adopted, or your grandpa decided to change his name for some reason- we can't say at this time.
If you want more specific help, give us your Grandpa's name, birth and death dates and places.

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 1 Apr 2015 11:18PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 1 Apr 2015 11:22PM GMT
He could have been adopted, or a stepchild, but - how did you conclude that the certificate with the unexpected name was the correct person as the grandfather's father? Is the name of the grandfather's wife the same as what was on the grandfather's certificate?

Sounds like one of those interesting research questions!

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 2 Apr 2015 3:02AM GMT
Classification: Query
Thanks for your reply! It is hard to find data for him because his death is relatively recent, in terms of census data. Canada does not release census data post 1921 for social security purposes. I've tried my best at amateur poking around (I've just started looking into my family history very recently). I've found his grave picture on findagrave.com, which lists him as George Victor LOMAS Wallace, and on that website it links to Harold Lomas as his father ( http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10... ). I have George's death certificate from the Royal BC Museum archives, and it lists his parents as Harold Lomas and Mary Lillian Hudson. I can't find a record of Mary Lillian Hudson anywhere, the spouse linked on most things I find (including his death certificate) is Ruth Aline Garrison, but he could have remarried. I'm sorry I feel like this is getting all over the place, but so are my thoughts.

Link to George's death certificate - http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/Disp...

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 2 Apr 2015 3:22AM GMT
Classification: Query
Here is the marriage for Harold Lomas and Mary Lillian Hudson
http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy/Disp...

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 2 Apr 2015 3:32AM GMT
Classification: Query
There is an online tree that states that Mary Lillian Hudson died in British Columbia in 1995, but it does not give her surname at death, and does not give a source for that date. There is also a picture of George as a young boy, and it says that he "lived on the farm" for awhile after "Lil's" divorce from Harold Lomas. So it is sounding as if maybe George was raised by Lillian Hudson and a second husband with the surname Wallace.

There is also a birth record for Mary Lillian Hudson in Ontario in 1914 at Ancestry.

Re: New last name just "appears"

Posted: 2 Apr 2015 4:06AM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you! I ended up finding an entry for him on ancestry and someone posted a photo of a newspaper article and a caption telling the story that his mother (Mary) left his father (Harold) and took George back to England briefly, and then he was shipped back to BC all by himself when he was three years old and lived with his father, and his father's new wife Ruth I believe. I'm so thankful someone posted that caption to the article, or I would probably have never found that story!
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